Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar, who is awaiting the release of his upcoming film ‘Mission Raniganj’, has paid a tribute to Jaswant Singh Gill, an unsung hero in Indian history, celebrating Engineer’s Day.
Taking to Instagram, the actor expressed his excitement at portraying Gill as he shared an image of the latter, and wrote: “Happy #Engineers Day. I could never even imagine myself studying hard to be an engineer."
“But then I got an opportunity to play a brave, intelligent engineer like Jaswant Singh Gill ji in #MissionRaniganj. माँ बाप की इच्छा पूरी हो गई (My parents wish has been fulfilled). #RealHero,” he added.
The post was accompanied by a real life black and white image of a young Jaswant Gill from 1961, standing proudly outside ISM college, where he pursued Mining Engineering.
Jaswant Gill was the leading engineer during the 1989 Raniganj Coalfield collapse in West Bengal, which led to over 65 miners being trapped inside a mine, after using explosives to blast open the walls, trapping them inside.
Six miners died inside the mines when the walls caved in, while 65 miners were able to reach the mining elevator, which had become increasingly unsteady due to rising water levels.
Gill, who was supervising the operation alongside 2,000 other engineers designed a massive capsule which was put in via a crane, and was able to safely get the miners out.
Jaswant Gill's story is both inspiring and heroic, as his bravery, intelligence and dedication made him a true hero in every sense, who is sadly unsung in Indian history.
Akshay Kumar has been paying tribute to several heroes of Indian history in his projects lately, be it the Sikh Regiment in ‘Kesari’, or the great Rajput king and legendary hero Prithviraj Chauhan in ‘Prithviraj’.
Engineer’s Day is held to celebrate the brilliance and dedication of engineers across the world, who work tirelessly to shape our world in many different ways, through their creativity, imagination and scientific knowledge and intellect.
‘Mission Raniganj’ also stars Parineeti Chopra, Kumud Mishra, Pavan Malhotra, Ravi Kishan, Varun Badola, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Rajesh Sharma, Virendra Saxena, Shishir Sharma, Ananth Mahadevan, Jameel Khan, Sudhir Pandey, Bachan Pachera, Mukesh Bhatt and Omkar Das Manikpuri.
The film also marks director Tinu Suresh Desai's next thriller after ‘Rustom’, which won him massive critical and commercial acclaim.
Produced by Vashu Bhagnani, Jackky Bhagnani, Deepshikha Deshmukh and Ajay Kapoor, ‘Mission Raniganj' will be released in theaters on October 6, 2023.