Pippa Movie Review: Must-Watch – Ishaan's Striking Performance and the Untold Story of the India-Pakistan War

Pippa Movie Review:- Pippa is released on 10 November 2023 and streaming on Prime Video. Directed by Raja Krishna Menon, the film stars Ishaan Khattar in the lead role while Mrunal Thakur and Priyanshu Painyuli play supporting roles. All three are playing the roles of real brothers and sisters. The special thing is that there is no heroine in the film to take the place of the girlfriend.

Image Credit- Koimoi

As a result of the war between India and Pakistan in 1971, Bangladesh was born, which was earlier called East Pakistan. The recently released film Mujib: The Making of a Nation was based on the life of Bangladesh's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder of Bangladesh. In it, his struggle for the country's independence was shown in depth. Now Pippa has come. The book "The Burning Chaffees" by Brigadier Balram Singh Mehta was the source of the inspiration for the film.  Captain Balram Singh Mehta, who led the 45th Cavalry Regiment of the Indian Army, fought bravely in the Battle of Garibpur on the Eastern Front during the India-Pakistan War of 1971. His elder sibling fought in this war as well. At the same time, his sister may not have gone to the border but worked for an intelligence agency, where she decoded confidential

messages.

What is Pippa's story?

The film gives information about the conditions in East Pakistan and West Pakistan after the partition of India in 1947. Then comes the year 1970, when for the first time in Pakistan, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's party Bangladesh Awami League won the general elections with an overwhelming majority, but Pakistan's President General Yahya Khan refused to accept the results and arrested Mujib. This increases anger in East Pakistan. They start agitating demanding an independent country. To crush the movement, the Pakistani Army carried out many mass massacres. She makes women slaves for her debauchery.

In those circumstances, lakhs of people come to India and take shelter. Meanwhile, Pakistan challenges India for war. He attacked India on 3rd December. After 13 days, the Pakistani army surrendered, and a new country Bangladesh emerged.

How is Pippa's screenplay?

The name of the film is based on the amphibious war tank PT-76, fondly called 'Pippa', which floats on water as easily as an empty canister of ghee. This tank played an important role in the battle. Captain Balram Mehta's alias Balli (Ishaan Khattar)'s love for this tank is shown at the very beginning of the story. Mehta's father was also a soldier. His elder brother Ram Mehta (Priyanshu Painyuli) took part in the 1965 war. Sister Radha (Mrinal Thakur) is studying medicine. When war is suddenly declared, Ram receives a message to return to duty. 

Image Credit-Times of India

For disobeying instructions, Balram is sent to the office desk in Delhi. Circumstances take a turn and Balram is sent to the war front. In a dramatic turn of events, Radha starts decoding secret messages for the intelligence agency.

This film by Raja Krishna Menon, who has made Airlift, is mainly the story of brothers and sisters. Political aspects are not included in this. Nor has the brutality and oppression of Pakistan been shown properly. It depicts the PT-76 in action and its role in the war, but there is no excitement.

Balram calls Pippa his life, but that bond between the two has not been established in the story. The film's script, written by Ravindra Randhawa, Tanmay Mohan, and Raja Krishna Menon, required extensive work on war.

It is exciting to watch the war story on screen when the enemy's tactics and preparations are seen and he fails in it. The Pakistani side has not been depicted properly here. When Ram escapes from Pakistani custody, the sight of helpless women locked in the room does not give goosebumps. The Indian Army returns home after liberating the neighboring country. This aspect is important. This film is not able to show that aspect very seriously.

How was the acting of the actors?

Ishaan Khattar is a great actor. He has tried to assimilate Balram's feelings, but he seems to lack the strength of a military officer. When he goes to see the refugees coming from Bangladesh, it does not seem as if Balram is in pain or the audience is feeling that pain. Priyanshu Painyuli has proved himself in his role. He has played the role of a responsible army officer along with a strict elder brother with appropriate emotions.

