Vishal Bhardwaj celebrates success of Sector 36; recalls the time Prime Video got cold feet for his version of IC 814
Much before IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack released, Vishal Bhardwaj was working on a project based on the hijack for Amazon Prime Video which was shelved
Two direct-to-digital releases which have taken the internet by storm in the last few weeks are Sector 36 and IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack. Apart from the fact that both the crime thrillers released on Netflix, there is one more relation between the series and film. Aditya Nimbalkar, who made his directorial debut with Sector 36, was also working on a project based on the Kandahar hijack along with filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj. Remembering their shelved project, and congratulating his associate Aditya for Sector 36, Vishal shared a special post on Instagram recently.
In this celebratory post, Vishal wrote: “My heart is filled with joy and delight when I see the appreciation for my associate, Aditya Nimbalkar.” He went on to state: “I used to feel very sad because his launch kept getting delayed for various reasons. First, he was to co-direct my first series, Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children for Netflix, with me. Then my version of 1C 814 for Amazon. Unfortunately, both were shelved. Now, his first film is out and is being appreciated and how. All the best Adi. This is just the beginning.”
Well, this is not the first time that Vishal has opened up about his version of IC 814. Last year in an interview, the filmmaker had revealed that Amazon Prime Video got cold feet and pulled the plug on this project after the digital platform’s 2021 series Tandav caused controversy. Vishal had recalled how he was working on this project for 7-8 years but the OTT platform dropped it. He told Mid Day, “I don’t think it was political, the whole country was humiliated, it had got nothing to do with any political party. But they were so paranoid, they still are, that they didn’t want to touch anything political.”
Well, like Vishal, we too are glad that his former assistant director Aditya finally got the chance to show the world what a talented filmmaker he is with Vikrant Massey and Deepak Dobriyal-starrer Sector 36. Meanwhile, Anubhav Sinha told us the story of the hijack with Netflix’s IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack, which features Vijay Varma, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Dia Mirza and Patralekhaa. Have you watched the crime thrillers yet?