IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack: Rediscovering the trail of a terror act (2024)

[00:00:11] Hi, welcome to Onmanorama Movie Podcast, Start, Action, Cut. Today we are decoding the web series

[00:00:20] IC 814, The Kandahar Hijack, directed by Anupav Sinha and featuring an ensemble cast led by

[00:00:29] Vijay Vama Nasodirinsha, Longachkapu, Arvind Swami Aditi Gupta, Patrileka Paul, Harmandar Singh, Rajiv Thakur

[00:00:39] and a lineup of actors. So Swadhi is with us to discuss the series. It's a mini series with six

[00:00:47] episodes and is based on the book Flight Into Fear, The Captain's Story by Devi Sharan who captain

[00:00:55] the hijack plane and journalist Srinjoy Chaudhary. So before we start I think we need to mention

[00:01:04] something about the controversy that's revolving around it. It's regarding the names of a couple

[00:01:11] of hijackers among the five of them. The makers may have used the names Chief Doctor, Berger,

[00:01:18] Bhola and Shankar, the names by which the hijackers addressed one another inside and outside the plane.

[00:01:27] It's based on a statement that was issued by India's Home Ministry in 2000 which confirms that

[00:01:34] the hijackers used such names as aliases to communicate with them. So however,

[00:01:42] Netflix on which the web series is streaming subsequently issued a statement saying that

[00:01:48] had updated the disclaimer which appears on the screen before the episodes begin.

[00:01:55] So it says that for the benefit of audiences unfamiliar with the 1999 hijacking of Indian

[00:02:04] Airlines Flight 814, the opening disclaimer has been updated to include the real and court names

[00:02:10] of the hijackers. As we said earlier, the story is based on the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight

[00:02:17] IC 814 from Kathmandu to Kandahar on the eve of Christmas in 1999. A week later the mayhem

[00:02:27] culminated with the release of three jailed terrorists. So Swati, you watched the series

[00:02:36] and what do you say about it? Well, Patmughmar, for me I had no prior idea. I have read about this

[00:02:45] incident but I did not know what went behind the whole thing and I think that was what was the

[00:02:52] most hooking about the series as well. As to what really happened that fateful day and

[00:02:57] how did the passengers cope and this was like a seven-day ordeal and they landed in many places

[00:03:05] and how were the hijackers like, why did they do it? All of those questions and I think the director

[00:03:11] has very detailed, he has explained everything in such detail that you'll really get a real good

[00:03:18] understanding of what happened and why they do it and what were the outcomes. But if you asked

[00:03:24] me was it like really gripping and it really hooked me into the whole world, I would,

[00:03:29] I don't know, I was continuously watching it but the kind of feeling that you had when you watch

[00:03:35] a movie like Neerja or something, I don't think this series had that. I don't know if it's because

[00:03:41] of the nature of events or the way it was unfolding because it's a hijack you'd expect

[00:03:47] something very intense or something very serious happening. Obviously it happens but

[00:03:53] maybe this is how it happened in real life where I read this somewhere that the authorities

[00:03:58] came to know about the hijack, some of the authorities came to know about the hijack from the TV rather

[00:04:02] than other people informing them but I kind of felt like there was this curiosity factor or

[00:04:10] intensity factor that was missing but other than that because performance by people like Vijay Varma

[00:04:16] and Nasradinsha, the series was really hooking and it was really interesting and like I said

[00:04:22] before you really get to understand what happened and for a moment you even keep aside the

[00:04:27] fact that these people are hijackers and they're trying to do something bad because they also relate

[00:04:33] to the passengers on a certain level, they even address the passengers with respect and they're

[00:04:38] not like your usual hijackers that you see in other movies. They're not like, obviously they are

[00:04:42] bad people in quotes and they have a bad agenda but at some level I felt like they do

[00:04:48] understand what the passengers and the crew are also going through and even the way they

[00:04:53] call the passengers up or abjai or all those things so you know it's very detailed, I felt like

[00:04:59] the series is extremely detailed and it was a very interesting and fun watch to an extent.

[00:05:05] Yes there were no many intense moments in it but actually even though people

[00:05:13] know about that incident from newspaper it's long bagged in 1999 and people were not much

[00:05:20] aware about what really happened, what transpired between the hijackers and other communicators

[00:05:27] with them or how the passengers reacted or how they experienced the trauma. Those details were not

[00:05:35] really clear to many of us so when we watch these series we get to know how it really

[00:05:43] happened, how it actually happened and the director, the makers were very meticulous in

[00:05:51] treating, in making the incidents even the delicate or subtle nuances among the passengers

[00:05:59] and the hijackers. The whole people involved in it we get to see what really happened. I think

[00:06:07] holding and leveling up the suspense and intrigue of an event that we already know is a challenge

[00:06:13] and this series I think has been able to do that by crafting the drama very perfectly.

