TvSerialinfo : 1962: The War In The Hills is an Indian web series. It was premiered on 26th February, 2021 on Disney Plus Hotstar, 1962: The War Web series is directed by Mahesh Manjrekar and produced by Arre Studios.
1962: The War In The Hills Plot
It is based on the China-India War. The series is starring Abhay Deol, Mahie Gill, Rohan Gandotra, Sumeet Vyas in lead roles.
“Hindi-Cheeni toh bhai bhai hai naa?”
“The. Ab bahut hi jald bye bye hone waale hai”.
This bomb of a dialogue is lobbed at us in the first few minutes of 1962: The War In the Hills . The latest offering from Disney+ Hotstar never really recovers after that. What adds to the bile rising in your throat is the song ‘Mere naan chin-chin-chu’ from the 1958 film Howrah Bridge playing in the background. The show, a regrettably long 10-episode cringefest— which, as the name suggests, is based on the Sino-Indian war of 1962, makes you want to rub your eyes in disbelief and pinch yourself hard, because what we are watching is best described as ‘theatre of the absurd’, sans the literary layers and gravitas.
Read full review below
1962: The War In The Hills Cast
Cast Real Name |
Name in Web Series |
| Abhay Deol | Major Suraj Singh |
| Sumeet Vyas | Ram Kumar |
| Akash Thosar | Sepoy Kishan Yadav |
| Mahie Gill | Shagun Singh (Suraj’s wife) |
| Meiyang Chang | Major Lin |
| Rohan Gandotra | Karan |
| Anup Soni | Major Khattar |
| Hemal Ingle | Radha |
| Vineet Sharma | Hardam Singh |
| Prem Dharmadhikari | Raju Yadav |
| Jay Parab | Nakul |
| Rochelle Rao | Rinpa |
| Satya Manjrekar | Gopal |
| Hemant Koumar | Singram |
Secondary Cast
- Sanjay Dadhich as Mohan
- Sammaera Jaiswal as Neelam (12 Years old)
- Varun Upadhyay as Manoj
- Geetika Vidya Ohlyan as Indira Gandhi
- Mahesh Pillai as Colonel Lalwani
- Shivramprasad Pandit as Master Ji
- Shiv Subramaniyam as Mr. Krishna
- Micky Makhija as General Kher
- Karim Haji as General Singha
- Medha Manjrekar as Radha’s mother
- Pallavi Kulkarni as Jaya
- Pooja Sawant as Padma
- Arif Zakaria as Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru
- Siddhant Mooley as Ahmed
- Pawandeep Rajan as Nido Tana Aka Radar
- Liao Meng Chi as Ug Lee
- Kishor Nandalskar as Daak Chacha
- Diganta Hazarika Jay as Pema
- Tejeshwar Singh as Jasjit
- Pratibha Bhagat as Gopal’s mother
- Ankush Mandekar as Basdev
- Anjali Joglekar as Kishan’s mother
- Ashwini Kulkarni as Major Khattar’s wife
- Yash and Sakshi as Khattar’s kids
- Fatema Arif as Chanda
- Ajay Singh as Brigadier
- Manthan as Teenager Kishan
- Shivram as Karan
- Aishleen as Radha
- Rajesh Balwani as Sarpanch
- Amit as Jatt 1
- Ahraz as Jatt 2
- Ajitab Singh as Inquiry Officer 1
- Pavan Dubay as Inquiry Officer 2
- Rava Bhave as Dr. Desai
- Ashok Lokhande as Mr.Shinde
- Peter Wong as Premiere Chou En Lai
- Bijo as as Chinese Soldier 1
- Tashi as Chinese Soldier 2
- Tuthan as Chinese Soldier 3
- Jay as Chinese Soldier 4
- Gauri Varma as Shagun 80 Years
- Paras as Guard (Baramulla Phone Booth)
- Indra as Guard (Kargil Phone Booth)
- Gauri Verma as Shagun (80 Years old)
- Meenal Kapoor as Neelam (60 Years old)
- Reshham Sahani as Neelam’s daughter
- Adish Vaidya as Neelam’s son
- Swati as Nurse
- Deepak as Soldier 1
- Chandan as Soldier 2
- Prageet Pandit as Doctor
- Santosh as Pandit
- Sanjay as Clerk
- Pratibha Bhagat as Nakul’s Mother
- B S Rajput as Nakul’s Father
- Shubhangi Latkar as Padma’s Mother
- Firdaus Khan as Officers Wife
- Pavan Sharma as Commanding Officer Baramulla
- Geeta Thakkar as Shadab’s mother
- Mansi Singh as Shanti
- Suman, Monica as Nakul’s 2 daughters
- Raju Paul as Attendant
- Pradeep as Manpreet
- Manoj Singh as Commentator
- Manish Das as Drill Master
- Sunil as Soldier at Supply Room
- Shubham Kirodian as Shadab
- Pravin Bhosale as Veer Jaideep Singh as Manjeet
- Vivek Vikal as Vishal
- Liao Kou Chi as Bao
1962: The War In The Hills Wiki
| Title | 1962: The War In The Hills |
