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The web series IC 814- The Kandahar Hijack, released on Netflix on August 29, is constantly in controversy. In this series based on a real incident, the names of the terrorists were shown as Hindus, due to which it is being opposed. The matter reached the court and the court ordered the makers to make changes. Meanwhile, now crew member chief Anil Sharma, who was present in the plane at the time of the actual incident, is angry over showing factual errors in the film. He says that there are not one or two but half a dozen mistakes in the series.
Let us tell you that the series is the story of a hijacking that happened in 1999. The makers have given reference of two books to make a series on this real incident, one of which is 'IA's Terror Trail' written by the then cabin crew chief Anil Sharma. However, Anil Sharma alleges that despite knowing the true facts, director Anubhav Sinha has presented the facts in a wrong way.
Anil Sharma was on duty when the plane was hijacked in 1999.
Anil Sharma angrily said in a conversation with Barkha Dutt, some people are praising director Anubhav Sinha, he definitely understands his craft very well, but my problem with him is why did he need to change the things that actually happened there. A large part of the action in that incident took place inside the cabin. Very terrible things happened there, but they were not dealt with as much sensitivity and there are not as many details in it as there should have been.
When asked about the mistakes in the series, Anil said, I can list at least half a dozen mistakes, but for now I will tell you one mistake. They have shown that the air hostess was slapped by the hijackers. The only person in the crew they raised their hands on was our most junior flight purser (cabin manager), Mr. Satish. He was hit on the back of the head, his hair was pulled, he was pushed on the chair. The hijackers thought they could do this to him.
Anil Sharma further said, they did not manhandle the girls. Neither did they manhandle me. However, at one point they thoroughly searched me. Let's say there was no part of my body that they did not search. I was surprised at how the makers could show the crew being beaten up on a flight.
On changing the names of terrorists and changing facts in the show, Anil further said, it is a famous fact that this incident brought us to our knees as a country and it can be debated that the government failed or could not do anything. But it is not right to show it like this. It could have been shown in such a way that this incident would have become a lesson for today.
Let us tell you that Hindu names like 'Bhola' and 'Shankar' have been used for the terrorists in the series, whereas the real terrorists were Hindus. The controversy grew so much that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting sent a notice to Netflix content head Monica Shergill and sought clarification. After the controversy grew and the ministry reprimanded, a disclaimer with the real and code names of the terrorists has now been added to the series.