Mumbai: Film producers Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur announced Friday their next project Pippa. The film Pippa is a war drama and will have Ishaan Khatter in the lead. This is the first time that Ishaan Khatter will be seen in a war drama. The film will be directed by director Raja Krishna Menon of Airlift fame and will have the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war as the backdrop.
Khatter will play the role of Brigadier Balram Singh Mehta of the 45th Cavalry tank squadron. Mehta, along with his siblings, fought on the eastern front during the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971.
Khatter said he feels honoured to be a part of the project. “I am exhilarated to be a part of a film of such magnitude and importance. Getting a chance to play the role of the suave and spirited tank commander Captain Balram Mehta is a true privilege,” Khatter said.
The film is based on Mehta’s book ‘The Burning Chaffees’, written by the Brigadier himself. The movie’s title is taken from the Russian amphibious war tank called the PT-76, popularly known as Pippa.
Ravinder Randhawa, Tanmay Mohan and Menon have penned the movie’s script.
Menon said Pippa is also has an emotional core that celebrates the triumph of love and humanity.
“The fact that there is going to be some never-seen-before tank war action is extremely thrilling to me as a filmmaker. However, it’s the heroism and patriotism displayed by the young and strapping Brigadier Mehta, despite all that he was going through in his family, that really connected with me when Siddharth shared this story,” Menon stated.
Screwvala, who previously produced the 2019 war film Uri: The Surgical Strike, said that the present generation must know about the story of Mehta.
Pippa, produced by RSVP and Roy Kapur Films, is scheduled to be released in 2021.
