Right from Peon to Principal, and from the most lowly menial staff to the office of the Prime Minister, modern secular India is embedded in corruption by officials who brag that even if Mahatma Gandhi were to approach them to grant access to his very own Sabarmati Ashram, he would not be spared. In this era a honest man is defined as one who readily accepts a bribe and does the needful, while a dishonest man is one who accepts a bribe but refuses to do the needful. It is in this atmosphere that the Kapoor family live. Suresh, Peehu and a reluctant Sarita decide to call it "Kargil Heights" and go about obtaining the necessary documents to get it running, little knowing that the corrupt system will not permit them to take a step forward without bribing it's officers, of all ranks, who will refuse to issue any permit unless and until their palms are greased. Will Suresh, Sarita and Peehu ever be able to open "Kargil Heights", or will it just remain a dream?
Acting
Om Puri's eyes carry an entire nation's fatigue.
Writing
Names his son's memorial after a war he died in — brutal.
Direction
Mundane corruption feels as violent as combat.
Director
Ashwini Chaudhary
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released when Kargil War (1999) wounds were still fresh; the film weaponizes patriotic language against the very state that demanded the sacrifice.
Director Ashwini Chaudhary later made 'Dil Junglee' — talk about whiplash. Om Puri reportedly took this role for scale, stayed for the script's quiet fury.
IN
