After uproar, Netflix to add disclaimer on real, code names in IC 814
The six-episode IC 814 is “inspired” by real events, including an adaptation of the book “Flight Into Fear” by Captain Devi Sharan and Shrinjoy Chowdhury
Netflix India executives, including the vice president for content Monika Shergill, met senior information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry officials on Tuesday and announced the streaming company will add a new opening disclaimer for a drama series on the 1999 hijacking of flight IC-814 following days of criticism.
The six-episode IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack Story is “inspired” by real events, including an adaptation of the book “Flight Into Fear” by Captain Devi Sharan and Shrinjoy Chowdhury.
After the meeting, Shergill, in a statement said that the disclaimer displayed before each episode has been updated to include the hijackers’ real and code names.
“For the benefit of audiences unfamiliar with the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814, the opening disclaimer has been updated to include the real and code names of the hijackers. The code names in the series reflect those used during the actual event,” Shergill said, and added that Netflix was “committed to showcasing” India’s “rich culture of storytelling” and “their authentic representation”.
HT could not see the new disclaimer on three different Netflix accounts till the filing of this report and has asked the OTT platform for the language of the new disclaimer.
The meeting was previously believed to have been held on Monday.
The code names are at the centre of the controversy with critics, including leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) asking why “Bhola” and “Shankar” was used to identify two of the five terrorists. To be sure, the Union home ministry in 2000 said the five hijackers referred to one another as “Chief”, “Doctor”, “Burger”, “Bhola” and “Shankar” — with the last also being names often used for the Hindu god Shiva.
The men who took control of the aircraft were part of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen terror outfit. Their real names were Ibrahim Athar, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Zahoor Ibrahim, Shahid Akhter, and Sayed Shakir — all Pakistani nationals.
Web movies or series based on real life political events tend to attract I&B ministry’s attention when they “mix fact and fiction”, HT understands. In this series, for instance, some names (such as the names of the bureaucrats) were fictionalised while the names of the terrorists, both real and aliases, were factual and historical.
In other movies and series that have dealt with national security related issues, including the operations of intelligence agencies, even the names of government agencies have at times been fictionalised.
In Mumbai, the maker of the series, Anubhav Sinha, and the cast held a media interaction but cut the event short when a member of the audience attempted to ask the director a question about the character’s names.
(With inputs from HT correspondent in Mumbai)