''Vijeta'' (English: The Victor) is a 1982 Indian

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...

Hindi film produced by

Shashi Kapoor Shashi Kapoor (pronounced �əʃi kəpuːɾ (born Balbir Raj Kapoor; 18 March 1938 – 4 December 2017) was an Indian actor and film producer who is best known for his work in Hindi films. A recipient of several accolades, including four Nation ...

and directed by

Govind Nihalani Govind Nihalani (born 19 December 1940) is an Indian film director, cinematographer, screenwriter and producer, known for his works in Hindi cinema. He has been the recipient of six National Film Awards, and five Bollywood Filmfare Awards. In 1 ...

. It stars Shashi Kapoor, his son

Kunal Kapoor Kunal Kapoor may refer to: * Kunal Kapoor (actor, born 1959), Indian film actor * Kunal Kapoor (actor, born 1977), Indian actor, writer and entrepreneur * Kunal Kapoor (cricketer) (born 1987), Indian cricketer * Kunal Karan Kapoor (born 1982), In ...

Rekha Bhanurekha Ganesan (born 10 October 1954), better known by her stage name Rekha, is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Hindi films. Acknowledged as one of the finest actresses in Indian cinema, she has starred in more than 180 fil ...

Amrish Puri Amrish Puri (22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005) was an Indian actor, who was one of the most notable and important figures in Indian cinema and Theatre. He acted in more than 450 films, established himself as one of the most popular actors ...

and

Supriya Pathak Supriya Pathak (born 7 January 1961) is an Indian actress who works in Gujarati and Hindi films and television. She has received multiple awards including three Filmfare Awards for Best Supporting Actress. She is mostly popular for playing the ...

with K.K. Raina, Raja Bundela and

Shafi Inamdar Shafi Inamdar (23 October 1945 – 13 March 1996) was an Indian actor. He started his film career with the film '' Vijeta'' and continued it in ''Ardh Satya''. He acted in a number of television serials including ''Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi''. His mo ...

, who went on to become notable supporting actors in Bollywood movies.

Plot

Angad (Kunal Kapoor) is a confused teenager trying to find himself and is caught in between the marital problems of his Maharashtrian mother Neelima (Rekha) and Punjabi father Nihal (Shashi Kapoor), it is time for him to decide what he wants to do with his life. Angad chooses to become a fighter pilot with the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

. What follows is his struggle to become a victor both with his self and the outer world. Angad is attracted to Anna Varghese (Supriya Pathak), who is the daughter of his flying instructor Group Captain Varghese (Amrish Puri) a

Malayali The Malayali people () (also spelt Malayalee and also known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian peoples, Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala in India, occupying its southwestern Malabar coast. ...

Syrian Christian. Angad must learn to adapt to flying, leaving his mom and dad for long periods of time, as well as try and woo Anna who helps him overcome his fears and realize his potential as a fighter pilot. Nihal is a clean-shaven Sikh, Neelima is a Hindu, Angad is a

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

and Anna a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, while Angad's fellow officers represent all religions. The film is notable for some rarely seen aerial photography of combat aircraft active with the IAF in the 1980s. The central character of Angad is a

MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nickna ...

pilot and is shown flying the aircraft in the ground attack role in the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Decem ...

. Much of the movie, including the climax involving a

bis, was shot at Pune. The IAF No.4 Squadron (the ' Oorials') provided the pilots and planes for the film's aerial sequences. The movie included good color footage of the Oorials aircraft in flight and in operation.

Cast

as Nihal Singh *

as Neelima Singh *

as Anna Varghese *

as Angad *

Madan Jain Madan may refer to: Places Armenia * Kapan, a city in Armenia, formerly ''Madan'' *Madan, a small village above Alaverdi in Lori Marz Bulgaria * Madan, Montana Province, a village in the Boychinovtsi municipality of northwestern Bulgaria *Mada ...

as Venkat Raju *

Raja Bundela Raj Rajeshwar Pratap Singh Judev also known as Raja Bundela is an Indian actor, producer, politician and civil activist.Presently He is the Vice President of Bundelkhand Vikas Board,Uttar Pradesh. In films, he is notable for appearances in Swa ...

as Aslam Khan *

K.K. Raina K. K. Raina is an Indian film, television and theatre character actor and award-winning script writer, who is best known for his roles as ''Juror #8'' in the 1986 film ''Ek Ruka Hua Faisla'', a remake of 12 Angry Men, and Byomkesh Bakshi's ass ...

