Screengrab from trailer of 'IC 814' series
Credit: YouTube/Netflix India
New Delhi: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has summoned the content head of OTT platform Netflix over the series IC-814 -- The Kandahar Hijack following a row over the way the hijackers are depicted.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting meeting is reportedly set to happen today at the Shastri Bhawan. Netflix's content head will be meeting Joint Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Sources the Ministry has sought an explanation on the allegedly contentious aspects of the OTT series from the Netflix officials on Tuesday. A controversy erupted over the "humane" depiction of the perpetrators who hijacked the Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu to Delhi.
BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya said the hijackers of IC-814 were dreaded terrorists, who acquired aliases to hide their Muslim identities and the filmmaker Anubhav Sinha has "legitimised their criminal intent, by furthering their non-Muslim names".
"Result? Decades later, people will think Hindus hijacked IC-814. Left's agenda to whitewash the crimes of Pakistani terrorists, all Muslims, served. This is the power of cinema, which the Communists have been using aggressively, since the 70s. Perhaps even earlier," he alleged on 'X'.
He claimed this will not just weaken or put in question India's security apparatus in the long run, but also shift the blame away from the religious cohort that is responsible for all the bloodshed.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah posted on 'X', "It’s really amusing to see the people who took movies like Kashmir Files as the gospel truth having a melt down at the way the events of IC814 are depicted in the Netflix show. Now suddenly they want accuracy & nuance packaged in the script."
The series is directed by Anubhav Sinha directorial and the five hijackers of the Delhi-bound flight are referred to as Chief, Doctor, Burger, Bhola and Shankar. The naming of the characters are in accordance with the investigation reports and Flight into Fear: The Captain’s story written by Srinjoy Chowdhury and Devi Sharan, the captain of the flight.
Vijay Varma, Pankaj Kapoor, Dia Mirza, Naseeruddin Shah and Arvind Swamy play major roles in the series.