[00:06:23] So would you like to say something about how you felt about the making,

[00:06:29] like how the drama was created and how your curiosity was generated by narrating the story

[00:06:39] very engagingly? Patu Kumar I think if you are a fan of history and especially Indian history I think

[00:06:46] this movie would, this series would be reminiscent to a history class because like I said before

[00:06:52] the filmic has shown like a very detailed version of the incident and what led to the

[00:06:56] fateful day on December 24th 1999 and the show it starts off with showing these images and flash

[00:07:03] back stories as to what happened in the kind of background that kind of things were happening

[00:07:10] at the time and from I think because it continues in that progress there are these

[00:07:16] places where like they take a pause from the series and they talk about the other

[00:07:22] things that were happening and because of that I think you really keep watching it because you

[00:07:27] really want to know what happened after that or what were things like and why was this issue handled

[00:07:33] the way it was handled and it was definitely a very dramatic seven day happening, terror

[00:07:40] and there was a lot of intrigue as well and like you said before this series is adapted from

[00:07:47] the book and the author is a pilot on board who was on board the hijacked flight and you really

[00:07:56] want to know what his experience was like and how are the pilots like would they would were they

[00:07:59] kind of scared or were they like really courageous and I think the best part of the series is that

[00:08:04] all of them acts very naturally like it's not overly done or it's not overly dramatic

[00:08:11] and I think the best example to show is definitely Vijay Verma's character and he's

[00:08:15] as the pilot I was actually surprised that he took on the role because you know from an

[00:08:20] outside perspective there isn't much that he needs to do here is the pilot and he's you know talking

[00:08:25] to the he's communicating with the other stations and he's talking to the hijackers and

[00:08:29] but he doesn't lose his cool or he's not he doesn't really get agitated or anything he just

[00:08:34] keeps his calm and he goes forward and the same thing with the people down the authorities as

[00:08:41] well they are treating it as at the same time you also feel some kind of laziness or that

[00:08:47] serious factor missing from the activities that they're doing and I and I don't know if that

[00:08:52] was the real case or at least that is what I read that point because you know the way it was

[00:08:57] handled and also the it also talks about how the media sort of played an active part and

[00:09:02] it also shows about how an actual information when it gets out of the people how can that

[00:09:07] information be manipulated and how much of truthness is in it all of that aspects are explored

[00:09:13] in the movie that is why I keep saying that it's a very detailed version of how the passengers

[00:09:18] were feeling how the pilots were feeling the hijackers version the media's perspective

[00:09:22] and even the authorities perspective it has all of that in that sense I think it's very

[00:09:27] it's a series that encompasses a lot of things yes it it reflects a lot of things like

[00:09:34] it incorporates a lot of things like what actually happened and how the passengers reacted

[00:09:41] how they experienced it and how the media responded to it and the and the bureau

[00:09:49] crowds and the authority were on their heels to solve the issue and even how the relatives

[00:09:56] of the passengers were reacting to it so all so many things were taken into account and

[00:10:02] they portrayed everything and surprisingly what I found interesting was all these things were

[00:10:09] included in a very very tailor-made manner and very well balanced even though there were incidents

[00:10:16] that really happened in those days it had the cinematic element in it so you watched it like

[00:10:24] a film even though you know it's a real incident even though there were no too much dramatic

[00:10:30] events in that it engaged you as a drama that's what I felt and that's why I mean here we are just

[00:10:38] pointing out the cinematic aspect of the series so regarding the performance as you said earlier

[00:10:46] Vijay Verma actually he did a very well balanced role even though he didn't have much to enact

[00:10:56] there were so many subtle nuances that he portrayed with so perfection that it elevated

[00:11:04] the watching experience now so we have seen Vijay Verma playing different roles in different films

[00:11:09] but here he was actually he did nothing over the top or nothing too dramatic but he kept

[00:11:16] his cool as you said earlier and as the head pilot he was modeled he was playing the role

[00:11:22] of head pilot of the aircraft that was captain Devi Sharan and he was a maculate and even Nasruddin

[00:11:33] Shah as cabinet secretary based on Prabhat Kumar and Pangech Kumar as Vijay Bhawan Singh

[00:11:41] that was based on the in in real life it was just one Singh, a minister of external affairs

[00:11:47] and Arvind Swamy as DRS was playing the role of secretary of minister of external affairs

[00:11:55] so all of them were playing their characters I mean to perfection and even the characters like

[00:12:02] Dya Mirza who played the editor of India headlines and then actors like Kumbh Mishra, Manoj,

[00:12:11] Bahwa, Aditya Srivastava and then Aditi Gupta and Patralekha Paul and the tourists played by

[00:12:19] Hariminder Singh as doctor or Shahid Akhtar Saeed then Diljo as Sonny Ahmed Kazi in the series it was

[00:12:30] Berga and then Rajiv Thakur as Ibrahim Akhtar, Alayya's chief then Kunal Chopra's Zahur Mistry

[00:12:40] and then Kamal Bhatra's Sakir all of them all of them were very astoundingly playing their roles

