'Soldiers Carry Scars and Wounds with a Smile on Their Face', Says Arjun Rampal

J.P. Dutta's next ‘Paltan’, which is based on the Nathu La military clashes of 1967, is the last part in J.P. Dutta’s war trilogy after ‘Border’ (1997) and ‘LOC Kargil’ (2003). The multi-starrer movie features an ensemble cast including Jackie Shroff, Arjun Rampal, Sonu Sood, Gurmeet Choudhary, Harshvardhan Rane, Siddhant Kapoor, Luv Sinha, Esha Gupta, Sonal Chauhan, and Deepika Kakar. The cast of the film shot with real-life soldiers and the team including Arjun Rampal, Sonu Sood, Gurmeet Choudhary, Harshvardhan Rane shared behind the scenes experiences during an exclusive interview with Republic TV.

While talking about his encounter with a jawan who was shot thrice in the stomach, Arjun Rampal said,

"Guru introduced us to an Army jawan and when we asked him 'how many wars have you been a part of?' He told us that he was a part of Kargil and when we asked him if he has been injured, this guy pulled up his shirt and showed us three bullet wounds in his stomach so casually. And he said, 'these three bullets hit me' and then everybody started showing their wounds to us. So these are all the scars and the wounds that they carry with themselves with a smile on their face. The actor also went on to say, "My grandparents were in the army. I have climbed the Siachen Glacier and I have gone and lived with the soldiers there so the respect for them has always been high. It was a huge responsibility to be able to walk in the shoes of such true life heroes."

Sonu Sood, sharing his own experience of shooting with the soldiers said, "When we were talking to them, they did not care that they have been shot. They told us that when they leave in a group they ensure that their companions are not shot at. If something happens to their teammates, they lose their mind so the revenge drive is so strong. I think this sense of brotherhood is something very important that we can learn from them ." 'Paltan' is slated for a release on September 7.