All Three Service Chiefs Watched It! Indian Films That Faced Military Scrutiny Before Release
From ‘Rang De Basanti’ reaching all three military chiefs to ‘Mausam’ facing an IAF hurdle, these Indian films underwent defence scrutiny before release.
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A star can learn the salute, squeeze into a cockpit and deliver a stirring speech, but a military film’s toughest audience sometimes arrives before the first paying viewer. For certain Indian productions, the road to release has included script scrutiny, special screenings and a no-objection certificate from defence authorities. Some sailed through; others found their release calendars suddenly looking optimistic. One film even reached a room containing the Defence Minister and the chiefs of all three armed services. From Aamir Khan’s campus rebels to Hrithik Roshan’s fighter pilots, these movies had quite a checkpoint to cross before audiences could judge them.
There is a reason for that scrutiny. In a parliamentary reply, the Defence Ministry said its NOC process considers factual accuracy, military ethos, national security and the disclosure of classified information. The cases below involve different stages of that process, including approval before production and clearance of the finished film; military cooperation during a shoot alone is not the same thing.
1. Rang De Basanti
Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra | Released: January 26, 2006 | Worldwide gross: Rs 96.90 crore
Most filmmakers worry about the first review. The makers of ‘Rang De Basanti’ had to get through a considerably more intimidating preview: then Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Army Chief General J.J. Singh, Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi and Navy Chief Admiral Arun Prakash watched the film before release. The CBFC had sought defence authorities’ views, and the special screening took place in Delhi.
The concern centred on the story’s MiG-21 crash and its depiction of corruption in defence procurement. Aamir Khan, Siddharth, Sharman Joshi, Kunal Kapoor, Atul Kulkarni and Soha Ali Khan play young people whose lives change after the death of a pilot, played by R. Madhavan. Their carefree world gives way to a furious political awakening.
The eventual verdict was far less dramatic than the film’s climax. Contemporary reporting said the minister and service chiefs did not press for significant changes, although the Air Force chief raised a concern about an end-of-film roll of honour for personnel killed in air crashes. The film’s most powerful gatekeepers had watched it – and its central story survived the scrutiny.
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2. Major Saab
Director: Tinnu Anand | Released: June 26, 1998 | Worldwide gross: Rs 22.18 crore
Amitabh Bachchan as a stern military officer, Ajay Devgn as a reluctant cadet and Sonali Bendre as the woman he loves: ‘Major Saab’ had the ingredients of a full-blooded commercial entertainer. Its depiction of military training, however, attracted objections that briefly put its release in doubt.
Defence officials and senior representatives of the services questioned the portrayal of discipline, particularly at the National Defence Academy. Bachchan met Army Chief General Ved Prakash Malik during the clearance process. This was more than a courtesy screening: the film’s release depended on resolving those objections.
A contemporary Film Information report recorded that the Army chief cleared the film on June 18. ABCL subsequently stated that the Defence Ministry and Army NOCs had been submitted to the CBFC, and that all recommended changes and cuts had been carried out. Exhibitors who had been nervously waiting for confirmation could finally breathe again. ‘Major Saab’ made its scheduled June release, with its makers also emphasising that its academy episodes were fictional.
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3. Maa Tujhhe Salaam
Director: Tinu Verma | Released: January 25, 2002 | Worldwide gross: Rs 21.59 crore
If anyone could be counted on to turn a border confrontation into a thunderous big-screen moment, it was Sunny Deol. In ‘Maa Tujhhe Salaam’, he plays Major Pratap Singh, with Tabu and Arbaaz Khan joining a story of infiltration, loyalty and conflict along the India-Pakistan border.
Before its Republic Day weekend opening, producer Mahendra Dhariwal arranged a special screening for Defence Ministry officials to secure a no-objection certificate and avoid controversy after release. In an archived Bollywood Hungama report, he said the officials had been impressed and had given the film the go-ahead.
