No, Fighter is not a real story in the sense of being a strictly factual account of real events. Fighter is a 2024 Indian Hindi-language aerial action film, based on a story by a former military officer, Ramesh Chibb. The movie is directed by Siddharth Anand and produced by Viacom18 Studios and Marflix Pictures. Fighter stars Hrithik Roshan, Anil Kapoor and Deepika Padukone in lead roles, alongside Karan Singh Grover and Akshay Oberoi in supporting roles.
Fighter draws heavily from the military incidents involving India and Pakistan in the year 2019, following the suicide bombing attack against a CRPF convoy in Pulwama, Kashmir. The movie dramatises these events and also integrates multiple fictional elements to entertain the audience.
Plot Summary
Amidst rising terrorist threats in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Group Captain Rakesh “Rocky” Jai Singh forms an elite unit called Air Dragons, comprising of top fighter pilots from across the Indian Air Force. In Srinagar, terrorist leader Azhar Khan orchestrates attacks against the Indian security forces. The Air Dragons, including fighter pilot Squadron Leader Shamsher “Patty” Pathania, helicopter pilot Squadron Leader Minal “Minni” Rathore and fighter pilot Squadron Leader Sartaj “Taj” Gill, prepare to respond.
As the team trains, a devastating terror attack in J&K shocks the nation. Air Dragons is tasked with the retaliation and the team conducts a successful air strike against a terrorist camp in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. This leads to aerial dogfights with Pakistan Air Force, where Squadron Leader Taj is shot down and captured.
A covert rescue mission follows, involving commandos, helicopter support and fighter jets. There are multiple twists and dramatic sequences like double agent, intense air battles and personal sacrifice. In the climax, Patty takes the terrorist leader head-on and wins.
Historical Elements
The film has references to the Pulwama terrorist attack on 14th February 2019 where a suicide bombing killed 40 CRPF personnel, India’s aerial strike on Balakot terrorist camp on 26th February 2019 and the subsequent border skirmishes, including the aerial dogfight where Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman was captured and later released.
The elite team of aviators called Air Dragons is pure fiction since no such unit exists in the IAF. However, real air force personnel helped the filmmakers in depicting air operations and the functioning of air force fighter units.