‘Gunjan Saxena’ trailer drops; Janhvi Kapoor trends on Twitter

Bollywood actress Janhvi Kapoor found herself trending on Twitter as the trailer of her new film, ‘Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl’, dropped on YouTube.

Kapoor takes the lead in the biopic based on the life of India’s first female fighter pilot in combat, Flight Lieutenant Gunjan Saxena, who played a role in the Kargil War. The 2.30-minute trailer is a preview to the film, which will release on Netflix on August 12, ahead of India’s Independence Day on August 15.

The trailer follows a young Saxena who dreams of flying high one day and becoming a pilot, however, her entry into the academy and combat is laced with prejudice against her gender.

Yet, while the trailer itself has drawn praise from critics and some fans, Kapoor found herself trending on Twitter, with many objecting to another ‘star kid’ getting a big budget film and reigniting the nepotism debate in the aftermath of Sushant Singh Rajput’s death on June 14.

The actor was found dead in his Mumbai residence, with theories claiming that he was driven to suicide after being treated like an outsider in the film industry, which favours talent with industry connections and have a long lineage of actors in the family.

Twitter user Soniya_45 took to social media to post about the trailer saying: “Nepo kids like #JanhviKapoor do such National films and try to gain public’s attention.. but remember friends Gunjan Saxena is a different girl who really was a brave warrior.. So kindly avoid watching these kind of movies. Remember once..Murder of #SushantSinghRajput plz.. [sic].”

Twitter user Pooja Singh tweeted: “Is this a comedy film? God i can’t stop laughing…Rolling on the floor laughing. #GunjanSaxena #JanhviKapoor”

Prateek Jain posted pictures of Kapoor and her step-brother, actor Arjun Kapoor, tweeting: “These brother sister duo who are a product of #Nepotism has same set of expressions. UNBELIEVABLE!!”

Some have also pointed out that producer Karan Johar, who has been in the eye of the storm following Rajput’s death, has not been credited in the film’s trailer.

However, not everyone has been harsh to Kapoor, who is starring in her third film, after ‘Dhadak’ and ‘Ghost Stories’. “This is a huge improvement and hopefully she’ll keep growing with every film cause that’s how great artists are made. #JanhviKapoor #GunjanSaxena,” tweeted @iputapecadora.

Tarahh tweeted: “I’M STILL NOT OVER THE TRAILER. The fact that janhvi single handedly scored in the trailer!! #GunjanSaxena #JanhviKapoor.”

The film also stars Pankaj Tripathi, Angad Bedi, Vineet Kumar Singh, Ayesha Raza and Manav Vij.