Anil Sharma, the chief steward on the hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-814, has criticized the Netflix series ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’ for depicting certain fictitious scenes. Sharma, who witnessed the 1999 hijacking by the Pakistan-based terror group Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, stated that some scenes in the series do not reflect the actual events.
After the series’ release, social media users accused creators Anubhav Sinha and Trishant Srivastava of changing the names of two hijackers to ‘Bhola’ and ‘Shankar,’ which some believed hurt Hindu sentiments.
Sharma confirmed that these names are imaginary and not the real names of the hijackers. He also pointed out that no crew member was injured or slapped during the hijacking, contrary to what the series shows.
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Reflecting on the incident, Sharma recalled realizing the gravity of the situation when asked to dispose of a body at Dubai airport. He referred to a passenger stabbed by the hijackers. Sharma also noted that although Jaswant Singh, the then External Affairs Minister, faced criticism for his role, his visit to Kandahar had a positive impact.
However, he acknowledged that India paid a heavy price, as the release of three terrorists led to numerous subsequent attacks involving Pakistani elements.
In response to the controversy, Netflix India updated the opening disclaimer to include both the real and code names of the hijackers. Monika Shergill, Netflix Vice President (Content, India), stated that the code names used in the series reflect those from the actual event.