UDAAN THE HEROIC STORY OF CAPTAIN GOPINATH, is a story of hope, dreams, and ambitions. All feelings amalgamated in this beautifully made biopic, narrating the true story of a true hero. GR Gopinath a member of the Indian Armed Forces, the man, the magic, and the history that he drafted solely with determination, grit, and the support of those who always stood by him no matter what. This blog will bring to you the fascinating story of Air Deccan popularly known as Deccan Airlines.
A story is always incomplete with a hero or a protagonist, it is even more fragmentary without the compelling acts of bravery and kindness, Udaan captures it all in an engaging tale about Captain GR Gopinath. There is always an underlying struggle in the story of every hero, there is always a villain or antagonist who makes his life tough and challenging, there was one in this story too.
The success and substance of Air Deccan have not preceded a laborious and back-breaking struggle. The components of the story “Udaan” are however incomplete without one of the most important ingredients; Motivation. The protagonist, in this case, Captain GR Gopinath or Captain Gopinath, was motivated, not by a reward or punishment he was motivated by his personal misery and sorrow.
The regret of not being able to see his father one last time. It is a story of a man who has seen it all, Udaan is a perfect blend of all the human emotions and brings to the audience a wonderful cinematic experience in the comfort of our homes. Here’s everything that you should know about this mind-blowing film; Udaan.
Table of Contents
PLOT OF UDAAN | UDAAN THE HEROIC STORY OF CAPTAIN GOPINATH
The tantalizing tale is about an Air-force officer, GR Gopinath or Captain Gopinath of the Indian Armed Forces, desiring to inaugurate a low-cost airline known as the Deccan Airlines in the early 2000s. The man in the film is referred to as Nedumaaran and called Maara, by his dear ones. He almost worships the owner of Jaz Airlines, Paresh Goswami who became a big shot in the airplane business with his hard work. He meets a beautiful young woman named Bommi and impressed with her, he accepts the marriage proposal.
Captain Gopinath goes on to become an officer at the Indian Airforce. Amidst all this, Maara aka Captain GR Gopinath is met by a piece of sad news about his father being on his deathbed. GR Gopinath immediately decides to leave, despite the strained relationship he has with his father because of being rebellious by nature.
He rushes to the airport and finds out that the air tickets are extremely expensive and that he cannot afford to travel by air at such high prices. Captain Gopinath takes the help of some people but misses the opportunity to meet his father for one last time. It is said that one truly realizes the importance of a person’s presence after that person is gone, the same happened with Maara.
The truth of Captain Gopinath’s fathers importance hit him most depressingly. After this horrific incident, Bommi leaves Maara because she feels that Maara will abandon her emotionally after marriage. This event motivated Maarato open up a low-cost airline, for those who wish to see the sky even at a low price.
Maara goes on to ask a loan of ex-servicemen to start Deccan Airlines (Air Deccan) but is refused. With no other alternative in sight, Maara travels on a flight along with Paresh, he proposes his idea for collaboration but is left humiliated and is denied the wish. Paresh insults him and says that it will be against the dignity of the rich to travel alongside the poor.
While the conversation between Paresh and Maara (Captain Gopinath) was on, a venture capitalist, Prakash Babu overhears this conversation and offers Maara to propose his plan to the board members. On the other hand, Bommi and Maara meet and start falling in love, they end up marrying each other.
On the work front, Maara gets PlaneAm to lease the Boeing aircraft to them at a low price. Maara later presents himself to the DGCA officials but they do not take him seriously and deny his license proposal. Maara manages to get an audience with the President of India and requests him to aid him.
Jealousy, a human emotion, causes Paresh to pass a law that needs Boeing to submit its blueprints to fly in the Indian Air zone. PlaneAm cancels its lease and asks for a penalty. Maara falls on all fronts as he finds out that Prakash was betraying him by siding with Paresh. He later finds out that the Boeing planes were owned by Jaz Airlines, leaving the Air Deccan with nothing. Being a rebel with a purpose, Maara storms into Paresh’s office but is stopped by the guards, he losses his temper and this strains his relationship with Bommi.
Maara later turns his attention towards the smaller planes for Deccan Airlines or Air Deccan. His villagers helped him by providing monetary help, this turns him sensitive, and now emerges stronger than ever. He coins the name Air Deccan which was popularly known as Deccan Airlines, and reaches out to people at Railways Stations and Gas Stations to buy cheap tickets for air travel. Bommi is in charge of the catering. Air Deccan or Deccan Airlines becomes one of the first air services to be preventing the wastage of food and other resources. Captain Gopinath’s dream of building an Airline so great that even a farmer can travel in it was finally coming true.
Finally, the day comes when the aircrafts belonging to the Deccan Airlines are delivered. Paresh yet again rained on Maara’s parade by using his influence and causing a forced crash landing on the Airforce base as the fuel was limited. Maara is slapped with a fine by Naidu. The day arrives when Deccan Airlines flies its Maiden Voyage but things turn out the wrong way when the flight catches fire and is hence canceled.
Later on, truth comes out and it is clear that the captain was bribed by Paresh to destroy and ruin the plane. Despite the persistent efforts by Paresh, Maara manages to make people believe in the ideal and pillars on which the Air Deccan stands. People believe that the flight of Deccan Airlines are low cost and safe.
On the day when the procedure starts, Maara finds that no one is turning up for one out of many other flights, Maara is about to lose heart but receives the news that all the other flights are completely booked and there was a technical error due to which that particular flight could not be booked. Maara with tears of joy watches his flights land and Paresh accepts defeat.