That makes this a useful example of clearance being sought proactively, rather than a production scrambling after a public objection. The producer was simultaneously preparing a promotional campaign built around patriotic sentiment. The drama audiences saw was loud and action-packed; the business of getting it to those audiences had included a much quieter screening for officials.
4. Mausam
Director: Pankaj Kapur | Released: September 23, 2011 | Worldwide gross: Rs 52.29 crore
‘Mausam’ was selling an epic romance, but the final stretch before release became a lesson in the difference between a cinematic dogfight and a technically convincing one. Shahid Kapoor plays Harinder Singh, an Air Force pilot whose relationship with Aayat, played by Sonam Kapoor, unfolds across years of separation and upheaval. Supriya Pathak and Anupam Kher also feature.
Producer Sheetal Talwar said the script had been approved earlier, yet the IAF subsequently raised technical concerns about an action sequence involving six fighter planes. Uniform and insignia details had also been part of the scrutiny. With the finished film still requiring clearance, its September 16 release became uncertain.
The eventual landing was a week later. Shahid publicly confirmed that both IAF clearance and censor formalities were complete and announced September 23 as the release date. A film about lovers repeatedly missing their moment had, rather fittingly, missed its own first appointment with cinemas.
5. Salaam Kashmir
Director: Joshiy | Released: February 13, 2014
The Malayalam film ‘Salaam Kashmir’, also listed as ‘Salaam Kashmier’, begins with domestic life before bringing its protagonist’s military connections into focus. Jayaram, Suresh Gopi and Miya George lead the cast, with the arrival of Suresh Gopi’s character unsettling the apparently ordinary world of Jayaram’s family man.
Its clearance story was unusually specific. Screenwriter Sethu told The Times of India that a screening before a panel of five or six military intelligence officers had been postponed. The production had shot at military camps in Kashmir, and military personnel also appeared in the film. At that stage, he said, Defence Ministry clearance had been obtained, but the Army screening remained outstanding.
Subsequent reporting confirmed that the delayed NOC had arrived, explaining that the military locations and appearances required scrutiny so national security would not be compromised. The film eventually reached theatres in February 2014. Here, the clearance issue involved what the production had actually filmed, as well as the story it wanted to tell.
6. Soorarai Pottru
Director: Sudha Kongara | Streaming premiere: November 12, 2020 | Platform: Prime Video
A film about making flying affordable might not be the first title that springs to mind in a list of military clearances. Yet ‘Soorarai Pottru’ had a very real Air Force connection behind its aviation dream.
Suriya plays Maara, an ambitious man determined to launch a low-cost airline, in a story inspired by Air Deccan founder G.R. Gopinath. Aparna Balamurali, Paresh Rawal, Mohan Babu and Urvashi also star. Ahead of its planned October 30 streaming launch, Suriya explained that the production had worked with real IAF aircraft and security arrangements, and that some NOCs were still pending. The release was postponed.
The uncertainty did not last long: co-producer Rajsekar Pandian announced on October 23 that the necessary Air Force NOCs had been secured. The film subsequently premiered in November. Maara’s battle to get an airline off the ground had an off-screen echo, although the production’s final hurdle involved permissions rather than a villainous aviation rival.
7. Shershaah
Director: Vishnuvardhan | Streaming premiere: August 12, 2021 | Platform: Prime Video
‘Shershaah’ had a responsibility that extended beyond staging convincing combat. It was telling the story of Captain Vikram Batra, whose courage during the Kargil War earned him the Param Vir Chakra, and whose family and fellow soldiers could recognise where the film got things right—or wrong.
Sidharth Malhotra plays Batra, while Kiara Advani plays Dimple Cheema; Shiv Panditt is among the supporting cast. Reporting before release confirmed that the Defence Ministry had cleared the film’s title and script. Co-producer Shabbir Boxwala also spoke about the importance of defence clearance alongside the family’s permission.
Military involvement continued beyond paperwork. Vishnuvardhan said the Army helped the team move its planned shoot to Kargil when other locations became difficult to support. That distinction matters: its place on this list rests on documented script clearance, while Army assistance also shaped how it was filmed. For a story built around a real soldier, approval and practical guidance were part of the same effort to make the portrayal convincing.