as Wilson *

Group Captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

Varghese, the Chief Instructor *

Om Puri Om Prakash Puri (18 October 1950 – 6 January 2017) was an Indian actor who appeared in mainstream commercial Hindi films as well as Bengali, Kannada,English, Punjabi and one Telugu film, as well as independent and art films and also starred ...

as Arvind *

Dina Pathak Dina Pathak (née Gandhi; 4 March 1922 – 11 October 2002) was an Indian actress and director of Gujarati theatre and also a film actor. She was an activist and President of the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW). A doyenne of Hindi a ...

as Angad's grandmother *

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

Parulkar *

Sulabha Deshpande Sulabha Deshpande ( mr, सुलभा देशपांडे; 1937 – 4 June 2016) was an Indian actress and theatre director. Apart from Marathi theatre and Hindi theatre in Mumbai, she acted in over 73 mainstream Bollywood films. She als ...

* Capt Anup Ghosh as

Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...

Music

Vasant Dev Vasant Deo (1929-1996) was an Indian writer, lyricist and screenwriter and a Hindi academic at Parle College in Mumbai. He worked in Hindi parallel cinema through the 1980s, working with directors like Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalani and Mahesh ...

wrote all the songs. #"Bichhurat Mose Kanha" -

Parveen Sultana Begum Parveen Sultana ( as, বেগম পাৰৱীন চুলতানা; born May 1950) is an Indian Hindustani classical singer of the Patiala Gharana. She was awarded the Padma Shri in 1976 and the Padma Bhushan in 2014 by the Govern ...

#"Man Aanand Aanand Chhaayo" -

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; Mangeshkar; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur and occasional actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian Cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the ...

, Satyasheel Deshpande #"Man Base Mor Brindaban Ma" -

Manna Dey Prabodh Chandra Dey (May 1, 1919 − October 24, 2013), known by his stage name Manna Dey, was an internationally acclaimed and celebrated Indian playback singer, music director, and a musician. As a classical vocalist, he belonged to the Bhen ...

Facts

* The "senior pilots of the Indian Air Force" who are credited with providing assistance with the aerial photography were drawn from No. 4 Squadron, IAF ("The Fighting Oorials"). It was their MIG-21Bis' that were used in the aerial combat sequences and much of the film was shot at their then base in Poona/Pune.Vijeta (1982) - Trivia - IMDb
/ref> * The I.N.S. Mysore seen in the film was a WW2 British Fiji Class Cruiser, H.M.S. Nigeria that was sold to the Indian Navy in 1957. The ship was decommissioned soon after the film was completed. The current (2006) I.N.S. Mysore is a newer vessel. * The aircraft that the pilots train on are domestically produced HAL HJT-16 Kirans.

Filming locations

Air Force Academy An air force academy or air academy is a national institution that provides initial officer training, possibly including undergraduate level education, to air force officer cadets who are preparing to be commissioned officers in a national air forc ...

Dundigal Dundigal, officially Dundigal Gandimaisamma, is a city and a municipality in Medchal-Malkajgiri district in the Indian state of Telangana. It is the mandal headquarters of Dundigal mandal in Malkajgiri revenue division of Medchal-Malkajgiri di ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

, India * Air Force Station, Pune, Maharashtra, India * National Defence Academy, Khadakswala, Pune, Maharashtra, India * R.K. Studios, Chembur, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Reception

''Film World'' magazine rated the film "Good" and wrote, "''Vijeta'' is perhaps the first film of its kind, a film which shows the Indian Air Force, its gallant men and their life in true colours." According to ''

Asiaweek ''Asiaweek'' was an English-language news magazine focusing on Asia, published weekly by Asiaweek Limited, a subsidiary of Time Inc. Based in Hong Kong, it was established in 1975, and ceased publication with its 7 December 2001 issue due to a " ...

'', "''Vijeta'' is a tribute to the IAF in celebration of its golden jubilee last year".

Awards

; 31st Filmfare Awards: Won * Best Cinematography –

* Best Sound Design – Hitendra Ghosh * Best Editing – Keshav Naidu

References

External links

* {{Govind Nihalani 1983 films Indian aviation films 1980s Hindi-language films Indian war films Indian coming-of-age films Films scored by Ajit Varman Films directed by Govind Nihalani Indian Army in films Indian Air Force in films Films based on Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts Military of Pakistan in films 1980s coming-of-age films 1980s war films