IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack, Captain Devi Sharan, whose book became the backbone for Sinha to make the film, reacted to two specific scenes he found inaccurate
In Pic: IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack poster
IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack is currently facing a lot of backlash soon after its OTT release. A certain segment of viewers has been calling out the film for over-dramatizing the horrifying incident that happened in 1999. Directed by Anubhav Sinha, the series is based on a true event — the longest hijack in Indian history. Now, after the demand for banning the OTT show rose, the captain of the flight, Captain Devi Sharan, revealed the inaccuracies he found in the series.
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What Went Wrong in IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack?
Captain Devi Sharan, whose book became the backbone for Sinha to make the film, reacted to two specific scenes he found inaccurate.
The first scene was when Vijay Varma goes down the aircraft to unclog the plumbing lines. Sharan, in an interview with 'The Telegraph', clarified that he didn't do it; rather, the Taliban authorities had sent a worker to fix the clogging. He stated, "They (Taliban authorities) sent a worker. I took him down into the aircraft hold as he would not know where the lines were."
The second inaccuracy in the series: Sharan shared that the scene involving the then Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh giving a salute was inadequately portrayed. Sharan stated, “(Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh) made a gesture that showed appreciation of our efforts,” indicating that the portrayal in the series may have exaggerated the interaction.
The Controversy around IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack
Featuring Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Vijay Varma, Arvind Swamy, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Dia Mirza, Amrita Puri, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Aditya Srivastava, Kanwaljit Singh, and Patralekhaa in lead roles, the show is based on a real-life incident. Hours after the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting summoned the content head of Netflix India amid the ongoing controversy around the 'IC-814: The Kandahar Hijack' web series, it is now reported that a PIL has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking a ban on the Anubhav Sinha directorial. According to 'Bar and Bench', the plea by Surjit Singh Yadav says the series "distorted the actual identities" of terrorists by giving them Hindu names.
Hindu Names Used for Terrorists in ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’
Those who have criticized Anubhav Sinha for using the names of hijackers like ‘Bhola’ and ‘Shankar’ (after Lord Shiva) claim that the filmmaker is trying to defame Hinduism. However, fact-checkers have pointed out that, according to the Ministry of External Affairs website, these were the code names used according to accounts shared by passengers.