Pippa, the upcoming war drama starring Ishaan Khatter, is based on the true story of Brigadier Balram Singh Mehta, who fought in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war. The title of the film comes from the name of the Russian tank that was used by the Indian Army in the war. “It’s one of the few tanks that can float in water. It actually helped India win the war,” says Khatter, who plays Mehta in the film.
The actor says that he did a lot of research for this role, which he finds the most exciting part of the process. “It is a huge responsibility to represent the Defence Forces. [As prep], we spent seven days each at two army cantonments, one in Rajasthan and another in Maharashtra. We learned how to drive tanks. We shot in West Bengal for 45 days and filmed important events like the Battle of Garibpur. Interestingly, we shot the battle sequence 50 years to the day it actually happened [November 20 and 21, 1971].”
Khatter is clearly passionate about Pippa, which also features Mrunal Thakur and Priyanshu Painyuli. He is not bothered by the fact that the movie—a war drama that deserves to be seen on the big screen—is having a direct-to-OTT release. “We wanted to give it a wide and solo release,” said actor.
The theatrical ecosystem is very crowded for at least the next six months, and this film has been waiting in the wings for long. Amazon Prime Video offered a solo release window on Diwali. What’s more important is for it to reach as many people as possible. Here, it reaches 240 countries,” reasoned the actor.
What sets Pippa apart from other war films is its lack of jingoistic tones—something that Khatter is proud of. “This film is patriotic and rousing. We highlight that as a nation, we should feel proud about liberating a country. But it cannot come at the cost of hating another country”. “You don’t have to generate feelings of hate towards another country to be proud of your own. With Pippa, that’s what I am most proud of,” Khattar added.
