# Bihar man becomes Army officer after 14 attempts, inspired by film Border 2026-08-22T04:31:54+00:00 | India | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Kishu Singh, a 28-year-old from Bihar, has been commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Indian Army after 14 attempts over nine years. He was inspired by the character of 2nd Lieutenant Dharamvir, played by Akshaye Khanna in the 1997 film 'Border', which he watched at age nine. Singh cleared the Combined Defence Services exam on his 14th try and underwent training at the Officers Training Academy in Chennai. He credited his parents and a mentor, Colonel Rajesh Kumar, for supporting him through repeated failures. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The story of Kishu Singh underscores the extreme competition for officer entry into the Indian Army, where candidates often spend years clearing the Services Selection Board process. While Singh's 14 attempts are exceptional, many aspirants take multiple tries: the SSB has a selection rate of roughly 2-3% for those who reach the interview stage. Singh's persistence paid off at age 28, close to the upper age limit of 27 for some entries, though relaxations apply. The key takeaway is not just individual grit but the systemic bottleneck in military recruitment, where lakhs apply but only a few thousand are selected annually. Watch for how the Army's Agnipath scheme may change these dynamics for future candidates. ## Coverage - ndtv.com Straightforward human-interest feature with no political or institutional framing, focused on individual achievement. This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Bihar, Border (film), Indian Army, Kishu Singh Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/bihar-man-becomes-army-officer-after-14-attempts-inspired-by-film-border/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/bihar-man-becomes-army-officer-after-14-attempts-inspired-by-film-border/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/