Netflix India head summoned by Indian government over 'IC 814' controversy

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has summoned Monika Shergill, Netflix India’s content head, to Delhi following a major backlash over the streaming platform’s limited series IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack.

Shergill is scheduled to appear before the ministry on Tuesday, September 3, to address concerns regarding the series.

The series, which dramatises the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight IC 814 by the terror group Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, has sparked controversy due to its portrayal of two hijackers using Hindu codenames.

The show, based on the real-life events and adapted from the book Flight into Fear: The Captain's Story by Srinjoy Chowdhury and Devi Sharan, depicts the hijackers with the names Chief, Doctor, Burger, Bhola, and Shankar.

The use of the names Bhola and Shankar has led to criticism, with some arguing that the series should have highlighted that the hijackers were Muslim terrorists.

Critics, including those targeting the series' director, Anubhav Sinha, contend that the show’s portrayal is misleading and inappropriate.

Sources from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting stated, “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.”

The series chronicles the harrowing experience of passengers and crew members as the flight was diverted to multiple locations before ending up in Taliban-controlled Kandahar, Afghanistan.

The government’s intervention underscores its concern over the depiction of sensitive historical events and their impact on national sentiment.

The cast of the series includes Vijay Varma, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, and Manoj Pahwa.

The Hijack drama is created by Anubhav Sinha and Trishant Shrivastava. It stars actors Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Vijay Varma, Arvind Swamy, Patralekhaa and Dia Mirza.

The six-episode series is based the events of December 24, 1999 when an Indian Airlines flight IC 814 enroute to Delhi from Kathmandu was hijacked after take off from the Kathmandu Tribhuvan International Airport in Nepal shortly after it entered Indian airspace.