1971 Pakistan prison-break by Indian Air Force officers now made into a film

Flight Lt. Dilip Parulkar while having dinner with commanding officer MS Bawa while having dinner in 1968 then he had said that he would escape if ever made prisoner of war.

Three years later, he was taken prisoner along with 11 other Indian Air Force pilots during India-Pakistan 1971 war. He did exactly what he had promised Bawa during dinner.

Parulkar along with Flight Lt. MS Grewal and Flight Lt. Harish Sinhji escaped the prison camp in Rawalpindi. He was later recaptured near Pak-Afghan border in Pakistan’s west.

Taranjiet Singh has replicated the legendary escape as the ‘The Great Indian Escape’. The movie will be soon released across the nation. The movie was recently screened at the IAF auditorium.

The movie stars Raghav Rishi as Parulkar, Raj Singh Arora as Grewal and Asheesh Kapur as Sinhji.

During the screening Parulkar now 74 said, “I was 29 then. I had no second thoughts about the escape.”

He added, “I was sure about it. In Air Force duties, it is said that in case you become a prisoner of war (POW), you must try and escape and join parent forces back as soon as possible.”

Parulkar added, “I had taken it seriously. But didn’t he fear the consequences?”

He also added that first he had planned to capture corporal from the Pakistan Air Force and command them to fly him back to Delhi.

“I had to drop the plan as human life is of no importance to them,” said Parulkar.

Singh, “I was fascinated with the story of the IAF pilots who escaped the prison. I wanted to replicate it on silver screen.”

(With inputs from PTI)