Director Santosh Singh, who is enjoying the positive response to his recently released streaming series 'Ranneeti: Balakot & Beyond', feels that there's a lack of authenticity when it comes to the portrayal of armed forces in Hindi films and webseries.
Director Santosh Singh, who is enjoying the positive response to his recently released streaming series 'Ranneeti: Balakot & Beyond', feels that there's a lack of authenticity when it comes to the portrayal of armed forces in Hindi films and webseries.
In fact, the director recollected feedback from the Indian Air Force. The feedback stated that the Air Force doesn't believe in hero worship.
'Ranneeti: Balakot & Beyond' exemplified his fresh approach to storytelling.
He said, "When we portray our armed forces or the defence establishment, we have to be extra careful with how we present them onscreen. They are all about discipline — the way they behave, their body language, and their uniforms. They wear it with a lot of pride. You have to respect that."
He further mentioned that in one of the movies, he saw the hero walking around the whole film with his collar up.
He shared, "It’s a major put-off and wrong on so many levels. In the Air Force, you would be thrown out for this."
He said that his approach to patriotic narratives is informed by a critical piece of feedback he received from the Air Force
Recollecting the same, he said, "I was told by the Air Force that they don’t believe in hero worship."
"You mainly find movies built around just one heroic character. In the real world, there are many, many people behind these historic events. As soon as you put the disclaimer that your film or series is inspired by true events, then you are looking at a credible and authentic portrayal of the events, and your responsibility as a filmmaker increases many folds," he said.
For him, as the director, it’s his job to make people understand, and if the audience does not understand, then it means the director has failed them.