LOC: Kargil
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	J. P. Dutta
Written by	J. P. Dutta
Produced by	J. P. Dutta
Starring	Mohnish Bahl Sanjay Dutt Ajay Devgn Saif Ali Khan Akshaye Khanna Sunil Shetty Sanjay Kapoor Abhishek Bachchan Manoj Bajpayee Ashutosh Rana Karan Nath Amar Upadhyay Nagarjuna Akkineni
Cinematography	Karim Khatri
Music by	Songs: Anu Malik Score: Aadesh Shrivastava
Production company	J. P. Films
Release date	12 December 2003 (2003-12-12)
Running time	255 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹33crore[1]
Box office	est.₹31.67 crore[1]

LOC: Kargil is a2003IndianHindi-languageepichistoricalwar film based on theKargil War fought betweenIndia andPakistan, produced and directed byJ. P. Dutta under his banner "J. P. Films". The film features anensemble cast ofBollywood stars and music composed byAadesh Shrivastava andAnu Malik, with the former composing the score and the latter composing the songs.

The film is based on theIndian Army's successfulOperation Vijay that was launched in May 1999 in the wake of the Pakistani intrusion and occupation of the strategic heights in theKargil sector to flush out thePakistani intruders from the Indian side of theLine of Control (LoC). Upon release, the film received a mixed response from critics and flopped at the box office. With a running time of 255 minutes, it is one of thelongest Indian films ever made and fifth in terms of running time.^[2][3]

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The film opens with a shot of an Indian soldier's wireless set chirping frantic commands from one of the army bases, calling a patrol to report in while the radio operator lies dead. After attempts from battalions to locate their lost patrols, theIndian Army HQ inJammu and Kashmir decides to deploy more troops. Lts.Saurabh Kalia and Amit Bharadhwaj are sent on reconnaissance patrols along theLine of Control (LoC). Lt. Kalia's patrol is wiped out while Lt. Bharadhwaj's patrol suffers heavy casualties but manages to return to their base. Pakistani forces begin shelling across the LoC, targetingNational Highway 1A (NH-1A). The Indian Army decides to deploy more troops but suffers a rude shock when the company and even battalion-sized patrols are beaten back by the Pakistani intruders who have occupied peaks around theMushkoh Valley,Kargil,Dras, Kaksar andBatalik. After these terrible reverses, the decision is taken to go ahead with maximum mobilization and move the army's best fighting units into the area of operations. However, orders from Delhi are that Indian soldiers are barred from crossing the LoC during their operations. Most mobilized battalions are completely unaware of the nature and size of the threat. Thus the rationale behind maximum mobilization is questioned by all the battalion commanders.

The first unit deployed is the 1st battalion,11 Gorkha Rifles (1/11 GR), who are specialists in high-altitude warfare. 1/11 GR's commanding officer is Col.Lalit Rai, and the battalion has the charismatic and brave Lt.Manoj Pandey leading one of its platoons. Subsequently, the 18th battalion,The Grenadiers (18 Grenadiers), which was in the Kashmir Valley guarding against terrorist infiltration, are deployed in Kargil. The battalion is led by Col. Khushal Thakur, and among the officers and soldiers are men like Lt. Col. R. Vishwanathan, Maj.Rajesh Adhikari, Lt. Balwan Singh, Capt. Sachin Nimbalkar, and Grens.Yogendra Singh Yadav. 18 Grenadiers are followed by the 17th battalion,Jat Regiment (17 Jat) led by Col. Umesh Singh Bawa with Capt.Anuj Nayyar leading one of its units. 17 Jat is followed by the 13th battalion,Jammu & Kashmir Rifles (13 JAK Rif) commanded by Maj. turned Lt. Col.Yogesh Kumar Joshi (Joe) with Lt.Vikram Batra leading one of its units. Other battalions are subsequently inducted into the theatre of conflict. TheIndian Air Force launches photographic reconnaissance missions in order to identify the intruders.

