Alpha Bravo Charlie

Alpha Bravo Charlie
The opening title screen for Alpha Bravo Charlie
Created by	ISPR Shoaib Mansoor
Starring	Qasim Khan Abdullah Mahmood Faraz Inam Shahnaaz Khwaja Aarshid Kazmi Wiqar Ahmed Hashmat Shaikh Rafar Moeen Malik Ata Muhammad Khan Badar Munir
Narrated by	Zia-ur Rehman (subtitles)
Country of origin	Pakistan
No. of episodes	14
Production
Running time	approx 40 min.
Release
Original network	PTV
Original release	May 1998 – July 1998

Alpha Bravo Charlie (Urdu: الفا براوو چارلی) is an action and thriller Pakistani drama, produced by ISPR and directed by acclaimed Pakistani drama and film director Shoaib Mansoor. It got huge popularity and set a record for TRPs (Television Rating Points) in Pakistan. It is a sequel to drama series Sunehre Din (Golden Days) with some of the same cast. The series ran on PTV from May till July 1998.The last shooting was completed at PMA Kakul on 4 December 1997. The drama was produced by PTV Lahore center. The events in the drama involve romance and comedy, while reflecting the Pakistan Army's military operational involvement in the Bosnian War and Siachen conflict.^[1][2]

Major characters

The script involves four main characters: three male army officers and one female who is an educator in a public school.

• Faraz Ahmed (Faraz Inam): A captain in the army and a son of a rich landlord Malik Ata Muhammad Khan of Kot Fateh Khan in Punjab, Faraz graduated from the 80th PMA Long Course with a Sword of Honor–Imtiazi Sanad. He belongs to the 32nd Cavalry Lahore of the Armoured Corps. He is a confident, ambitious man — a Mr. Perfect who is well-built, good-looking and wealthy to go along with his excellent academic record. He owns a Mercedes, a Black C180. Ahmad, unlike his friends, was not assigned to any of the combat action. He uses his resources to open a charity school for the special children with Shahnaz. As time passes, Ahmad was made a general officer (three-star rank) in the army.
• Kashif Kirmani (Captain Abdullah Mehmood): An active duty army captain and son of a senior Army officer, a two-star Major-General, Kashif graduated from the 80th PMA Long Course and belongs to the 32nd Cavalry Lahore of the Armoured Corps. He is a third generation army officer who initially dislikes being in the Army but later proves himself. He is the main character responsible for providing humor through his funny mischief. He is a first cousin to Shahnaaz, the series' leading female character. Captain Kirmani was stationed in the high-altitude mountains of Siachen Glacier and commanded a mountaineering unit there. Brig. Hashim observed an Indian Army's troop rotation further along Pakistan's border via an army helicopter, belonging to Pakistan Army Corps of Aviation. Kirmani volunteered for the operation to divert the military movement made by the Indian Army, was and thoroughly briefed with the dangerous mission. Kirmani and his companion, Fida Ahmed from SSG, was dropped off at a cold, unknown area, covered with heavy snow, where the team performs the mountaineering climb and stunts on a high-altitude cliff. During climbing Fida was hit by the firing of the Indian Army. Captain Kashif reaches the top alone before the Indian Army and killed the whole team alone. However, an Indian Army soldier, the only one left during battle, succeeded in climbing to the top of the mountain but was intercepted by Kirmani. After inquiring about his unit, Kirmani decides to let the Indian army soldier go. Captain Kashif Kirmani tried to contact his commanding base but the communication is disabled due to a heavy snow storm. Kirmani is eventually picked up by the Pakistan Army, after three days of being exposed in the snowstorm, and taken to a military hospital. There his shins and arms were amputated. Captain Kirmani received an honorary discharge but, at his insistence to stay in the army, he was transferred to the Science and Technology Division. Kirmani later learned the fate of Captain Gulsher Khan, who went MIA in Bosnia.
• Gulsher Khan (Captain M. Qasim Khan): a Captain in the army and son of a JCO, he graduated from the 80th PMA Long Course and belonged to the 9th FF Battalion, Lahore of the FF Regiment. Mild-mannered, modest, and humble, he married Shahnaz Sher and settled in a luxurious apartment. A few days after his marriage, Khan was sent to Bosnia on a U.N. peacekeeping mission. While a commanding officer of his company, Khan harbored and launched a number of rescue operations to protect Bosnian Muslims held by the Serbian forces. There, he received a respectful reputation in the Bosnian community. He befriended a Bosnian woman who fell in love with him and asked him to marry her; he refused. Khan witnessed the Serb forces' mass murder campaign while protecting the Bosnian Muslims, a mission that he was assigned to lead. In a reconnaissance military operation at an unknown place in Serbia, Khan and his unit was ambushed by the Serb forces. Both sides made contact and Khan's team tried to evade the battle which, however, was unsuccessful. Khan then tried to launch a counter-operation against the Serb forces. The long battle ended when his unit was brutally murdered by the Serbian forces. Khan was taken by the Serbs as POW. He was the only officer to be captured and was given treatment. The Commanding base and the United Nations assumed that Khan' was dead during this mission. Meanwhile, Khan tried to contact the UN Headquarters, proving the that he was still alive. After days of being captured and held, Khan attempted an escape from the hidden camp where he was held. The team of Serbs followed Khan and quickly intercepted him before he reached a forest. After receiving orders, the Serbs opened fire on him and shot him in the head. Khan was buried in an unknown place and was searched by the Serbs before being buried. One soldier found a torn 500 rupees and examined it. While they departed, the soldier put the 500 rupee note on Khan's grave and gave it a final look while leaving with his unit.
• Shahnaaz Sher (Shahnaaz Khawaja): She is a niece of a retired Lieutenant-General and a Corps Commander of IV Corps. She is a Cambridge-educated elementary school teacher of special children and has a very straightforward personality with her own philosophy of life. Bold and confident, she is the love interest of Faraz and first cousin of Kashif. She later married Captain Gulsher Khan. She visited Bosnia, with Kirmani and Faraz, to find Khan as he sent a letter to her proving he's still alive. She interviewed many of the Bosnian Muslims who were rescued by Khan. She also interviewed Khan's Bosnian friend who had once asked him to marry her. Unable to find Khan, She returned to Pakistan with Khan's friends. In the end, her only son is seen becoming an army officer, who graduates from Kakul Academy.

