In an exclusive conversation, actor Vivan Bhathena opened up about being part of Farhan Akhtar’s 120 Bahadur, his intense character preparation, the real-life hardships of shooting the film, and the injuries he sustained while shooting on the sets of the film.
“I realised the magnitude and gravity of this story” Calling 120 Bahadur one of the most important films of his career, Vivan said he signed it instantly. “It’s a very important story that has to be told,” he expressed. “When I heard the story for the first time, I realised the magnitude and the gravity of the situation. And I realised how important this story is to be shown to all our future generations.”
He immediately knew he had to be part of it. “So, I immediately jumped on it. And the fact that Excel was doing it, I knew that it`s going to have some truth in it. It’s not going to be made in a very foolproof way where it just skims the surface.”
Preparing for a character lost to history
Vivan revealed that researching his character was particularly challenging. “I had to go through, because there`s very little information available about these people. There are some books written… but the book cannot guide you. There are very few photographs. Everyone has a different story. Everyone says this, and everyone says that.”
He described the tales as “Chinese whispers,” adding, “120 Bahadur become one of those fairy tales, and people have been telling their kids these stories. So, it has changed in certain ways.”
To craft authenticity, he relied on intuition, “I did my best to imagine what the demeanour of such a character would be — a person who fought so hard that even his body was not found. That is all I can say.”
His director’s brief was clear: “My director was very clear on telling me that I needed to be that person — that the moment you walk onto the set, everyone knows somebody has come on the set. And automatically, all the soldiers fear you.” Vivan plays the strict sergeant, “So, I play the sergeant, the JCO, who keeps everyone in line.”
The biggest validation came from real soldiers on set. “For me, the biggest compliment was when the army guys used to come and tell me, ‘Sir, you are doing a great job. Literally, all our JCOs behave like this, scold like this, love like this and look like you.’”
The cast met real soldiers to understand their lives. “We saw what kind of conditions they are burnt. The sun, the skin is peeling off, their hands are all cut and bruised. You can tell it’s a soldier. It’s a very different human being. And we do our best to showcase that.”
Extreme weather, injuries, and no vanity
Vivan detailed the extreme weather in Ladakh, and the shoot began in brutal heat. “We started in September, which was 45 degrees plus. Got burnt to a crisp.” Then came freezing temperatures. “Till we wake up every morning at 4 am. It`s minus 9, minus 10 till we reached a point where we were at Pangong Lake at minus 16. Shooting in that.”
Nights were almost unbearable. “The moment the wind used to start, it just goes into your neck. And it hurts for years.” Vivan suffered severe injuries. “I lost two teeth on the set. My teeth broke inside my mouth, literally shattered inside my gums. I had to get them pulled out.” Even then, army doctors took it casually. “They were like, yes, this is very common with everyone. You don`t have the habit of compression.”
The cast abandoned vanity completely. He said, “We wanted to be those soldiers. Excel makes sure we tell the truth. We make sure we look the part and feel the part. We didn’t use any makeup except for blood effects. We never tried to look pretty on screen. We wanted to look as rough and as burned as possible.”
For Vivan, dignity was the goal, “When we saw the soldiers, what they actually looked like—there is a dignity to that. If you see someone’s base, someone’s makeup… your orders get disconnected immediately.”