| Main Cast | Abhay Deol Mahie Gill Sumeet Vyas Rohan Gandotra |
| Genre | War Drama |
| Director | Mahesh Manjrekar |
| Producer | B. Saikumar Ajay Chacko Rayc Haresh Dave |
| Story and Screenplay | Charudutt Acharya |
| Editor | Sarvesh Parab |
| DoP | Karan B Rawat |
| Music Director | Hitesh Modak |
| Lyrics | Lavraj |
| Sound Designer | Yogesh Nehe Akash Sengupta |
| Costume Designer | Mansi Patel |
| Casting Director | Nandini Srikent Karan Mally Aanchal Poddar |
| Series Producer | B. Saikumar Ajay Chacko Sanjay Rai Chaudhary Haresh Dave |
| Creative Producer | B. Saikumar |
| Executive Producer | Anup Poddar Deepak Chhabria Alisha Pereira Richie Taneja |
| Production House | Arre Studios |
Release Date & Watch Online
1962: The War In The Hills is released on 26th February, 2021. It is streamed on Disney+ Hotstar. This season has total 10 episodes. VIP members of Disney Plus Hotstar can watch all the 10 episodes on the premired date of the series i.e. 26th Feb. But without subscription you can watch only one episode. Further episodes will be released one by one for the viewers without subscription.
| Watch Online | Disney+ Hotstar |
| Total No of Episode | 10 Episodes |
| Running Time | 36-55 Minutes (Total 425 Minutes) |
| Released Date | 26 February 2021 |
| Language | Hindi |
| Subtitle | English |
| Country | India |
‘1962: The War In The Hills’ Reviews
Set in 1962, just as the 1962 Indo-China war is about to break out, the show pretends to be a period piece, but fails miserably. Abhay Deol plays the protagonist Major Suraj Singh, who commands a C company in the India Army. Mahie Gill is his dutiful wife. We get major flashbacks of Dev D, but there is neither the fireworks nor the worthy performances we saw in the Anurag Kashyap film here.
A chunk of soldiers from Deol’s C Company hail from Rewari, a town in Haryana, and are deployed on the frontline of the Indo-China border. So far, the brief is simple, and the story line defined. But everything else about this Hotstar Special is loud and confusing, and has the quality of a middle-school production. Not that the makers haven’t tried. In fact, they appear to be trying too hard – we get to see the back stories of all the soldiers, there are mentions of PTSD, of love triangles and perils of being a single father. There is a reference to the rigid caste system too!
However, nothing can salvage this travesty. Numerous times during the war, stagey meetings take place between the defence minister, senior Army brass and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru where they worry about how winter will play the defining card in the war. Nobody seems to remember this, however, in the badly shot climax where soldiers give no intimation that they are fighting in chilling cold.
Maybe it was the current anti-China sentiment that egged on the makers to go ahead with the project. Developments in Doklam, Pangong Lake and the Chinese presence in certain parts of the country have been doing the rounds of primetime news for a while. Ali Express, TikTok and their ilk have disappeared from the Indian digital landscape, Covid-19 did nothing to alleviate the anti-China sentiment, in fact globally we saw a resurgence of hate crimes and hate speech against East Asians. The makers fail to capitalise on the opportunity though – there is merely a suspicion of a script and accomplished actors sleepwalk their way to the 10-episode finishline.
Arif Zakaria plays Nehru, replete with the sherwani and the red rose tucked in. We meet a young Indira as well, as they discuss India’s Forward Policy against China. Then there is Meiyang Chang who plays a PLA officer with a golden heart and who fights the war with honour. Save some eye-rolls for Rimpa too, a nomadic, Ladakhi local who magically appears at places where significant military moments are happening.
Conclusion
We would like to give only one star.