Directed by Meghna Gulzar, Sam Bahadur was released in theaters on December 1, 2023. Sam Bahadur is a biopic based on the life of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw. Bollywood actor Vicky Kaushal portrays the character of Sam Manekshaw in the Meghna Gulzar-directorial movie. While the movie is not enough to showcase Sam Bahadur's valour, Meghna Gulzar's movie is just a small tribute to India's great Armyman. Since you have landed on this page, True Scoop News believes that you have already watched Sam Bahadur in theaters and have a question in mind why did not he go to East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to accept the surrender of the Pakistani Army? Below is what we know so far-
Why did Sam Manekshaw not go to East Pakistan?
As shown in the movie, Chief of Army Staff (then) Sam Manekshaw was not only on the same terms with (then) Prime Minister Indira Gandhi over the ceasefire. On 11 December, Pakistani commander Maj. Gen. Rao Farman Ali messaged the United Nations requesting a ceasefire, but it was not authorized by President Yahya Khan, and the fighting continued. Following several discussions and consultations, and subsequent attacks by the Indian forces, Khan decided to stop the war to save the lives of Pakistani soldiers.
Sam Manekshaw replied that he would stop the war only if the Pakistani troops surrendered to their Indian counterparts by 09:00 on 16 December. Finally, when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi asked Manekshaw to go to Dhaka and accept the surrender of Pakistani forces, he declined, saying that the honour should go to the GOC-in-C Eastern Command, Lt. Gen. Jagjit Singh Aurora.
Talking about starcast, Sam Manekshaw features Vicky Kaushal as Field marshal Sam Manekshaw, Sanya Malhotra as Silloo Manekshaw, Sam's wife, Fatima Sana Shaikh as Indira Gandhi, Neeraj Kabi as Jawaharlal Nehru, Aanjjan Srivastav as Yashwantrao Chavan, Edward Sonnenblick as Lord Mountbatten, Govind Namdev as Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel and more in the leading roles.