The web series 'IC 814- The Kandahar Hijack', released on Netflix on August 29, continues to be in controversy. Based on a true story, the names of the terrorists were shown as Hindus, which has led to protests. The matter reached the court and the court ordered the makers to make the change. Meanwhile, now crew member Chief Anil Sharma, who was present on the plane during the actual incident, is furious over the factual errors shown in the film. He says there are not one or two but half a dozen errors in the series. This series is the story of a hijack that took place in 1999. The makers have referenced two books, one of which is 'IA's Terror Trail' written by the then cabin crew chief Anil Sharma, to make the series based on this real incident. However, Anil Sharma has alleged that even after knowing the true facts, director Anubhav Sinha has misrepresented the facts. While talking to Barkha Dutt, Anil Sharma angrily said, Some people are praising director Anubhav Sinha, he certainly understands his art very well, but the only problem I have with him is that he cannot change what happened in reality. What was necessary, what actually happened there. Most of the action in that event took place inside the cabin. There were terrible things that happened, but they were not dealt with as sensitively as they should have been. When asked about the faults of the series, Anil said, I can count at least half a dozen faults, but for now I will tell you one. They have shown that the air hostess was slapped by the hijackers. The only person in the crew he raised his hand to was our most junior flight purser (cabin manager) Satish. He was hit on the back of the head, his hair was pulled and he was pushed into a chair. The hijackers thought they could do the same to him. Anil Sharma further said that he did not push the girls. Didn't do it with me either. However, at one point they searched me completely. There was no part of my body that was not searched. I wondered how the makers could show the crew fighting in flight. Regarding changing the names of the terrorists and changing the facts in the show, Anil further said, “This incident has brought us to our knees as a country and it can be discussed that the government has failed and could not do anything.” But it is not right to show it like this. It could also have been shown that this incident would have become a lesson for today. The series uses Hindu names like 'Bhola' and 'Shankar' for the terrorists, when the real terrorists were Muslims. The controversy over this escalated to such an extent that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting sent a notice to Netflix content head Monica Shergill seeking clarification. After growing controversy and a rebuke from the ministry, the series has now added a disclaimer containing the actual and codenamed terrorists.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
Real cabin crew chief fumed on showing errors in IC-184: said – There are dozens of errors, how can they be shown?, Controversy arose over this series due to changing names of terrorists
