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Indian Army Day 2026| Military consultants on Border 2, Ikkis and 120 Bahadur decode their work and impact on war films
On Indian Army Day today, we decipher what goes around behind the scenes in the process of making war films between military consultants and filmmakers
The Hindi film industry has long drawn inspiration from stories of the Army and defence forces to showcase the valour and bravery of our heroes through the big screen. While in earlier days drama used to take the forefront, in recent times, these stories seem to be based more in reality, and the reason behind that are the military consultants that are brought onboard films.
This new profession has become more prevalent in recent years and to take a dive into how it functions, on Indian Army Day today, we got a hold of some of the officers who worked behind the scenes in films like Sam Bahadur, Ikkis, 120 Bahadur and the upcoming Border 2.
What goes into the job?
Col Manish Sarin (Retd), who has worked as a consultant on Sam Bahadur, Sarzameen, 120 Bahadur, and the upcoming Subedar believes the growing trend of military consultants is a good thing. Explaining his work process, he shares, “For each scene, I make different tables about each element, be it the weapons, the uniform, the dialogues and everything. You don’t want to compromise on the storytelling but also on the realism. You refer to the historical material for events of the past and for recent events, you speak to people involved on field and do a thorough research.”
Major Sandeep Sangwan (Retd), who consulted on Pippa, Emergency and Border 2, informs that the consultants’ work starts from the scripting stage and they make sure that if they see anything wrong in it as per Army conduct, they rectify it. “There are certain things which are allowed under cinematic liberty but there are some non-negotiables too. On set, you keep an eye out for the finer details, like the uniforms and if the ranks on it are correct,” he shares.
For Brigadier Brijendra Singh (Retd), Ikkis was the first film he consulted on and being from the Poona Regiment and a buddy of Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal, he brought in lived-in experience on the film. “Army is evolving, our uniforms, manner of speaking have changed over time, so having someone from that time brings the right perspective. I was happy that Sriram Raghavan decided to portray the actual tanks of that time and I gave my inputs on how to make them as close to how they were. Even I wasn’t able to decipher that they were models,” he says.
Where Bollywood goes wrong
While Hindi films are heading towards more realism, there are still areas where they lack. Pointing those out, Col Sarin says, “There are certain stereotypes about the jingoism and loud patriotism that people have taken from older films, but the new generation of filmmakers take into account that it’s not always loud shouting. They are also perceptive to feedback and consultants help them with it.”
Major Sangwan adds to the discussion by saying, “Earlier there used to be sequences where a single grenade would blow up an entire tank, which does not happen in real life. Nowadays, people see it as a joke, so filmmakers also started going towards realism and it started with films like Lakshya.”
Cinematic liberty vs realism
According to 120 Bahadur director Razneesh Ghai, the fight between cinematic liberty and realism doesn’t happen much when the films are made with honesty and authenticity. “There are times when your vision doesn’t align with them. But if you want to make an honest film then it doesn’t really comes to point where you disagree. Yeah of course sometimes your own research may differ from theirs. But then you work together as a team to find the best possible solution,” he says.
Director Tejas Vijay Deoskar, who made Ground Zero (2025) agrees to prioritising the consultants’ changes over the cinematic vision. “The film has to be based on the guidelines that they give. You cannot take liberty which does not align with them. They need to be given respect as they are the ones who are keeping their neck on the line for us. Their changes are also in a way that they don’t hamper our creative process. There is that mutual understanding as it’s a collaborative effort.”
Major Sangwan also work on the same principle as he says, “Storytelling needs emotions, so you need creative liberty for that. That’s why things like a love angle become a part of films. But as for the Army part, we try to keep in tandem with realism. The limits are decided on shoot with mutual discussion.”
The after effects
The coming of military consultants on board helps the army too. Explaining how, Brigadier Singh shares, “It helps when it’s the right portrayal. We don’t want to be made a laughing stock. The consultants need to be there, irrespective of the length of the sequence of the defence forces that is there in the film.”
