Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran

John Abraham,Diana Penty,Boman Irani,Mark Bennington

The movie is based on the nuclear test conducted by Indian Army in Pokhran, Rajasthan in 1998. In 1995, after the fall of the soviet's India is left with no powerful allies. Pakistan is aligned with US & CHina and the west is pressuring India into 1 sided deals to weaken it militarily and financially. In 1995 China conducts its 43rd Nuclear test. Ashwat Raina (John Abraham) is an officer in the Reasearch & Strategy group of Indian Govt & makes a plan for nuclear tests for India as a strategic bulwark against both China & Pakistan. He wants to conduct the tests in secrecy, lest the US gets a whiff of it and they attack India. Ashwat's boss Suresh Yadav (Satinder Singh Gahlot), the then Principal Secy to the PM, gets him prepare a report which he presents to the PM and takes credit for his idea. PM authorizes the test, but Ashwat's warning to maintain secrecy is ignored and US satellites pick up test preps. Under intense pressure, India has to call off the tests in 1995. Upon this humiliating failure, Ashwat is made the scapegoat by his boss, and fired.Ashwat settles with his family in Mussorie where he starts a small IAS coaching class. Sushma Raina (Anuja Sathe) is angry at Ashwat for neglecting his household duties. In 1998, the Vajpayee govt is voted to power. Himanshu Shukla (Boman Irani) is the Principal secy to the PM. Hiamnshu seeks out Ashwat and understands why the plan failed in 1995. Ashwat explains that US Lacrosse satellites keep a constant vigil over India day and night. His full plan included involvement from Indian Space agency who would keep an eye over lacrosse satellites and tell the Army and Scientists their working window in Pokhran. Himanshu appoints Ashwat to assemble his team for the testsHe selects Dr Viraf Wadia (Aditya Hitkari) from BARC, who will supply the bomb. Dr Naresh Sinha (Yogendra Tiku) from DRDO who will supply the explosives (uranium, TNT etc). Major Prem (Vikas Kumar) as the PoC from Army, for logistics and Infra, and he is already posted in Pokhran. Puru Ranganathan (Ajay Shankar) from Indian Space Agency. Capt. Ambalika Bandopadhyay (Diana Penty) from RAW for mission secrecy and security. The team assembles in Pokhran fort where Ashwat reveals that the team has to test 6 bombs in the next 30 days on the Pokhran range. Prem tells Ashwat that there are 3 sunken wells already in Pokhran, which are filled with water and he has identified 3 dried natural wells which can be prepared for the blast. Puru tells the team about the 2 blind spots daily when there are no US satellites over Pokhran. The team starts work following strict security protocols and always working during hours when there is a satellite blind spot overhead. In due time the 6 nuclear explosives are delivered from BARC to Mumbai to Jaisalmer to Pokhran. But suddenly the Vajpayee Govt is under threat as coalition partners withdraw support and Himanshu orders Ashwat to stop all further work. Ashwat convinces Himanshu to conduct the tests before the no-confidence motion in parliament. The team has 10 days instead of original 15 to make it work.The team decides to work double shift during daytime as well, battling the frequent sand storms in Pokhran which disrupt their planning. Pakistani Spy (Darshan Pandya) and CIA operative Daniel (Mark Bennington) are suspicious from the inconsistencies in satellite imagery and also from the fake names adopted by the team members. They start tapping Ashwat's phone calls and realize that he was involved in the failed tests in 1995. The Pakistani spy makes a phone call to Ashwat's wife telling her that he is in Pokhran with a girl. He also bugs Ashwat's guest house room. Sushma arrives in Pokhran when Ashwat is in his room alone with Ambalika and she assumes the worst. during his argument with Sushma he reveals that the text received from Ambalika is the time and pass-code for that night's blind-spot. Daniel hears his clearly. Daniel asks his colleague in CIA Steven to assign another satellite to cover Pokhran's blind-spot. Thatnight Steven assigns another satellite, but no work happens on Pokhran as luckily one of the generators blows off. But ISA gets notice of the extra satellite and now the blind spot is only 1 hr long. Himanshu again orders Ashwat to pull the plug.Now Ashwat convinces Himanshu to leak a rumor that India is planning to attack Pakistan via the LoC so that the US diverts its satellites from Pokhran to over LoC. The trick works as Ashwat & team get 8 hrs of uninterrupted blind spot time to complete the work. At the last minute the Pak spy also finds that the Indian Army has requisitioned all Onions in the Jaisalmer area (as Onions absorb radiation). He pleads Daniel to alert the CIA, but Daniel refuses.Finally The Pak spy infiltrates Ashwat's guest house & after a brutal combat escapes with his mobile phone that has the exact timing for the blast. Daniel calls up Steven, who re-assigns the satellite and finds that Pokhran is ready to pull the trigger. But by the team Steven reaches the US President with this info, Himanshu authorizes Ashwat to conduct the blast. India enters the nuclear club at 3:45 PM in 11th May 1998.