The uniformed officers who put their lives on the line for the nation and its citizens everyday are the real heroes of the nation, but the women who stand beside them in full support, keeping their emotions at side for the bigger cause of the nation, are heroes too. That is what is shown in the recently released web series Operation Safed Sagar. Actor Amrita Bagchi, who played the character of Alka Ahuja, the wife of martyred Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja, completely agrees with the assessment.
Having played the wife of an Air Force officer in the show, Amrita Bagchi says, “They’re also heroes to me. I think we put masculinity and femininity in a label and we connect it to gender, but I think there is masculine and feminine sides to all of us.”
Using the show as a reference, she elaborates, “When a man is up alone in the sky and he’s reading his wife’s letter and he’s crying, that’s his feminine side, and we cannot deny that. And when a woman is sitting here and saying it’s okay if it’s his birthday, we’ll call papa another time, it’s fine, that’s her masculine side. I just feel that everybody has these sides.”
Watch the entire chat with the team of Operation Safed Sagar here:
Amrita asserts that heroism comes from the bravery of bearing the cost that you have to pay, and it isn’t just limited to the men on the frontlines. “You are a hero if you’re willing to bear the cost, that’s what it is. As a woman, you’re willing to bear the cost [of being away and this uncertainty], you’re a hero. As a man, you’re willing to bear this insane cost [of putting your life on the line for the nation], you’re a hero. It’s not connected to one form. These are umbrella terms,” she says.
Recalling a scene that left an impression on her in the show, Amrita shares, “At a point when he’s waiting for his wife to say bye to him but she doesn’t come, he looks at her and that’s a feminine moment irrespective of the gender. But when she’s taking charge saying I’m going to help this woman and I’m going to drive, it’s a different side. We all have both. It’s Shiva and Shaki, two energies and it depends on which side you’re leaning towards at that time.”
Operation Safed Sagar chronicles the military operation carried out by the Indian Air Force during the 1999 Kargil War. Based on true incidents and characters, the show stars Siddharth, Jimmy Shergill, Abhay Verma, Dia Mirza Rekhi, Amrita Bagchi, Prajakta Koli, Mihir Ahuja, Taaruk Raina and Arnav Bhasin.