After watching the IC 814 series, the real cabin crew said – ‘There are half a dozen mistakes in this, how can they show this?’

Director Anubhav Sinha’s Netflix show ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’ sparked a huge controversy soon after its release. This show based on real events was accused of hiding the real names of the hijackers. When the controversy grew, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry of the Government of India summoned Netflix India’s content chief Monica Shergill to Delhi. After a meeting in the ministry, the disclaimer of ‘IC 814’ was updated with the real names of the hijackers.

However, the controversy over the show is still going on. Other aspects of the show are also being scrutinized. Now Anil Sharma, the cabin crew chief of the plane hijacked in 1999, has pointed out a big mistake in the Netflix show. One of the two books that the makers have referred to for the facts of the story is Anil Sharma’s book ‘IA’s Terror Trail’.

Anil said there are more than half a dozen mistakes in the show
In a conversation with journalist Barkha Dutt, Anil Sharma expressed his objections to the Netflix show ‘IC 814’. He found the show ‘disappointing’ and ‘funny’ and said that after watching the show, people who suffered the entire incident are getting angry and it is justified.

Anil Sharma said, ‘There are people who are praising Anubhav Sinha, a well-known director, and he certainly understands his craft very well. But the problem I have with him is that if he understands his craft so well, then 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. A lot of horrible things were happening there. But these have not been dealt with as much sensitivity and there are not as many details as there should have been.

Anil told this big mistake in the show
When Anil was asked what was the one thing that he found completely false in the show, he said, “I can list at least half a dozen flaws. But for now, I will tell you one. They showed 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, 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.”

Pointing out the show’s biggest factual mistake, Anil said, ‘They did not manhandle the girls at all, not even me. However, at one point they searched me very thoroughly, let’s say there was no part of my body that they did not search. I was surprised how the makers could show this (assault on the crew) happening in a flight.

People opposing the show on social media have also made a big allegation on ‘IC 814’ that terrorists have been ‘whitewashed’ in the show, terrorism and terrorists have been shown very lightly. Anil was asked that being a survivor of this incident, did he feel the same while watching the show? He replied, ‘It is a well-known 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 showing it like this (is not right). It could have been shown in such a way that this incident would have become a lesson for today.’

Anil also said that he does not agree with the way the team that negotiated with the hijackers and the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval (the character of Manoj Pahwa in the show is inspired by him) were shown in ‘IC 814’. He said that the way the Indian team that went to negotiate was shown in the show, in real life they were much more serious than that. ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’ was released on 29 August and is streaming on Netflix.