The first assault was carried out by the 1/11 GR advance platoon, led by Lt. Pandey, who first captured Yaldar village and linked up with a beleaguered and severely mauled company from the 3rd battalion,Punjab Regiment (3 Punjab). JCOs from 3 Punjab reveal that earlier patrols from 3 Punjab and 16 Grenadiers had gone missing in the Kukarthang sector. Lt. Pandey's platoon followed the patrol paths and launched an attack on Kukarthang post, a very heavily defended enemy position supported by mortar units and artillery batteries on the Pakistani side of the LoC. The Gorkhas captured Kukarthang after taking 9 casualties. It is later revealed that the size of the infiltration was much larger than previously thought. Indian Army planners believe that approximately 3,000 members of thePakistan Army'sNorthern Light Infantry were involved.

The second battle was at the strategicTololing mountain, which sits astrideNational Highway 1D, the main supply route for the entire northern Kashmir sector, includingSiachen andLeh. 18 Grenadiers linked up with the severely beaten 16 Grenadiers and got the first-hand knowledge of the situation. A company from 18 Grenadiers, led by Maj. Adhikari, attacks Tololing. The company is held up midway due to heavy fog; it waits for clear weather. Intense enemy shelling occurs while the men are resting, causing panic and casualties. They try to move up the mountain but are pushed down by heavy small arms fire from intruders who are well entrenched atop the feature. Subsequent attacks from the Indians are stifled by stiff resistance, and in the absence of artillery support, Maj. Adhikari and Lt. Col. Vishwanathan get killed. 18 Grenadiers make a total of 4 attempts to recapture Tololing but are repeatedly beaten back.

Meanwhile, a unit from 17 Jat led by Maj. Deepak Rampal captures a Pakistani mortar position. They subsequently liberate an important peak, but suffer casualties. Col. Bawa tasks them to capture Pt. 4850.

18 Grenadiers are relieved by the 2nd battalion,Rajputana Rifles (2 Raj Rif), commanded by Col. Ravindranath, which moves in with an artillery battery of 110 mm field artillery and acclimatized troops. They launch a multi-pronged attack with artillery support which ends in success but at a heavy cost, with Capt. Vijayant Thapar, Maj. Padmapani Acharya, Maj. Vivek Gupta and Captain Nemo killed. All this happens while 13 JAK Rif stands by in case 2 Raj Rif fails. Meanwhile, the Indian Air Force launches combat sorties (Operation Safed Sagar) and bombs enemy positions.

13 JAK Rif is blooded at Rocky Knob, where they take the field after suffering heavy casualties. They follow it up with another victory at Point 5140, where Lt. Batra distinguishes himself by taking the south face of the peak without any casualties and is promoted to Captain.

The decisive phase of the war arrives. 18 Grenadiers are assigned to takeTiger Hill, 17 Jat to Three Pimple Complex feature, 1/11 GR to Khalubar Ridge, and 13 JAK Rif to Point 4875. After a heavy artillery barrage, 18 Grenadiers take Tiger Hill, spearheaded by a daring stealth attack by the elite Ghatak section, which includes both Grens. Yogendra Singh Yadav. However, only one member of the section, Gren. Yadav (Manoj Bajpayee), survives (despite being shot several times) to link up with the rest of the battalion. 17 Jat suffers heavy casualties with Capt. Nayyar and several others killed and injured but are able to secure Three Pimple Complex.

1/11 GR link up with 22 Grenadiers at the base of Khalubar Ridge after braving an intense creeping barrage of artillery. Lt. Pandey somehow keeps the sagging morale of the weary unit up till the battalion begins its attack. The plans go awry when Col. Rai, is injured by machine gunfire. Lt. Pandey volunteers to take out the bunkers which are holding up the attack. The machine guns are taken out, but Lt. Pandey and his platoon sergeant Hav. Bhim Bahadur are killed.

