Netflix India content chief Monika Shergill, who has been summoned amid a row over the depiction of hijackers in the streaming platform’s series ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’, is expected to appear before the government on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting directed Shergill to appear before it on Tuesday to explain the allegedly contentious aspects of the web series, top government sources said on Monday.
‘IC 814’, which dramatises the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight IC 814 by Pakistan-based terror outfit Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, sparked controversy on social media after two hijackers were only referred to by their Hindu codenames in the series.
Asked about the reason behind the government’s move, sources said, “Nobody has the right to play with the sentiments of the people of this nation. India’s culture and civilisation should always be respected. You should think before portraying something in the wrong manner. The government is taking it very seriously.”
WHAT IS THE ‘IC 814’ ROW?
Based on the real-life hijacking in 1999, the series chronicles the harrowing experience of passengers and crew members and the challenges faced by the government as the flight was diverted to multiple locations before ending up in Taliban-controlled Kandahar in Afghanistan.
The hijackers in the series are depicted with the codenames Chief, Doctor, Burger, Bhola and Shankar. However, the use of the names Bhola and Shankar triggered a massive controversy, with critics targeting the series’ director, Anubhav Sinha. They contend that the show should have highlighted the fact that the hijackers were five Muslim terrorists, and that two of them used Hindu aliases.
The series is adapted from the book ‘Flight into Fear: The Captain’s Story’, written by journalist Srinjoy Chowdhury and Devi Sharan, the captain of the hijacked flight.
It stars Vijay Varma, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Manoj Pahwa, Arvind Swami, Anupam Tripathi, Dia Mirza, Patralekhaa, Amrita Puri, Dibyendu Bhattacharya and Kumud Mishra in key roles.