Vikram Watched 'Border' 8 Times: Kargil Martyr's Parents Remember 'Shershaah'

Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam

"I got very emotional when he was suddenly hit by a bullet in the film," says Kamal Kanta Batra, the mother of Kargil martyr and Param Vir Chakra recipient Captain Vikram Batra, whose role is played by actor Sidharth Malhotra in Vishnuvardhan's Shershaah.

Hailing from the hills of Palampur in Himachal Pradesh, Batra had joined the Indian Army after passing out of the Indian Military Academy in Uttarakhand's Dehradun.

Batra's regiment arrived in Kargil on 1 July 1999 and within 18 days, had recaptured point 5140 (a mountain peak) from Pakistani forces – a Himalayan task that paved the way for the fall of Tiger hill, leading to India's victory in the war.

Around a week later, on the night of 7 July, Captain Batra and his men were about to capture point 4875, when the former came in the line of fire while trying to rescue an injured soldier.

Although Captain Batra was martyred in that hill-top battle, his team was able to successfully capture the very same peak by morning – a peak that was later renamed Batra Top in honour of the officer.

Recalling the year in which Captain Batra joined the armed forces, his mother said that "Vikram had watched the film 'Border' eight times
which left a lasting impression on him. He liked the life and job of a soldier and decided to join the army. Apart from liking Bollywood, he also had a deep sense of patriotism."

His father, GL Batra, said that although they had heard of Vikram's last moments, a reconstruction of the same on screen left him and his wife very emotional all over again.

"A Pakistani soldier in hiding targets him and some three to four bullets hit him in the chest. He then falls down and bleeds from the mouth when he chants his unit's war cry 'Hail Mother Durga' (Durga mata ki jai). He then falls down and becomes a martyr. It was a very emotional moment for us."

GL Batra, Vikram Batra's Father

Proud of their son's sacrifice and happy with the performance of both Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani, who plays the role of Captain Batra's fiancée Dimple, in the movie, the Batras have only one ask – that children be taught about the valour and sacrifice of soldiers like Vikram, who are "no less than freedom fighters".