New Delhi: It’s been almost 25 years now since the hijack of Indian Airline Flight 814 following which three Pakistani terrorists were released. The incident has created fresh controversy after the release of Netflix Series IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack.
The web series directed by filmmaker Anubhav Sinha has incurred backlash from Central government as well as netizens over the use of names like Bhola, Shanker for terrorists.
Dissecting the controversy, TV9 Network Executive Editor Aditya Raj Kaul spoke to Anil Sharma, the chief of cabin crew of IC-814, to know what exactly happened when the plane was hijacked from Kathmandu in Nepal to Dubai and then Kandhar in Afghanistan.
Painful to go through whole story: Anil Sharma
“I have seen the series and but I haven’t finished watching it yet. It is painful to go through the whole story not because it casts me in a poor light…but also because I think they have compromised the whole story a little too much for comfort. Initially, I thought people were little over outraged..but I realised that there is some substance why there is so much of upraor about the issue. Nothing convinces me the way things are portrayed..When the scene shifts to negotiations or the bureaucratic handling…I mean the protrayal is very unconvincing. I am sure it could have been managed otherwise,” Amil Sharma said.
‘Little of buffoonery’
Sharma added, “One of the negotiators portrayed in the webseries…in this case Mr Ajit Doval…I met him several time and he launched my book as well..I know what a serious guy he is when it comes to interacting people. Here (in the series) they have shown a little of buffoonery..”
Factual inaccuracies in the film?
“When they say it’s a work of fiction..they have changed the names of pilots and co-pilots and flight engineer…one of the cabin crew.. the inaccuracies began when they show me getting assaulted…none of the girls were assaulted..they never assaulted anybody except the junior most flight purser Mr Satish from Hyderabad.. I find it hard to understand how do these things make the script more crisp or to make it more watchable….all that they end up doing is avoidable controversy,” Anil Sharma argued.
‘They look like very normal passengers’
“On the first day, we had no clue… that these guys looked like very normal president. I mean, the very fact it didn’t stand out meant that they were well-trained. They had well-rehearsed paths. Two of them came and sat in the J class where I was working, along with two assistants, and the other three, I’m not sure about the fifth one, but two of them were definitely in the economy class,” he explained further.
‘Don’t try to act smart”
“It had been a long day for the cockpit crew that flown all the way from Hyderabad to Delhi…Delhi to Kathmandu…So I was joking with the crew. And when I was coming out of the cabin, I found a guy wearing a mask. And then he said “We are overtaking…Jyada Hosiyari Mat Dikhayega (Don’t try to act smart). So, instinctively, my hand was moving towards the intercom in an very feeble attempt to warn the captain, because the they had already sort of made the first undefeatable move, if I would describe it like that,” said Anil.
Why web series makers tried to hide identities of terrorists?
Anil argued that there should have been a clarification and he is certainly in agreement with the masses who are outraged about these two names.