[00:12:48] so have you got anything to say about the actors in this series? Well Patmukh Maa

[00:12:56] acting was like I said for me I really like Vijay's character and I like Chaya's

[00:13:02] character as well I forgot the name of the actress but Patralekha I mean she is a great

[00:13:08] performer and she did give out a very good performance but somewhere I felt like it was a bit

[00:13:13] too overly dramatic somewhere some some of the dialogues I guess I don't know if it's just me

[00:13:19] but I possibly felt that but even having said that I don't know the names of most of the

[00:13:23] actors I'm so sorry but what was great about their performance was that all of their performance

[00:13:27] seemed very authentic and it was like they had a human side to them as well and the series you also

[00:13:34] that is one of the I think the highlight factor of the series they all it also shows the

[00:13:38] human side of the hijackers it's not like they're very cruel very you know evil people with

[00:13:44] an evil agenda with an extremely evil agenda they keep telling you that you know if you are

[00:13:48] going to cooperate with us then we are going to be okay with you even the one of the

[00:13:53] hijackers he tells Chaya that you know if you are going to cooperate with what we want then

[00:13:57] you are one among us you will be like us so they give that sort of respect to the passengers as

[00:14:03] well and I think that is where I think I read this in some one review as well the past is sort

[00:14:07] of Berlin syndrome with the hijackers because after a while they get why they're doing this

[00:14:12] and even the hijackers get the mentality of the past as well and I think that

[00:14:17] all of those emotions are really captured in a very nice way and that the actors were able

[00:14:22] to tap in a very beautiful sense yeah even though the hijackers showed their human side

[00:14:28] hijackers are hijackers which their mischievous agenda never justify their their actions they are

[00:14:36] no that's why I said they have like a Berlin syndrome thing going on there yeah but we cannot

[00:14:43] actually justify their actions not justifying or saying that you know yeah whichever we cannot

[00:14:48] say that they were showing their human side whichever human side they show actually they were

[00:14:54] risking so many passengers lying so we cannot be with them or be with their side yeah but anyway

[00:15:02] but here we are as I mentioned earlier we are just pointing out the cinematic aspect of this

[00:15:07] series so when we come to that as you said it right this series remind me of the movie Roja in

[00:15:15] it was balanced so showing the reasons of both sides however there are some flows in this series

[00:15:24] like certain subplots that run parallel seemed detached or it stood out like an old thing one is

[00:15:31] the newspaper episode and the journalist Nandini Martin's Whipsmart reporting style

[00:15:37] it seemed little excessive however certain dialogues certain exchanges with her editor

[00:15:42] Shalini Shaw Chandra played by the Amir Zawair interesting yes Swathi if you're asked to

[00:15:49] point out things that didn't work for you what would you say which are things that you would

[00:15:54] at least well Padmohan I think like I said there was this in like I mentioned before that

[00:16:01] intensity factor that was missing I felt because for especially a movie or series or a movie

[00:16:06] for a hijack movie or a series it has to have that intensity so you'll feel very anxious that

[00:16:13] agitated every second as to what is going to happen what is going to happen maybe because

[00:16:17] we already know the outcome of the hijack I don't know if that is the reason why but there

[00:16:22] was something a bit again I don't know if it is lag or something that you'd feel

[00:16:26] after the third episode or so that because initially you just jump right into the

[00:16:31] hijack it's the filmmakers they don't spend a lot of time explaining a lot of stuff there is not a lot

[00:16:37] of background stories going on like the passengers that you just have passengers they each and every

[00:16:42] one of them don't have a backstory and because of that you don't really obviously you are familiar

[00:16:48] with the passengers but you don't really connect to them on a deeper level but the addition

[00:16:52] of people like the child that was not well and there was this old man and people from

[00:16:57] different walks of life coming together I think that was really nice because it adds the touch

[00:17:01] of authenticity to the story but on an emotional level I don't think I connected to any of them

[00:17:07] much because you know that is quite needed and even Patra Lekas and Shia Ska they are obviously

[00:17:12] they are put there to you know they serve as a symbol of hope and a beacon of hope but maybe

[00:17:19] my comparison of this series was to was with Neerja maybe that is why I am kind of feeling

[00:17:24] like that but with no such compass I think the series was just fine but that intensity and

[00:17:29] that curiosity level that was kind of missing for me. Yes good thing about this series is that

[00:17:35] there are only six episodes and you can watch it in a day that's something great about this

[00:17:42] series so anyway it's an engaging watch from the beginning to the end and I would say there

[00:17:50] are no dramatic scenes inside and there are situations there are incidents in this series which

[00:17:57] which keep the suspense and the thrill and even though it's based on the real life incident

[00:18:02] unfortunate incidents happened and it engages you with the wave of suspense that brings us to

[00:18:11] the end of this episode thanks for listening to Start Action Cut produced and hosted by me Patmugamar

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[00:18:25] of Start Action Cut out on Mondays thank you