“Sometimes we might feel that a soldier's duty is to protect us and he doesn't have any emotions, but he has. He is vulnerable and close to his family just like us. But what makes him different from us is the fact that he has the will to die so that we are safe.”

Indian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer

Mahesh Vaman Manjrekar is an Indian actor, film director, screenwriter, and producer who works mainly in Hindi, Marathi, and Telugu cinema. He is best known for directing Vaastav: The Reality (1999), Astitva (2000), and Viruddh... Family Comes First (2005). His career spans acting as well as filmmaking, and he has received a National Film Award, seven Maharashtra State Film Awards, four Filmfare Awards Marathi, a Filmfare Award, four Zee Chitra Gaurav Puraskar, four MFK Awards, and two Star Screen Awards. In 2023, he received the V. Shantaram Award, Maharashtra’s highest honour in cinema. He also hosted Bigg Boss Marathi from 2018 until 2023.