The Pakistan Air Force Makes a Bollywood Style Ad to Find Recruits
Pakistan Air Force’s latest propaganda video is replete with Bollywood-like treatments.
Sherdil Shaheen, sung by India’s beloved Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, is the Pakistan Air Force’s latest propaganda video. The video judiciously abides by Bollywood masala principles of drama, action, suspense and emotion.
A few seconds into the video, a God-like voice announces, “a package comprising F-16, Mirage and JF-17 will strike the high value target and foreign terrorists”, perhaps drawing the attention of the viewer to the Pakistan Air Force’s might.
The video was released by the Directorate of Media Affairs, Pakistan Air Force, on September 6, Pakistan’s Defence Day, as a tribute to the Pakistan Armed Forces.
The Pakistani Air Force depicts its Operation Zarb-e-Azb in the video. Zarb-e-Azb is a military operation against militants and foreign fighters based in the North Waziristan district of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Pakistan.
Operation Zarb-e-Azb completed a year in June 2015. Pakistan has taken a hard stance against terrorism, especially after increasing terror attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.
Unlike Bollywood, however, the handsome protagonist in the video succumbs to injuries in combat after having fought valiantly for his country.
The video was released on the same day as the Pakistan Army Chief’s declaration in which he warned India of “unbearable damage”, if it tried to impose a short or long war on his country.
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