The last battle is fought by 13 JAK Rif at Bunker Complex. The unit gets split up – Capt. Batra is sent to link up with Capt. Nagappa has captured one bunker and is surrounded by the enemy. Batra links up with Nagappa but is pinned down by the heavy enemy fire. He single-handedly takes out two bunkers but is mortally wounded. 13 JAK Rif pursues the fleeing enemy to the LOC, but Lt. Col. Joe stops due to orders not to cross it. After that, the 18 Grenadiers, 8 Sikhs, and 1/11 Gorkha Rifles launch their final attack onTiger Hill, and they manage to capture it. 17 Jat captures Three Pimple Complex. 13 J&K Rifles capture Point 4875. 1/11 GR capture Khalubar Ridge. Finally, India declares Operation Vijay on 14 July 1999 a success.

The film however ends on a sombre note as it shows the bodies of soldiers who are killed in action being sent home to their families while some soldiers who survived happily reunite with their families.

Just like J. P. Dutta's previous war filmBorder, the Indian military provided technical and material assistance during the production and filming ofLOC Kargil. Weapons depicted were those used in the Kargil war, like different variants of theINSAS rifle family as well as SwedishBofors Haubits FH77 artillery guns andBM-21 Grad multiple rocket launchers. Indian Air Force planes likeSEPECAT Jaguars in bombing roles and helicopters likeMil Mi-17s andHAL Cheetahs were shown in casualty evacuation roles. Pakistani artillery depicted were Indian field guns and 81 mm mortars.SLRs stood in for theG3 rifles used by the Pakistan Army.^{[citation needed]}

Shah Rukh Khan was first offeredSanjay Dutt's role, but things couldn't be worked out.Aamir Khan was the initial choice forKaran Nath's role.Rahul Khanna andArbaaz Khan were signed for the film, but both walked out later.Jackie Shroff was signed for the film but dropped out later.Salman Khan was the original choice forAbhishek Bachchan's role.Mukesh Khanna was signed for the film but was later replaced byRaj Babbar.Danny Denzongpa was signed for the film but later opted-out;Sudesh Berry replaced him later.^{[citation needed]}

The music of this movie was composed byAnu Malik, with lyrics written byJaved Akhtar.^[4] According to the Indian trade websiteBox Office India, with around 15,00,000 units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the year's eighth highest-selling.^[5]

List of songs

Anupama Chopra ofIndia Today calledLOC: Kargil "Wasted effort" and wrote, "Stretching to more than four hours, the film feels almost as long as the actual conflict."^[6] Anita Bora forRediff.com wrote, "The battle scenes are gruesome, loud and hammer at you, much like the blazing guns in the background. But a lot has gone into making the scenes as realistic as possible. ... The one negative factor is its length. This might deter many from watching the movie. Possibly a slightly edited version, keeping it within 3 hours is called for".^[7] Kavitha K ofDeccan Herald wrote, "The movie has crisp dialogues (O.P. Dutta), good cinematography (Karim Khatri), well executed war sequences (Bhiku Verma), but fails to keep the viewer riveted for four long hours because of the surfeit of cameos, canons and caterwauling damsels."^[8]

49th Filmfare Awards:

Nominated

• Best Director –J. P. Dutta
• Best Supporting Actor –Manoj Bajpayee
• Best Music Director –Anu Malik
• Best Lyricist –Javed Akhtar for "Ek Saathi Aur Bhi Tha"

• LOC: Kargil atIMDb 
• LOC: Kargil atBollywood Hungama

• 2003 films
• 2000s war drama films
• 2000s action war films
• 2000s historical action films
• 2000s Hindi-language films
• Films set in 1999
• Indian war drama films
• Films about Islamic terrorism in India
• Kargil War
• War films based on actual events
• Films based on Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts
• Films scored by Anu Malik
• Indian Army in films
• Kashmir conflict in films
• Films directed by J. P. Dutta
• Indian action war films
• Military of Pakistan in films
• Indian historical action films
• Films set in Kargil
• 2003 drama films

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