Aiming for the skies: Actor Abhay Verma dives into his role in Operation Safed Sagar

The conversation with Abhay Verma felt less like a formal interview and more like a chat with a friend He was warm candid and remarkably open moving easily between talking about the responsibility of playing a reallife Air Force officer the emotional weight of wearing the uniform and the unexpected attention that has followed the success of the series Operation Safed Sagar The Untold Story of the Kargil WarVerma had internalised the character of Flying Officer Rajpal Singh Dhaliwal or Dhali His biggest challenge was understanding the mindset of a soldier who puts everyone else before himself ldquoIt was more than physical Just the mentality of being a selfless warrior who will do anything to protect their countryrdquo he explainsIn preparing for the role Verma tried to understand Dhaliwal who died in 2009 and what it meant to live with that kind of selflessness ldquoJust to be that selfless and you know just to protect your surroundings and make sure everyone lives freely sleeps and are at home comfortably while we do our job Just a selfless attitude of putting others before yourselfrdquoAbhay VermaThe uniform however became an emotional experience of its own Verma says that every time he wore it a surge of emotions would unload within himself ldquoAs soon as I used to wear the uniform every day I would definitely cry I would feel emotionalrdquo He recalls a line from the show mdash ldquoYeh uniform cheez hi aisi hai sir koi raah chahta hai isko koi khareed ke pehen thodi sakta hairdquo mdash and says he came to understand its meaning while filmingldquoI really feel that every soldier is a Godrsquos child and not everyone gets to wear this uniformrdquo he says For Verma wearing it meant carrying the weight of the 757 soldiers who were martyred during the Kargil War ldquoA son from a family who didnrsquot come back because he was protecting his country I donrsquot think anybody deserves to not come back home to their familyrdquoThat sense of responsibility extended beyond the shoot Verma says the creative decisions he makes are ones he prefers to own entirely ldquoI donrsquot want anybody to be blamed for a creative call that I tookrdquo he says He is particularly proud that the show has also brought attention to his brother who serves in the Indian Army ldquoMy brother is in the Indian Army and people are giving him a lot of love because of me and I am very proud of him and his servicerdquoSince the showrsquos release Verma has been dubbed the ldquonational crushrdquowhich he is still figuring out how to respond to ldquoI honestly take whatever name they want to call me by if itrsquos with loverdquo he says before adding that he would rather be seen as ldquohusband materialrdquoThe usually shy actor says the sheer volume of affection has left him visibly embarrassed ldquoA friend was sitting with me just the other day and I was going through the comments and she literally saw my cheeks going redrdquo He laughs about being unable to hide his feelings admitting ldquoIrsquom a shy person in my personal liferdquo But the uniform has given that newfound attention a very different meaning for him He says he would feel ldquoundeservingrdquo wearing Dhaliwalrsquos uniform and describes the respect with which the cast treated it ldquoWe would respectfully just fold it as anArmy official would We would keep it with respect touch it as if Irsquom touching my motherrsquos feet and kiss it before putting it awayrdquoThe pressure he says was comparable to that of an athlete representing India And portraying Dhaliwal brought its own emotional responsibility He describes meeting his daughter became one of the most moving moments of the process ldquoWhen I met his daughter she was finding a little bit of him in me and I was finding a little bit of him in herrdquo he says ldquoShe was looking for her father in my eyes and I was looking for a hint of Dhaliwal sir in her eyesrdquoUltimately Verma believes the show has given him a deeper gratitude for the people behind the stories of war ldquoI think these stories need to be told Just for the sake of realising what beautiful country we live in how courageous our soldiers are and how much the meal that is on our plate means It would have taken me years to become this thankful and grateful maybe and Operation Safed Sagar did just that for merdquo