“No one wins a war. Whether the soldier is from our side or the other side of the border, it’s the soldier’s family which is always at loss” is the adage presented by the movie “Bunker”. The mental health of Indian Armed Forces is one of the least discussed perils facing our country. Touted as India’s first Anti-War movie and throwing light on the Mental Health of a soldier, Bunker is all set to give the audience a close view of not just the war we know but also the war we don’t know, that which goes inside the minds of the armed forces. In a rarest move, the makers of the film on Wednesday announced 100% of the profits being donated to Bharat Ke Veer and Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA) as homage to our armed forces while unveiling the trailer of the movie, presented by Wagging Tail Entertainment.
One more highlight of the film is that, 95% of the film is shot in a 12 by 8 feet Bunker in 5 days! The Bunker, here is used as a metaphor for a soldiers mind which is always at conflict between duty towards the country and duty towards the family, and it will definitely give you a feel of patriotism.The film depicts Lieutenant Vikram Singh as a lone survivor with a fatal injury in a secret Bunker at the LOC in Poonch, Kashmir which has been hit by a mortar shell during a ceasefire violation. The film brings up important issues like Mental Health, Inter-Personal Relationships between Army families and how a soldier and his family pays the ultimate price for cross border tensions. The film has been widely applauded at numerous film festivals too.
96% of the soldiers feel discussing mental health or accepting any mental health problems holds a big stigma. There are approximately 1.4 million soldiers in India and 100 soldiers commit suicide every year since 2003. Writer – Director Jugal Raja shared, “After having travelled across Leh to the North East Tawang, meeting the soldiers and talking to them, I realized that their families were fighting their battles in their own way, and are nothing less than soldiers themselves which inspired me to set the tone of Bunker. The movie also focuses on the important issues like the stress soldiers go through because of the distance from family, inability to assist in family distress, marital discord, leaves getting cancelled, dealing with persistent feelings of isolation, loneliness and possible sickness coupled with the near impossibility of air evacuation due to poor weather conditions and more”.
Lead actor Abhijeet Singh, who plays the titular role of Lieutenant Vikram Singh added, “Bunker is a film that’s a biopic of every soldier whose name you may not heard in life. It is a story of all of them culminated in one. The 2 months I spent while prepping for the most-promising script I have come across was different, unheard and a great learning process. I was told not see any army based films. Vikram Singh is a common man having a tough job. He is not a super hero but that of a man who stands behind a superhero. This was a story of any supporting character that you might have seen in any army based films made till now. The human factor was real and organic.” He further adds, “Most of the time we spent, we sat in a closed area without any ventilation, which made me claustrophobic. It was only on the day of shoot that the reality struck me as my eyes were not just closed but I had prosthetics on for almost 14 to sometimes 18 hours a day, while we were shooting inside the Bunker”
National Award Winning singer Rekha Bhardwaj has also lent her voice for a heartfelt rendition, a peace anthem “Lautke Ghar Jaana Hai”, which is an integral part of the narrative.
Presented by Wagging Tail Entertainment, Produced by Falcon Pictures Production, and a Vakoo nationwide release, Bunker – Written and Directed by Jugal Raja, starring Abhijeet Singh and Arindita Kalita in the lead roles, will be releasing on 17th Jan 2020.