8. Fighter
Director: Siddharth Anand | Released: January 25, 2024 | Worldwide gross: Approximately Rs 359 crore
Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone’s aerial-action spectacle had more than one military checkpoint. Alongside Anil Kapoor, Karan Singh Grover and Akshay Oberoi, they play members of an elite Air Force unit in a fictionalised story drawing on the Pulwama attack and Balakot air strikes.
When a kissing scene attracted a complaint after release, Siddharth Anand explained the approvals the production had already obtained. He told ETimes that the IAF had been involved from script submission and production planning through screenings and reviews of the film. The team had received a physical no-objection certificate before release.
There was also a high-profile Delhi screening one day before the theatrical opening, attended by then Air Chief Marshal V.R. Chaudhari and senior Air Force officers, according to Anand. He said the audience gave the film a standing ovation. Whatever individual viewers later thought of its romance or combat, the director’s account makes its pre-release clearance process unusually explicit.
9. Operation Valentine
Director: Shakti Pratap Singh Hada | Released: March 1, 2024 | Worldwide gross: Rs 10.30 crore
Another 2024 aerial-action film, another production discovering that dramatic instinct and military procedure do not always line up. ‘Operation Valentine’ stars Varun Tej as a fighter pilot and Manushi Chhillar as a radar officer, with Ruhani Sharma and Navdeep also featuring. The Telugu-Hindi bilingual dramatises events surrounding the 2019 Pulwama attack and Balakot air strike.
Varun told Mid-day that the script had been submitted to the Defence Ministry for approval. He said the ministry made changes because some procedures did not function as the original screenplay had imagined. He also recalled being told that nine to 12 scripts based on the same events were awaiting clearance.
That is quite a queue for a story already racing towards its mission. Varun separately confirmed that the team had secured MoD and IAF consent for filming at actual air bases, where security protocols had to determine the shooting timetable. Its approvals therefore influenced both the writing and the logistics of putting the action on screen.
10. Amaran
Director: Rajkumar Periasamy | Released: October 31, 2024 | Worldwide gross: Rs 333.67 crore
‘Amaran’ combines military service with a relationship audiences could invest in long before the battlefield took over. Sivakarthikeyan plays Major Mukund Varadarajan, while Sai Pallavi plays his wife, Indhu Rebecca Varghese. Rahul Bose and Bhuvan Arora also feature in the biographical drama.
The clearance was not something the filmmakers mentioned only in passing. Responding to criticism after release, Rajkumar Periasamy said the Army’s Additional Directorate General of Public Information and the Defence Ministry had watched the film in the first week of October and provided approval and clearance.
He made that statement while addressing an audience at a screening in Ooty, explaining the review that had preceded its October 31 opening. The account establishes a screening of the completed film before its commercial release. ‘Amaran’ went on to become a major theatrical success, with the love story and the military biography both contributing to its emotional pull.
11. Ikkis
Director: Sriram Raghavan | Released: January 1, 2026 | Worldwide gross: Rs 41.65 crore
Sriram Raghavan’s ‘Ikkis’ takes its title from the age of Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal, the Param Vir Chakra recipient killed during the 1971 war. Agastya Nanda plays the young officer, with Dharmendra as his father; Jaideep Ahlawat, Simar Bhatia and Sikandar Kher also feature.
For this production, the documented clearance came early. In an interview with Scroll, Raghavan said the film had been vetted by the Army’s Additional Directorate General of Public Information before production and that clearance had been obtained.
The research also involved Arun’s younger brother, Mukesh Khetarpal, officers who had known him during training and surviving members of his tank crew. Those conversations helped the filmmaker assemble a portrait of the person behind the military honour. Raghavan described wanting the film to leave an ache in the heart – a reminder that these stories involve young lives and grieving families as well as battlefield heroism. Before that story could be filmed, the Army had already examined the project.
