MILITARY EXPERTS BEHIND THE ON-SCREEN BATTLEFIELDS

Behind Bollywood's most realistic war films are military minds ensuring authenticity

- Akash Bhatnagar

Hindi cinema has long told stories of the Army and defence forces, celebrating the courage of our heroes. While earlier films leaned heavily on drama, recent years have seen a stronger shift towards realism, thanks to officers brought on board as military consultants. On Indian Army Day, today, we speak to some of the leading war film consultants.

WHAT'S THEIR ROLE?

Col Manish Sarin (Retd), who has worked as a consultant on Sam Bahadur (2023), Sarzameen (2025) and 120 Bahadur (2025), calls the rise of military consultants a positive shift, stressing the balance between story and realism.

"For each scene, I make different tables — for weapons, uniforms and more. You don’t want to compromise on storytelling or realism," he says.