Gunjan Saxena and the disease of miscasting that continues to plague Bollywood.

So I woke up to the trailer of the upcoming film 'Gunjan Saxena - The Kargil Girl', all set to be released on Netflix on 12 August

In the light of the nepotism debate, one wished to see if the lead actress Janhvi Kapoor has progressed any bit.

Sadly, she hasn't, and left a sour taste for the viewers of the trailer. Yet, ironically, this is trailer is Trending No 4 on YT.

Which brings me to my main point, the problem of miscasting.

Like a brilliant script is necessary for a good movie, like good music is necessary for enthralling the audience, likewise proper casting is absolutely necessary for the movie to work wonders.

For e.g. If you take up someone like Ajay Devgn for the role of an IB officer, out to nab one of the most dreaded terrorists, the movie would hit the jackpot.

However, change the cast with someone like Arjun Kapoor, and your film's fate would be like India's Most Wanted.

Casting is what makes a movie like Tanhaji an ALL TIME BLOCKBUSTER and PANIPAT a dud.

Not everyone is gifted like Ram Madhvani, who would make even Sonam Kapoor shock us with her acting in Neerja.

I'm not someone to make my decisions just by watching the trailer, but after watching Gunjan Saxena, I know that I'm seriously not watching this movie at all.

You just can't mock the legacy of such a brave officer by casting one of the least impressive actors for that role.

In the entire trailer, Janhvi Kapoor looked like a complete misfit. If you are an Air Force officer, you have to have a certain poise, a dignity that is unmatched. Janhvi had none. The way she said 'Fire!' would make even the best go like 'Dude, is that it?'

That is not all. The movie looked more of an insult toward the Indian armed forces rather than the struggle of incorporating a female officer into combat zone for the first time.

Never did the Air Force look so regressive as in the film. Are our forces for granted?

They say, 'Do not judge a book by its cover'. However, in cinema, the trailer is not just the cover, but also a glimpse into what the movie offers. The trailer of Panipat was enough to warn us about the impending disaster that Arjun Kapoor was about to bring.

Also, it's less about nepotism and more about mediocrity. The casting director of Gunjan Saxena probably had a liberal dose of meth and phenyl when he / she cast Janhvi Kapoor. Jab Pankaj Tripathi aur Vineet Kumar Singh jaise dumdaar actors cast ho sakte hain, to why Jahnvi?

Weren't there any alternatives? There were so many good actresses to choose from, be it Mithila Palkar, or Mrunal Thakur, or Shraddha Kapoor, or even Kriti Sanon.

I might receive brickbats, but even Sara Ali Khan would have been ten times better than Janhvi for the role.

However, when it comes to Dharma Productions, unless and until the movie is absolutely independent of K Jo's influence, the film is bound to piss off genuine movie buffs.

I now have serious doubts about how will Siddharth Malhotra fare as Captain Vikram Batra in 'Shershaah'.