IC 814 The Kandahar Hijack: How India Refused To Bow Down To Talibani Terrorists? Series Uncovers

IC 814 The Kandahar Hijack: The series featuring Vijay Varma, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Patralekha Paul, Aditi Gupta Chopra, Arvind Swami, Manoj Pahwa, Kumud Mishra, Anupam Tripathi, Dia Mirza, Armita Puri, Aditya Srivastava, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Yashpal Sharma and Sushant Singh debuted in Netflix on August 29. Immediately after its release, the show garnered audience interest and became one of the top trends online. The series is based on the longest Indian flight hijack in December 1999. The week-long hijack jolted the nation and resulted in the release of three terrorists from an Indian prison in exchange for civilians being held hostage.

What is the real story of IC 814 The Kandahar Hijack?

Created by Anubhav Sinha, the series narrates one of the worst crises in India's aviation history. On December 24, 1999, five masked terrorists hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC 814 as it took off from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu and was en route to Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. The pilot of the plane Captain Devi Sharan was forced to fly the hijacked flight to Lahore in Pakistan. However, upon being denied permission to land, the plan had to make an emergency landing in Amritsar for refuelling.

While the flight was on Indian soil in Amritsar, a ploy was deployed to delay its takeoff but it was not successful. Suspecting a breach in their plan, the terrorists forced the flight to fly to Lahore. The aircraft flew to Dubai and finally to Kandahar, where the negotiations took place. Agfter a week-off standoff and a to and fro with the highjackers, the Indian government released three high-profile terrorists in exchange for the hostages. The incident took place when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister of India, Jaswant Singh was the Foreign Minister, and India did not recognise the Taliban government in Afghanistan.  

When Vijay Varma met the real-life captain of IC 814

On August 24, the actor took to his Instagram, and shared 2 pictures with Captain Devi Sharan who was the pilot during the hijack of the Indian Airlines Flight 814, along with first officer Rajinder Kumar, alongside flight engineer Anil Kumar Jaggia. Captain Devi Sharan exhibited tremendous courage and composure during the critical moments. Vijay also penned a long note in the caption as he recollected meeting the pilot for the first time.

He wrote, “Real and Reel Captain Sharan. When I first met the captain.. I was taken in by his pleasant smile and his simplicity.. and then I saw a scar on his neck.. I asked him about it.. he simply and politely said ‘wo hijackers ki gun 7 din tak yahi ragadti rahi toh wound ho gaya tha jo heal nahi hua’ I froze (the wound that I got because of the hijacker’s gun never healed) He smiled”.

He further mentioned, “I knew I was talking to a real-life hero. It was such a huge honour to get to depict Captain Devi Sharan on screen. His efforts to save lives amidst chaos and dread is truly inspiring! A tale of resilience and honour.. of critical thinking and duty.. of patience and hope and most of all.. bravery. We salute you captain IC814 streaming on Netflix from 29th August. @anubhavsinhaa @netflix_in @matchboxshots”.

(With inputs from IANS)