Gunjan Saxena Real Life Story: The First IAF Female Pilot Who Combated In Kargil War

Earlier, Karan Johar made it official on his upcoming project Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl which stars Janhvi Kapoor in the lead role. The biopic is based on the real life story of Gunjan Saxena, the first female pilot of India who joined the IAF in the Kargil war. While there are several Bollywood biopics about historical heroes, the number of movies revolving around heroines like Gunjan Saxena is rare.

As the first teaser of Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl is stirring the internet, let’s take a closer look at Gunjan Saxena real life story and how she became a source of inspiration for the biopic movie.

Gunjan Saxena original

Gunjan Saxena hailed from a military family in New Dehli. She was born in 1974 with both her father and brother are Army officers and was inspired to become one.

She has been dreaming of being a pilot after seeing the cockpit for the first time at the age of 5. The young girl went to Safdarjung Flying Club after graduation to make her dream come true.

Gunjan Saxena pilot biography

With great efforts and passion, she became one of the 25 female Flight Lieutenant who were selected to become trainee pilots into the Indian Air Force (IAF) in 1995. They were the first batch of female pilots training batch the IAF had ever conducted and posted in different states like Jammu, Udhampur and Kashmir.

However, due to the extreme physical and mental stress they might encounter while flying into the combat area, female pilots were not allowed to take part in real battles. However, it was not until the Kargil war between India and Pakistan broke out in 1999 that Gunjan finally got the chance to serve the nation. It was due to the lack of pilots that all male and female pilots were allowed. It was the first time Gunjan flew a fighter jet to the real combat zone. At that time, she was only 24.

Suggested post: Paayal Rajput Signed On To Play First Woman Pilot Of Indian Air Force

Along with her fellow Srividya Rajan, the young woman flew her Cheetah helicopter to support the Operation Vijay in the Kargil war. She was in charge of several tasks like rescuing injured soldiers, providing necessary equipment for units and monitoring the positions of enemies during the fights.

In an interview later, it has never been easy for someone to fly a jet in a fierce war and it’s way more challenging to do it as a woman. However, Gunjan Saxena managed to complete all of her tasks successfully and contributed to the victory of India.

In an interview later, the female pilot confessed that she faced a lot of difficulties especially the enemy’s missiles and gunfire while being on duty. In fact, her jet got fired and she fortunately had a narrow escape.

With great courage and perseverance, she was honored with the  Shaurya Chakra Award for her contribution during the Kargil war. She is also the first woman to received the noble award from the Indian military.

She worked in the military for 18 years and got married to her fellow who is also an IAF pilot. They welcomed their daughter in 2004.

Gunjan Saxena biopic

The biopic which relieves Gunjan Saxena real life story features Bollywood rising star Janhvi Kapoor in the lead role. The young actress will play the role of Gunjan Saxena while Pankaj Tripathi will be seen as her father and Angad Bedi steps into the role of her brother.

The film was initially slated to hit the theater in April 2020 but got delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic in India. Instead of waiting for the theatrical release, the movie has been made available on the video streaming flatform Netflix since June 2020.

Also read: Janhvi Kapoor Shares Heartfelt Note On Completing “Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl”

Check out the movie trailer here:

Gunjan Saxena real life story has proved that Indian women can do anything a man can like flying a fighter jet. The movie is a beautiful message which praises the role of woman in society. Stay stunned with Starbiz.com to get more updates about Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl as well as other upcoming Bollywood movies.

Read more on Starbiz:

• Axone Movie Download | Latest Netflix Web Series Made Download Available
• Lesser-Known Facts About 'Joker' Heath Ledger Last Movie Which Was Undone Before His Death