Pippa Web Review: For war, way too propah!

PippaOn Amazon Prime VideoDir Raja Krishna MenonCast Ishaan Priyanshu Painyuli Mrunal ThakurRating 35The first thing that strikes you about Pippamdashbesides its strange title of coursemdashis the sheer quality of the filmrsquos productionI say this primarily because the last Hindi military film I watched is Tejas 2023 And itrsquos by the same coproducers as this film RSVP ie Ronnie Screwvala who in turn also produced the superslick actioner Uri 2019 shot in SiberiaYou only have to watch the opening sequence of Tejasmdashwith the heroinersquos eyes popping out like headlights as she descends from a fighter plane in PacMan level VFXmdashto head straight to the theatrersquos exit door Donrsquot the movie gets a lirsquol better after That one is set among the Indian Air ForceThis one gets inside a cavalry regiment Meaning soldiers fighting in armoured vehicles Pippa itself refers to a particular type of amphibious battle tank namely PT76 Patton I guess that can navigate water bodies Pippa being the nickname derived from the Punjabi word for tincan Dalda type dabba that floats on water the same wayJust the wideangle lens on multiple Pippas in motion charging over a shallow river before they hit land is moneyshot enough for this movie to be conceived The delta dusty forest and interior scenes sufficiently add to the realismI guess the director Raja Krishna Menon inevitably has a lot to do with such basic aesthetics You could sense much of it in Menonrsquos Airlift 2016 similarly set in a conflict zoneAlthough that wasnrsquot exactly a warfilm Pippa is Itrsquos set in the 1971 IndoPak War in particular the Battle of Garibpur wherein Indian tanks evidently crossed the borders to defeat the Pak Army In what was a war to liberate the Bengalispeaking East Pakistan as the separate republic of BangladeshThe second striking feature here is the lead actor Ishaanmdashaptly young enough to play an actual officer in the form of a foot soldier Unlike many yoursquove seen thus far at war Which in the movies as with life is all about old men barking orders and younglings succumbing to geriatric machismo anywayIshaan in a period setting since Mira Nairrsquos A Suitable Boy 2020 is a fully packaged starmaterial in his own right He also makes it to the film because he can kill it with dance steps over AR Rahmanrsquos soundtrack in the officersrsquo mess when he isnrsquot looking the enemy in the eye That innocence is hard to ignoreLikewise the opening sequence of Pippa follows the usual Tejas type templatemdashas you watch the young daredevil willing to risk his life over obediently following orders Hence establishing a rebel at heartIs that one of the reasons I notice that despite the astounding bravery exhibited by this soldier he didnrsquot actually win the ParamMaha Vir Chakra the top gallantry award Or is it because this battle took place pretty much surreptitiously before a formal announcement of warI refer here to Brigadier Balram Mehta captain then on whose life and personal account ie the book The Burning Chaffees 2015 Pippa is based Now I havenrsquot read the book to tell the level of creative heights mounted from the original materialThe usual disclaimer is of course placed in the filmrsquos opening slate Like the lsquonosmokingrsquo warning whenever a character lights up in the movie Down to even a scroll on screen ldquoAlways wear helmets on twowheelersrdquo every time the lead actor shows up on a motorbike without one God seriouslyThis film is also about the herorsquos two siblings Priyanshu Painyuli Mrunal Thakur who simultaneously join the war Painyuli plays the leadrsquos elder brother also in the ArmyHe infiltrates the Bangladeshi camp like a lone wolf I guess Painyuli as the Bangladeshi druglord in Extraction 2020 shouldrsquove helped him land this role Either way I find him among the severely underrated OTT starsThe two brothers in the movie donrsquot get along Which could well be subtext for neighbouring countries at war Or probably not The issue with all the personal stuff merging with something larger is that it just feels way too lsquoscriptyrsquo if you know what I mean Defying the lsquoshow donrsquot tellrsquo dictumAs does the film itself which seems like watching war and its clinical movements from a distance Rather than diving into something deeply visceral responding to pain and emotionsmdashinstantly shaken up by gutwrenching experiences from the trenches as it were I wonder why that is It could well be that some of the greatest war films that plant the viewer into the centre of warmdashtake the recent best examples 1917 2019 or All Quiet on the Western Front 2022mdashare in essence unabashedly antiwar films looking into the consequences of war foremostThe message of Pippa as underlined in the end ldquoSometimes not to fight is not an optionrdquo doesnrsquot cut it without a counterpoint that is the extreme price of war in the first place Empathy being the point of art isnrsquot itAnd which is always the personal storymdashno matter when where why and to whom Places where diplomacy and conscience failed only fatalist realpolitik and forced valour took overWhat remains here therefore is an important piece of history alright And thatrsquos how I viewed itmdashengaged but unmoved

Pippa Web Review: For war, way too propah!

Pippa
On: Amazon Prime Video
Dir: Raja Krishna Menon
Cast: Ishaan, Priyanshu Painyuli, Mrunal Thakur
Rating: 3/5

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Home / Entertainment / Web Series / Article / Pippa Web Review: For war, way too propah!

Pippa Web Review: For war, way too propah!

PippaOn: Amazon Prime VideoDir: Raja Krishna MenonCast: Ishaan, Priyanshu Painyuli, Mrunal ThakurRating: 3/5

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Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast

Pippa
On: Amazon Prime Video
Dir: Raja Krishna Menon
Cast: Ishaan, Priyanshu Painyuli, Mrunal Thakur
Rating: 3/5