Story

As the name indicates, the drama is based on the life and times of three characters — Faraz, Kashif, and Gulsher also known as Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie respectively — and their friendship. These passionate young men wish to start their careers in the Pakistan army. In the initial episodes, ample footage is used to detail the background of every individual and the circumstances under which they enroll for the armed forces. Faraz is Mr Perfect, the guy who does everything right while Gulsher is a polite, simple-minded, shy person. Kashif is originally the funny man responsible for providing most of the comic relief through his antics, pranks and mischief. Eventually the series morphs into a coming-of-age story where the lead characters realize that there is more to life than their present happy-go-lucky lifestyle as they experience reality in all its fragility and extremities — jealousy, heartbreaks, trauma and death. Another important character is Shahnaaz, a confident, educated and well-mannered young lady, who plays an important role in the lives of these friends. Her involvement with them in the role of friend, wife and confidante adds reality to the series that is poignant and touching on a personal level. The main theme of the drama is that every person should lead a purposeful existence and that, if one has the will and the passion, he/she can achieve anything.

Popularity

This series became extremely popular in Pakistan soon after it went on air on PTV. Although the main cast consisted of new actors, the drama sent a virtual-life message to the masses. Being informative, entertaining and thought-provoking with apt use of humour, the series is regarded as one of the most well-scripted and famous drama series ever produced in Pakistan.

References

1. "Alpha Bravo Charlie - Pakistani Television Dramas and TV Shows". Thepakistani.tv. 2008-03-19. Retrieved 2012-03-06.
2. "Alpha Bravo Charlie — Pakistani TV Drama". Pakistanica.com. Retrieved 2012-03-06.