120 Bahadur Ending Explained And Movie Recap: How Did The Chinese Army Attack Rezang La? 

No matter how much debate surrounds wars and war crimes in today’s geopolitics, it’s worth reminding ourselves of one basic truth: while leaders make the decision to go to war, it’s the soldiers who end up paying the price, on both sides. Anyone who voluntarily signs up to serve in the armed forces carries a hefty amount of insane courage, and the willingness to die for their country. That deserves nothing but respect, no matter what. Their sacrifice is the reason the rest of us get to sit comfortably, argue about morality and politics, and not worry about a bomb dropping on our heads. Having been ruled by colonizers for over two hundred years, India is a country where national pride runs deep, something its people continue to live by and swear by. Farhan Akhtar’s latest film, “120 Bahadur,” draws inspiration from the legendary Battle of Rezang La, where just 120 soldiers of The Charlie Company stood their ground against thousands of Chinese troops. Against impossible odds, the Indian soldiers, led by the fearless Major Shaitaan Singh Bhati, etched their names into the nation’s history by pulling off a near-impossible defense that protected Ladakh, and quite possibly Jammu and Kashmir, during the 1962 Indo-China war. While India suffered a heavy defeat in the larger conflict, the Battle of Rezang La remains one of the most remarkable feats in the country’s military history. To the director’s credit, “120 Bahadur” avoids any unnecessary Bollywood jargon and manages to show the emotional turmoil of the soldiers, something the audience can connect with, and the battle scenes look painfully real and heartbreaking. So without further ado, here’s everything that goes down in the film. 

Spoilers Ahead

What happens in the film?

Post-independence, Pandit Nehru always tried to maintain his stance on the India-China friendship, but the relationship between the two countries turned sour pretty fast when Chairman Mao decided to attack India’s territory in Ladakh, where he refused to accept the McMahon Line and thought the best course of action was to take control of the disputed region of Aksai Chin. The film begins with the information that the Chinese now aim to conquer the Chusul Valley of Ladakh, and if they succeed in doing so, they’d be awfully close to taking control of Jammu and Kashmir. One of the battalions acting as the last stand in this area was the Charlie Company, led by Major Shaitan Singh Bhati. The Charlie Company consisted of Ahirs, a clan that takes pride in their nationalism, and they’re known to be fierce when it comes to protecting their nation. Despite belonging to the plains, Shaitan Singh trained these men in high altitudes for weeks to get them accustomed to the high terrains. Shaitan also predicts that the Chinese would attack through Rezang La, because he’d do the same if he was in their position. He gathers his battalion to defend this crucial strategic area, along with his troupe of men.

The Chinese shadow looms large

General Gao instructs his commanding officers to take control of Rezang La and Chushul in three days. The Chinese army has all the advantages over their opposition, from proper food and clothes to superior weapons and soldiers who are far more accustomed to the harsh climate of the region. The Charlie Company, on the other hand, barely has enough bullets to take on a battalion of their own size, not to mention their outdated rifles and lack of jackets, food, and any basic privilege one needs to survive up there. But what these people do have is big hearts and mad love for their motherland, the same land their forefathers died for. A soldier named Dharam Pal has a good singing voice, and he finds himself in the army to fulfill his father’s wishes. A couple of best friends, Ram Lal and Nanha, brawl over chocolate bars, but they also realize that the nation demands sacrifice in times of need, and their usual diet can wait while they defend the country. The soldiers trek their way up, and soon they find out that the Chinese army has attacked a small village, killing each and every one of its people. Shaitan takes down at least fifteen Chinese soldiers on his own, but he finds out that there are three thousand Chinese soldiers casually making their way towards the valley. Even though the commanding officer asks Shaitan to abandon their post and retreat to Chushul, Shaitan knows that the Chinese will very easily squash India if they manage to take control of Rezang La. Shaitan decides to stay and fight, and so do his soldiers. 

How does the Chinese Army attack Rezang La? 

