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With Airlift, Rustom and his upcoming film Padman, Akshay Kumar seems to be leaning more towards real stories and sensible cinema nowadays. We hear that he’ll also essay the role of Jaswant Singh Gill, the hero of the Raniganj Coalfield rescue operation (1989).
The former Additional Chief Mining Engineer Jaswant Singh Gill, is known for his gallant rescue operation, in which he evacuated 65 coal miners who were trapped in a flooded mine, by drilling a borehole and going inside the mine himself. For this dauntless act of bravery, Gill was awarded the Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak by President Ramaswamy Venkataraman in 1991.
Jaswant Singh Gill, a graduate of Amritsar’s Khalsa College, recounted his experience in an interview published in The Tribune, narrating how he persuaded his seniors to allow him to venture inside the mine, when they were adamant about not sacrificing an officer such as him.
The next-to-impossible mission was a six-hour ordeal. Initially, a borehole was drilled, into which a steel capsule was lowered, with Gill inside. Once in the mine, Gill began sending up one man at a time and didn’t leave till each one of them was rescued. He was the last man to come out once all the miners had reached the top. The nation along with the bystanders on the site, erupted in a thunderous applause saluting Gill’s heroic act.
For his son and his family too, Gill has been the greatest source of inspiration.
Akshay Kumar has reportedly acquired the rights to this real-life story. Apparently, the actor is also affiliated with a film titled Gold, which is reportedly the true story of a hockey team led by Balbir Singh, that won the first Olympic medal back in 1948.
(Source: The Tribune, The Better India)
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