Based on the events of the 1971 war, Pippa follows the story of the birth of a new nation amidst an Indo-Pak war that took place on the east coast while focusing on the episode of Captain Balram Singh Mehta of India’s 45 Cavalry Regiment, as he lead his troops behind enemy lines. The story here is understated while focusing on the personal life of Captain Balram Singh Mehta while also highlighting the valour of the Indian Army. Here, I have used the word understated because the drama isn’t designed to give you a high as Uri while bashing our neighbouring country. Instead, the approach here is cerebral in many ways in the events leading up to the eventual war while deftly touching upon the personal equations between characters. The screenplay standing at 140 minutes is absorbing and compelling while stayinh away from the chest thumping jingoism that a film like Tejas was guilty of. As a result, the drama is grounded and it requires a bit of an acquired taste to appreciate it. 

The drama is quick to set a context on the conflict between the erstwhile West and East Pakistan resulting in a massacre at the Dacca University. The episode of the University massacre is nicely highlighted and trauma of the event sets the tone of the drama very well, given that you as a viewer are left numb and a little angry, early on in the film. Soon, you are introduced to the protagonist seen testing his PT-76 Tanker aka ‘Pippa’, a term fondly used for its ability to float on water. I liked how the focus of the scene was on the tanker with all the other characters including the protagonist being used as catalysts. There is a genuine sense of world building wherein you are briefly introduced to the family of the protagonist while highlighting his own personality trait, and his equation with his siblings. 

Often films featuring war as their theme suffer from an incorrigible love angle that slows down the proceedings considerably. But credit to the writers from staying away from the same that helps in not losing focus of the task at hand. The proceedings are engrossing with a deft touch of emotions running as an undercurrent pertaining to the protagonist. The writing is a little simplistic with regard to the protagonist being easily transferred from a clerical post in the army(which was due to a disciplinary action) to the warfront in erstwhile East Pakistan. In other words, the scene transitions weren’t smooth. But the core focus of the film was the war, and the different tracks pertaining to the same were interesting enough to keep you interested. 

I did feel a couple of points worth criticizing would be the absence of an intimidating enemy ‘figure’ which would have added another layer of intrigue to the drama. The other criticism lies with the buildup of the war scenes which could have been a little better with the execution which would have further heightened the drama. Yet, the sequences do exude of a vibe which is of unparalleled pride towards the Indian Army and that is what makes up for some of its flaws. The final act is slightly rushed as well but again it is the homage at the end that saves the day to an extent. Overall, the screenplay is quite well written which would have resulted in an even better impact, had the transition scenes been a little better.