Indian Air Force challenges Hindi film Gunjan Saxena’s attempts to malign its image!

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has registered its protest at the despicable manner in which it has been depicted in the just released Hindi film, Gunjan Saxena, The Kargil Girl, which released on the OTT platform Netflix on Wednesday.

Like several other Indian films that look to glorify women at the expense of men and eminent and remarkable institutions, Gunjan Saxena too makes a mockery of the IAF, one of the finest institutions of the country, portraying it as an institution that is anti-women and full of bias.

The IAF has written to the Central Board of Film Certification about this dismal depiction of the institution in the film for the sake of glorifying the lead female character. It has also been learnt that a copy of the letter has also been sent to Netflix.

The movie,that stars Janhvi Kapoor in the lead, is “inspired” by the life of Gunjan Saxena, who became the IAF’s first woman pilot to take part in the 1999 Kargil war by flying rescue and recce sorties.

In the letter, the IAF says, “As per the initial understanding, M/s Dharma Productions had agreed to represent the IAF with authenticity and make all efforts to ensure that the film helps to inspire the next generation of IAF officers. The trailer of the movie has been released recently on the OTT platform.

“Certain scenes and dialogues in the movie and its trialer, which was forwarded to this office for viewing, have been found to portray the IAF in an undue negative light. In the aim to glorify the screen character of Ex-Flt Lt Gunjan Saxena, M/s Dharma Productions presented some situations that are misleading and portray an inappropriate work culture, especially against women in the IAF.

“IAF as a service has always ensured that the organisation is gender neutral and has always provided an equal opportunity to both male and women personnel. The summary of the scenes/dialogues of the script, which are considered objectionable due to the presentation of incorrect gender bias, is annexed.

“It is pertinent to highlight the Production house was informed about the objectionable portion of the movie and was advised to delete/modify the same. However, the production house has not deleted the scenes but has proposed a media plan in the runup to the release and inserting a disclaimer in the movie. This HQ considers that a mere media plan and a disclaimer would not be adequate to prevent the presentation of incorrect facts about the IAF.”

It is not just the IAF that has been offended by the manipulative content that has been put out in the film Gunjan Saxena. Men from the armed forces too have voiced their disgust at the concocted sequences in the film to glorify women by putting down the valiant men of the Indian Air Force, several of whom have laid down their lives in the service of the nation.

Major Gaurav Arya (retired) tweeted, “Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl on @netflix has some extremely negative portrayal of @IAF_MCC. It is also filled with lies. Women officers are treated with utmost respect in IAF. Please don’t malign the Armed Forces just because you want to sell your film.”