For more than two decades, J. P. Dutta has served as Hindi cinema’s lone poet of war. He finds a profound passion and pride in stories of men in combat. In Dutta’s worldview, the battleground is where real heroes are forged. It is the ultimate showcase for pride, patriotism and an overarching masculinity. With Paltan, Dutta completes his war trilogy, which started with Border in 1997 and was followed by the interminable LOC Kargil in 2003. Paltan is leaden and one-dimensional. Incidentally, the word Paltan is repeated dozens of times, just in case you forget which movie you are watching.