The music album of 120 Bahadur, the much-awaited war drama starring Farhan Akhtar, was unveiled on Tuesday evening at the Royal Opera House in Mumbai, in a grand event that celebrated music, patriotism, and the extraordinary valor of India’s soldiers. The event saw the presence of Farhan Akhtar, Javed Akhtar, Ritesh Sidhwani, director Razneesh ‘Razy’ Ghai, Raashii Khanna, composers Amit Trivedi, Salim–Sulaiman, and singer Sukhwinder Singh, among others.
But the highlight of the evening came when legendary lyricist Javed Akhtar took the stage and spoke from the heart about writing the songs of 120 Bahadur. His words, filled with warmth, experience, and humility, offered a rare glimpse into the mind of an artist who has lived through the stories he writes.
“Some of it is experience and some of it is imagination,” Javed began. “I have spent some time with the army people while Operation Vijay was going on — the battle was raging. And after one year, General Arjun Ray invited me on the first anniversary of Operation Vijay. I was in the Dras region, which is the second most cold inhabitable place in the world after Siberia. That is where they have made a Shaheed Samarak, and only two people addressed the army that day — Arjun Ray and me.”
The veteran writer went on to describe how that experience changed him. “He was kind enough to give me all the facilities to visit different regiments and stay with them, and there I discovered — it is another world. We only know the army by their uniform. But it is a complete culture, a complete way of living. They are another kind of people — and they are exceptional. There is so much to learn from them.”
That time spent among soldiers, he said, shaped his understanding of courage, duty, and human spirit — and eventually inspired his work in Lakshya and now 120 Bahadur. “Then I wrote Lakshya, and again I went to the seniors, got the character, the vocabulary, the expression right. That was a big exposure. But I think every Indian has great respect for the Indian Army, and perhaps I won’t be exaggerating if I say that today the Indian Army is the most respected institution of this country — and the most trustworthy. We respect our army, which is a fact.”
He concluded by connecting his past experiences to his new work: “When the offer came to write the lyrics of 120 Bahadur, that experience of Lakshya came handy to me.”
120 Bahadur, directed by Razneesh ‘Razy’ Ghai and produced by Excel Entertainment and Trigger Happy Studios, stars Farhan Akhtar as Major Shaitan Singh Bhati and Raashii Khanna as Shagun Kanwari Singh, his wife. The film recounts the Battle of Rezang La — one of the defining moments of the Sino-Indian War of 1962 — where 120 soldiers of the Charlie Company, 13 Kumaon Regiment, all Ahirs, defended their post against a 3,000-strong Chinese force, inflicting over 1,300 casualties.
Known for writing some of Bollywood’s most stirring patriotic songs in classics like Border and Lakshya, Javed Akhtar’s words for 120 Bahadur are set to carry the same power — rooted in truth, sacrifice, and love for the nation. The film releases in theatres on November 21, 2025, promising to rekindle the spirit of heroism that defines India’s bravest.