Code M to Test Case—Ekta Kapoor gets it right on women in Army

The Navy will use Agnipath to recruit women as sailors. But there is a visible gap on our screens too – women are usually missing from shows on Indian military.

Nimrat Kaur in Test Case and Jennifer WInget in Code M | Manisha Yadav/ThePrint

India has been seeing a wave of military films and OTT series, but few have dealt with women in the forces. Now as the Navy gears up to recruit women as sailors for the first time through the Agnipath scheme, let’s look at the two recent shows that brought military women to the fore – both interestingly created by Ekta Kapoor.

In 2016, then President Pranab Mukherjee had announced that women would be recruited for all military combat roles. A year later, AltBalaji’s Test Case took a fictional look at what it would play out like. Test Case is the story of Captain Shikha Sharma, played by Nimrat Kaur, who becomes the first ‘test’ recruit in the Army’s Special Forces unit. In 2020, we had Major Monica Mehra, played by Jennifer Winget, in Code M – another Ekta Kapoor offering. That same year, the Narendra Modi government told the Supreme Court that women were not fit to serve in ground combat roles. This week, Code M is back with its second season that deals with the issue of corruption in the Army, especially in defence deals.

From Pallavi Joshi’s Aarohan in 1996 to Ekta Kapoor’s shows now, it’s been a long road for women officers even in films and series.

Women in OTT combat roles

Be it Shikha Sharma in the 10-episode Test Case or Major Monica Mehra in Code M, the challenges faced by women in the armed forces don’t stop at the frontline.

Much before late CDS Gen Bipin Rawat’s controversial remarks about why women would find it difficult to take up combat roles successfully, Ekta Kapoor highlighted the issues pretty effectively in her series. While the pilot of Test Case was directed by Nagesh Kukunoor, the rest of the episodes were directed by Vinay Waikul. From sexist jokes to sharing washrooms with naked, ogling men, putting up with toxic masculinity and fragile egos and finally, getting sexually assaulted—Shikha faces most things Rawat alluded to much later in 2019. What emerges is a powerful, insightful show that lets the woman decide her own course of action, while excelling as the first ‘test case’. The show’s highlight was not making it about Shikha being the female version of a hero figure who can battle all odds without crying.

In Code M, Jennifer Winget plays the role of an investigator trying to find the pieces to the puzzle of the deaths of an army officer and two alleged terrorists. What is revealed in the end is a big leap in the history of army representation. From examining the idea of homosexuality within the army to caste, the show is a pleasant surprise – it packs patriotism without veering towards jingoism. In the second season, the focus shifts to corruption in defence deals.

Winget’s Monica Mehra faces resistance in the first season, but is a respected officer in the second. What is clear in any workplace, including the armed forces, is that women have to prove their worth before they will be acknowledged.

More often than not, instead of systems adapting themselves to the presence of women, it is women who have to work extra hard to be a part of the system.

Ground reality

Despite the Agnipath announcement, have things really changed? The first time that women joined the Indian Armed Forces was in 1888 when the Indian Military Nursing Service was created. After being impressed by their performance in World War I, the top Army brass decided to expand the women’s wing and formed the Women’s Auxiliary Corps. This Corps facilitated the serving of women in non-combatant roles like communications, accounting, and administration.

In the past, Subhas Chandra Bose’s Azad Hind Fauj had an exclusive women’s combat unit named the Rani of Jhansi Regiment.

But Mukherjee’s 2016 announcement has not resulted in actual combat roles for women in the Army. In the Air Force, women can be fighter pilots, and now, with the Agnipath scheme, sailors too, which are full combat roles.

Women officers and representation

Gen. Rawat had raised issues like maternity leaves and family life when he spoke of the challenges in women officers’ lives. Interestingly, Code M and Test Case both look at the issues closely. Shikha and Monica have civilian partners who struggle to keep up with their dedication to their jobs.

While there has been more than enough representation of defence officials sacrificing lives and family lives for their country, there is barely any mention or depiction of defence husbands.

The 2022 film Major portrayed Adivi Sesh’s character—an Army officer—failing as a husband. In 2016, Arjun Kanungo’s song Fursat broke stereotypes by depicting Sonal Chauhan in the video as an army officer whose vacation with her partner is cut short when duty calls. It was a rare reversal of the trope of Army wives bidding farewell to their husbands when duty calls.

The end credits of Code M thanking ADGPI, the PR wing of the Army, shows that the defence forces might be warming up to the depiction of flaws within the system.

A long road

In 1996, actor-director Pallavi Joshi acted in and created the show Aarohan, set in the era before women cadets could join the Indian Navy. The 13-episode series on Doordarshan was popular for being the lone show looking at women in defence forces in India.

With the rise and peak of Cable TV in the 2000s, there were shows like Saara Aakash (2004), Left Right Left (2006), and Choona Hai Aasman (2007) that had female defence officers. But their struggles inevitably involved fellow male officers as romantic interests.

Women defence officers walk a tightrope between their personal and defence lives. But in OTT, the first steps of change have been taken.

Views are personal.

This article is part of a series called Beyond the Reel. You can read all the articles here.