Nimrat Kaur Playing A Combat Soldier Inspires Young Women: Meghna Ghai Puri

Nimrat Kaur’s career with her unconventional choices is one that inspires other women to take bold decisions. Her recent performance in The Test Case is an example.

I recently interviewed ace defence journalist Suman Sharma. Not many know that she is the first Indian and Civilian woman in the world to co-pilot the test flights of the best combat aircrafts across the globe; the American F-16, Russian MiG-35 and Sukhoi-30, and most recently the European Eurofighter Typhoon…you name them and she has conquered them all.

My goosebumps had just settled after penning and publishing her story which we titled ‘Flying Through The Glass Ceiling’, and bam!

I hear about brilliant actor Nimrat Kaur playing the role of a combat soldier in the Special Armed Forces, in this recent series, The Test Case. Goosebumps are back! Another woman is all set to fly through the glass ceiling. My mind was running with a million questions. What are the ideas that led to the conceptualisation of this well-received web series?

One by one I put them to Meghna Ghai Puri, the firebrand President of Whistling Woods International who ensured that the students of her academy have deeper insights into digital film-making, especially through this web-series. Meghna had ensured that Nimrat and the entire star cast came to motivate the students, especially young girls, and I had the opportunity to attend as well.

Meghna tells me, “The web series is a bold step initiated to break the stereotype about women and their role in the Armed Forces. So we ensured that Nimrat – the protagonist was accompanied by the director Vinay Waikul, producer Samar Khan, and writer Sudeep Nigam, (who is also an alumnus), shared their experiences with our students of working together as a team and what challenges they faced.”

Nimrat, the gifted actor, highlights, “I could relate to the story owing to my army background. Being an army kid, it was a rare privilege to practice the personal experiences, whilst in character. Test Case has been one of the most rewarding journeys as an actor, for me.”

So how did the brilliant idea come up up?

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Producer Samar Khan asserts, “It was Mr. Pranab Mukherjee’s declaration of women being allowed for combat in Armed Forces, which lead me to conceive this script.”

But do you think the story will sell to the majority, most of whom still love to live in the the shell of their patriarchal mindsets?

Director Vinay Waikul tells the students, ”Don’t try and convince everyone because you will never be able to execute that.” Bravo!

I get back to Meghna for her parting words on this journey of women – the women of India who have been struggling to come out of the clutches of the patriarchal mindset.

She responds with a hopeful smile,“I am hopeful that India will one day join the league of countries that dared to break the gender-barrier and allowed women in combat. Recently, India’s Navy Chief told a media channel that, ‘women could soon be on warships.’ This February, Avani Chaturvedi became the first Indian woman to fly a fighter aircraft. With so much emancipation, we thought it was important to share these revolutionary changes with our students. After all, positive changes in our daily life and surroundings are the perfect external stimulus to tickle the minds of young film-making students who want to bring about change through the magic of media. Nimrat is a great inspiration for our students, and considering her Army background, she understands the sacrifice, courage and gumption required to serve the country.”

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