No hard work has been done on the character of Mrinal Thakur as Radha. There is no backstory to his character. The way he is shown cracking the secret code at the end seems rushed. There is no sympathy for Soni Razdan in the role of mother. Whereas Chandrachud Rai in the role of Chief (Captain Balram's senior) and Anuj Singh Duhan in the role of Speedy (Captain Balram's companion) are fine. Kamal Sadana appears in a brief role as Sam Maneksha. Next month, the film Sam Bahadur on Sam Maneksha is coming, in which Vicky Kaushal will play the role of Sam. It remains to be seen which aspect that film raises.

Ishaan Khattar has played his character brilliantly. A young soldier who feels that he can neither do anything for his family nor his army. How he fights on two fronts. Ishaan has handled this struggle very well. He should be praised for that. Ishaan gives goosebumps in war scenes and brings tears to his eyes in emotional scenes. Again, Mrinal Thakur has performed excellently, and his character is outstanding. The performance of Priyanshu Painyuli as Ishaan's older brother is equally amazing. He impresses a lot with his character. The other actors have performed superbly as well.

Direction

Raja Krishna Menon's direction is on point, Raja has created a good balance of emotion and military bravery. The film has not been dragged anywhere. Although Mrinal is an experienced actor, her character hasn't been artificially enhanced. Every character has been given the necessary amount of space, and a skilled director is one who focuses more on the flow of the story than the stars.

Audience Reviews

We can say with confidence that the Pippa movie has gotten largely positive reviews when considered through a combination of critic and audience evaluations from websites like NDTV, Times of India, and IMDb. The film has received praise for its compelling plot, outstanding acting from the team, and skilled guidance. Well, we know that there are bad reviews of any creative work. But this movie had a good performance and has won the hearts of the audience.

Music

AR Rahman has worked his magic again. The music of the film is fantastic. When Arijit Singh's voice says 'Main Parwana', a different kind of magic prevails. The rest of the songs are also good and give a great feel to the film.

Overall, this film should be seen and must be seen. Because such films show that good cinema can be made. You just need to have the desire and passion to create.

The spirit of the military family

There is another important story about the turmoil of relationships in the family. That is of PT-75 tank, which was the first such tank of India, which floated in the water like a box of ghee i.e. the word 'Pippa' in the Punjabi language. Captain Balram Singh Mehta of India's 45 Cavalry Regiment was given the task of directing this war. Bangladesh gained independence under Captain Balram's leadership during the war, after the deaths of his seniors. With this, his troubled family relationships also got resolved.

‘Pippa Movie’ is based on a true story.

Based on Brigadier Balram Singh Mehta's book 'The Burning Chaffees', Pippa is his real story. Even after this, the film has been co-written by Ravinder Randhawa, Tanmay Mohan, and Raj Krishna Menon. The writing team has written this film tightly and that tightness is visible on the screen as well. Directed by Raja Krishna Menon, this film has every element that should be seen in a film. Here their technical team also needs to be appreciated. A lot of effort has been made to keep the film so real. The locations of the film have also been shown to be from the 70s. The work of the casting team is also good.

The movie is amazing

This film of Ishaan should be watched, it is not that no film was made on the 1971 war. This is a little different from them all. The tank used in the film is also real. Apart from this, the acting, direction, and writing in the film are also amazing. should see this also

In films made in a particular period, there is a lot of talk about the actors, director, music, editing, and dance composition, this will be the case here too. However, the production designer is the one who gives any movie of this kind its soul. 

When viewing these types of movies, the audience's task is to become emotionally involved in the movie, and the filmmakers' goal is to present something in the first twenty to twenty-five minutes that makes the person watching feel as though they are part of the story right away. Grab it. This is the second excellent composition by composer AR Rahman from the movie "Pippa," which has the Shelley song "Main Parvana." Singer Arijit Singh, who is fitting into a special kind of groove, has been reborn in this song through Rahman's music. Apart from Vijay A Ganguly's dance direction, Mandira Shukla's costume design also gets put to full test in this song. So, Pippa's movie has an excellent Film