Shaitan deploys three platoons of forty men each to defend the Chinese wave, and as they wait for the enemy to strike, the freezing cold temperature starts taking its toll on them. While everyone else is somehow trying to stay warm, Shaitan sits with sheer determination in his eyes, unflinching in the circumstances. One of the soldiers keeping watch, Nanha, finds a large group moving towards the gap in the mountains, only to figure out that it’s not an army, but a herd of yaks. It’s a Chinese trap which is made to understand the position of the Indian soldiers. The first wave of Chinese soldiers attacks when a snowstorm starts, hoping that the blizzard will work to their advantage. The advantage of manpower starts to show, and their RPGs cause heavy damage to the Indian defense. Ram Lal gets stuck under a large rock, and he decides to sacrifice himself before any of his mates suffer the same fate. He gives his last chocolate bar to Nanhe, as his army friends are the only family he’s got, and he takes a bag of grenades and hides them carefully. When the Chinese soldiers shoot him down, they realize Ram Lal made sure that they follow him to the afterlife, as the bag of grenades explodes. Meanwhile, Shaitan uses grenades to explode a part of the mountain, and the rubble kills many Chinese soldiers, and his tactics start to frustrate his enemies a bit too much. 40 Indian soldiers in the 9th Platoon die in this wave of attack, and the next morning, the 8th Platoon finds itself under heavy Chinese wrath. The Chinese Army uses machine guns, and Shaitan orders the mortar unit to take them out. But it doesn’t take the Chinese long to destroy the Indian mortar unit, and after an hour of gunfight, the Indian soldiers find themselves with little to no ammunition to hold their ground. 

The indomitable spirit of the Charlie Company and Shaitan Singh Bhati

When the enemies are breathing down their necks, Shaitan Singh orders his soldiers to prepare their bayonets, and a vicious close combat brawl ensues. Shaitan and his men start to tear through the enemy’s limbs, and to say they’re possessed by the devil (“Shaitan” in Hindi) wouldn’t be far-fetched. A Chinese general walks in to find Chinese soldiers’ corpses lying all around the mountains, and his men tell him that the Indian soldiers wouldn’t stop fighting even though most of them have bullets inside them. The General takes matters into his own hands, and he shoots Shaitan. Shaitan raises his hands, as if he’s surrendering, but it’s a callback from one of the earlier scenes in the film, where it’s shown that it’s Shaitan signalling his sniper when to shoot the enemy. The sniper kills the general before he could kill Shaitan, and his men take their brave leader to save him. The fight continues with all the soldiers killing at least 50 Chinese soldiers each, and it’s down to the radio operator, Ram Chander Yadav, the only soldier who has never killed anyone. To save his commander, even Ram attacks a Chinese soldier and bludgeons his head with a rock. But when two more soldiers aim their guns at him, Shaitan shoots them down, making sure that Ram is alive, and he reports everything that went down in this battle. Shaitan orders Ram to leave him and run to the army headquarters, and he gives the young soldier his father’s watch and a letter for his wife and son. One Chinese commander walks into the aftermath of this battle, and he recognizes the valiant effort of these Indian warriors. He closes Shaitan’s eyes and hands him his gun, nodding at him with nothing but respect. General Gao panics, fearing that if a handful of Indian soldiers can cause such heavy casualties, what’d happen when they go for Chushul. The Chinese retrieve their casualties to make sure that there’s no proof of their humiliation, and when an injured Ram reaches the headquarters, it takes him days to get over the shock of it all. 

Ram Chander makes it back and narrates the whole story to the commanding officer, who’s in disbelief after listening to it all. Even though Ram Chander can be court-martialed if his claims prove to be false, he knows that his brethren bled and died for the country. The Indian army finds no proof of war in the valley at first, as everything is covered by the snow. But three months later, when the snow starts to melt, Shaitan’s corpse, along with his company’s, emerges. The whole nation is astonished by this feat of bravery, which left such an impact that to this very day, we can call Ladakh a part of this country and take a road trip to the Pangong Lake, where the Chinese Army once executed Indian captives. To honor the Charlie Company, the Indian Army has built Ahir Dham, a war memorial for their efforts to save this country’s pride and borders. 

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