The story of “Udaan” leaves the audience with a tear in the eye and happiness in the heart. Udaan’s storyline, direction, and overall making satisfy the cinematic hunger of the audience in all ways. The audience relates to the struggles of a common man and is happy to see him reach the pinnacle of success. Air Deccan emerged as a competition to all the existing expensive airlines. The common man’s ideals of preventing wastage and saving as much as one can lead to a revolution in the flying experience of lakhs of Indians. In the next section, we will see the cast of the movie “Udaan” featuring on the OTT platform Amazon Prime Video.
CAST – UDAAN THE HEROIC STORY OF CAPTAIN GOPINATH
An engaging film like Udaan is only possible with exemplary actors who dwell the souls of their characters in their bodies. The actors completely merged their identities with those of their characters. Not only the lead characters but also the ones who played the supporting roles were a treat for the viewer.
The movie was originally made in Tamil and though it was converted in several other languages for the sake of the audience’s understanding the film was not lost in translation. Udaan managed to leave a mark on the minds of the audience because of the personalities, features, and performance of the extremely talented actors. Here’s a list of all those actors who were a part of the movie “Udaan” along with their role description.
- Suriya: The protagonist of the film, portraying the role of Captain Gopinath from the Indian Armed Forces. The conventional hero with an unconventional struggle is named Nedumaaran or Maara.
- Paresh Rawal: The ideal antagonist filled with jealousy and wickedness, he tried to sabotage Captain GR Gopinath’s dream by plotting and scheming.
- Aparna Balamurali: The substance and the rock behind the dream of a brave man. The film would have been incomplete without her support and strong-headed character. She is named Bommi in the film and is also the love interest of Maara.
- Urvashi: Portraying the role of Maara’s mother, an ideal affectionate and supportive character.
- Mohan Babu: He was a supporting character and was portraying the role of Maara’s boss; Naidu a Superior officer at the Indian Armed Forces. His character played an important role in linking the story.
Several other characters made the film complete and their roles turn out to be the ones that kept the story alive in the background. These actors require a special mention:
- Karunas as Alapparai,
- Vivek Prasanna as Sebastian,
- Krishna Kumar as Chaitanya,
- Kaali Venakat as Kaali,
- G. Gnanasambandam as Chinnaswamy,
- Prakash Belawadi as Prakash Babu.
EFFECT ON AUDIENCE
Udaan received a very positive review and response from the audience as well as the critics of the film. With a stellar cast and crew consisting of Shankar as the director of the film and experienced actors the film was bound to be a success. The film was the most tweeted hashtag on Twitter for the entertainment section. It was also one of the most-watched regional language films on Amazon Prime Video. It has an IMDB rating of 9.1. The film not only impacted the audience in terms of entertainment it also became a motivational factor for doing something great in these tough times amidst the Pandemic.
Udaan was cherished by the audience because of the relatability factor as well. The story was about an ordinary man who had extraordinary dreams. It was a journey about finding the true spirit of humanity that is to do good for others even though the odds are against you. It was much more than accomplishments and achievements of Captain Gopinath it was about the essence of making a dream comes true and keeping alive the soul and essence of determination and willpower. We are very sure that after reading this blog you all will be really motivated to know about the charisma of Captain Gopinath.
MAKING OF THE FILM AMIDST THE PANDEMIC
After finalizing the plot of the film, the screenplay, and the cast and crew. The film was all set to begin in November of 2018. The lead actor portraying the role of Captain Gopinath was testing for new looks and it was finalized by 2019. Rs 47 lakh were spent daily for the shots that required an airplane. The film was completely shot by the end of September 2019.
The Covid – 19 crisis took a toll on a lot of economic activities, the film industry was no exception. The coronavirus led many to postpone their schedules and affected the production house. The film industry faced the brunt of the coronavirus or Covid-19 which caused a lot of films financial trouble. The pandemic also made it difficult for the filmmakers and producers to hold up to the deadlines. The editing and sound mixing of the film was delayed due to the Pandemic and finally began in May 2020. Let us read to know more about Captain Gopinath in this film “Udaan”.
Udaan’s music and background score are remarkable for their motivating tunes and emotional undertones. The film was finally released on an OTT platform and received positive reviews. OTT platforms emerged as a lifesaver for a lot of productions and studios. The film production was not boosted but it also did not come to an end amidst the pandemic, all courtesy to the OTT platforms.
THE FINAL WORD
Udaan means to fly, it means to free yourself from a trap and explore the high and mighty. It talks about Captain Gopinath and his journey towards the freedom of those who are trapped by the economic system to travel by air. The film makes the wider audience see the larger meaning behind the small wish to fly. The film makes us explore the unseen struggle of the man who made it possible. Udaan was not only about inaugurating and integrating a cost-effective Airline. It was about supporting the dreams of a common man.
The film changed the audience’s perception of the airline industry. It is not always the clean ironed suits behind the air-conditioned chambers sipping the drinks of luxury. It is also about the circumstances, struggles, and setbacks that one faces in the way of making something greater possible. The journey that Maara undertook gave birth to the most famous airline of its time; The Air Deccan/Deccan Airlines. The Deccan Airlines or Air Deccan, as it rose to popularity became an object of jealousy and competition for many existing around that time. While the Deccan Airlines faced tough competition from the Kingfisher airlines.
While GR Gopinath had once said that Kingfisher owner Vijay Mallya Is from Venus and he is from Mars. Both Mars and Venus eventually co-existed in one galaxy when Vijay Mallya eventually bought the control of Air Deccan/Deccan Airlines. The Deccan Airlines has had a struggle, story, and an inspiring tale of its own. It reinforced the spirit of dreaming big, it proved that a man who has nothing can become the king of all with a strength of character and resolution. Udaan inspires and re-instates the values that one should hold close.
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