A SUCCESSFUL 1998 covert mission in Pokhran that turned India into a nuclear state was considered to be the biggest failure of the CIA at the time.
John Abraham has brought the remarkable story based on nuclear bomb tests by the Indian army to life with his film Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran.
He plays the lead role and has produced the movie, which finally releases in cinemas this week. “I think it is important to make different films. I am getting the opportunity to make those different films because I am a producer also and have a fantastic team with me,” explained Abraham.
It has been a challenge to bring the story of perhaps the biggest case of nuclear espionage in the world to life. The film has been mired in controversy, delays and court cases triggered by a major falling out with the co-producers, but Abraham is relieved it has made it into cinemas and doesn’t want to disparage anyone.
He said: “It took us a bit of time, but I think everything happens for the best. We want to bring positivity around the film. We want to speak about the good things. We are not here to throw mud in anyone’s face and want to keep it clean. We want to speak about the credibility of everybody attached to this film.”
The actor-turned-producer is thankful to everyone that stood by him during the court case with Kriarj Entertainment, who are no longer associated with the movie, and heaped praise on the film’s director Abhishek Sharma.
“After a while, it’s not about the film, it’s about credibility and what you stand for. I think we are vindicated in what we stood for and that is important. But it is also a fantastic film, which I always thought. Being a creative person, you want a good film for the audience. I didn’t want this to go without audiences seeing it, so we fought our way,” explained the actor.
A lot of intensive research went into the story and the importance of it meant they couldn’t take too many creative liberties. The team behind the film points out the characters are fictional, but the plot is not.
Describing the film as pro-India and not anti-Pakistani, John is surprised someone hasn’t made a film about it earlier. “The reasons today why India is cool and why every Indian, including youngsters, feel India is a cool nation is because of what happened in Pokran in 1998 on 11 May at 3.45.
“It’s a history-defining moment for India. I give the entire credit of conceptualising this to Abhishek because without the director you cannot make it. He is the captain of the ship. He has made a fantastic film with my screenplay and dialogue writers.”
Although it is based on real events, Abraham says it is more an entertaining film than a documentary, and compares it to Hollywood thriller Argo. “Controversies aside, it’s the quality of the film that will speak. If the film is good, people will talk about it; if it is not, people will not talk about it. We are standing here because we think we have made a good film.”
- Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran is in cinemas now
