Suchitra Krishna Hegde

My son and I loved the movie. It should be made compulsory watching in all Indian schools. Sam Maneckshaw's life is impossible to be seen in a 2.5 hour movie. We will be watching it multiple times when it comes on OTT to learn about our history and our armed forces. My son is aware that this is not a fictional action movie for entertainment. Every bullet he saw on the screen was someone's life sacrificed for our country. Vicky Kaushal's acting and the team behind it have done a fabulous job. Thank you, RSVP and Meghana Gulzar for this incredible effort.

There’s a lot of criticism about Tejas: 1. Kangana’s name is Tejas, and she is flying the aircraft Tejas, in a mission called Tejas. Seriously, is this even a criticism of the movie? Do the critics have statistics of all countries’ soldiers to claim that such a thing has not happened in the past and cannot happen in the future? India has the aircraft, her name is not uncommon in the community shown, the name of the mission was chosen because of the previous two. 2. The dialogue is cringe-worthy. Kangana and Anshul Chauhan have acted well. If the dialogue is loud in some instances, it is intentional to deliver comedy. “A woman’s honour is not in her body, it’s in her mind and nobody can take that away from her” - for this statement alone, the movie is worth remembering, and I agree with the sentiment wholeheartedly. The critics of dialogue are referring to a scene where the women discuss that if they fail the mission, people will say that they should have sent men instead. Kangana responds that times are changing, and soon there will be a time when if a mission fails, people will say that they should have sent women instead. This statement captures the core sentiment behind the movie. Salute to Kangana for attempting it. Call her what you want, but this is why I love the lone warrior in an industry of families. 3. It is all about Kangana Ranaut. Yes, there are not too many characters in the film. But I am not a die-hard Kangana fan who has watched all her films. Yet, I watched it FDFS with my 8-year-old son. Watch her last dialogue in the movie to know why. The team behind the movie have their hearts in the right place. Thank you, Ronnie Screwvala sir, I’ve loved your creations since the days of Shanti. I enjoyed talking to you (once) when I worked at UpGrad KnowledgeHut. I’ll watch Sam Bahadur next with my son. We must teach our kids about the sacrifices of our armed forces. Ok, that is my response to the criticism. Now, coming to what I think about the movie: 1. Although a women-centric film, there is no unnecessary male-bashing: Kangana’s superiors are men who appreciate and support her. The Defence Minister is a woman. 2. The editing should have been tighter. The lead actors are flying fighter jets in enemy airspace and they enter into a long sequence of sentimental dialogues. My 8-year-old son commented ‘How long can the planes keep flying like that?’ This sequence could have been chopped to make the movie crisper. If the West has Jennifer Garner in serious action, and Charlie’s Angels (Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu version) for comedy action, Tejas is a good start in women’s action films for us, Indians. Highly recommended to watch it with your sons and daughters.