New Delhi: Filmmakers Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Bhushan Kumar and Mahaveer Jain have teamed up for a film to be made on the Balakot attacks carried out by the Indian Air Force in Pakistan and the disputed region of Kashmir this February. It will be directed by Abhishek Kapoor of Rock On!, Kai Po Che! and Kedarnath fame.

The film will celebrate the valour and bravery of the Indian Air Force while paying a humble tribute to these sons of the nation and their never-say-die spirit, a statement from the team said. This project will also humbly acknowledge the bold will and unilateral action taken by the leadership of our country, the armed forces and the legal framework, it added.

“It is a story of bravery, patriotism and love for the country. This film is my way of giving tribute to the heroes who have made India their priority. We endeavour that their story and bravery reaches to everyone in the right way," Bhansali said in a statement.

To be sure, this August, actor Vivek Oberoi had also announced a film on the Balakot air strikes. Oberoi who played PM Modi in a biopic titled PM Narendra Modi released earlier this year, had added to the long list of political biopics and nationalist narratives currently catching on with the Indian youth that media and entertainment industry experts say is more vocal about its patriotic sentiment than previous generations. In fact the recent Mood of the Nation survey by Karvy Insights and India Today, where 71% of the respondents rated PM Modi’s performance as “good" and “outstanding", also found that a significant 23% respondents believed that it was the Balakot sir strike and the campaign of nationalism that brought NDA back in greater numbers.

“Earlier we would shy away from chest-thumping, now we’ve become far more aggressive and in-your-face. The current government’s posturing is that we will not sit back and watch, a lot of which was captured in Uri," Deepak Kumar, vice-president at advertising agency Dentsu Aegis Network had said in an earlier interview to Mint.

Nationalist tales such as Mission Mangal ( ₹192.67 crore), Kesari ( ₹151.87 crore) and Uri: The Surgical Strike ( ₹244 crore) have set the cash registers ringing, with Uri emerging as the third-highest grosser of the year so far. In the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year, a string of biopics on famous politicians were lined up for release. The subjects included Manmohan Singh (The Accidental Prime Minister), Bal Thackeray (Thackeray) and N.T Rama Rao (NTR Kathanayakudu), besides Modi.