IC 814 Kandahar Hijack Director Anubhav Sinha Addresses Controversy: 'Ek Taraf Gobar Hai…'

Anubhav Sinha’s latest directorial, IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack, got into controversy for how the series named the five terrorists who hijacked the Indian Airlines flight in 1999. A section of the audience was offended by how the series did not highlight the real names of the terrorists and only revealed their code names. In a recent interview, the director has reacted to the controversy and has dismissed it.

In a conversation with Mukesh Chhabra, Anubhav Sinha opened up about the controversy around IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack. He mentioned that on the one hand, people loved his work, but on the other, a section of people got offended by it. The director said, “It’s confusing. Ek taraf mohabbat hai, aur ek taraf gobar hai (On one side there is a lot of love, and on the other, there is crap).”

The director also talked about the negativity that his series received and said that he just wanted to do his job. He continued, “No, I don’t take myself that seriously. I just want to do my job with absolute sincerity and hard work. I wouldn’t have taken this on had I not been in love with the story. I loved it, that’s why I did it. All that remains is hard work, and the rest is up to the universe. The universe is both destructive and constructive.”

Following the controversy, an executive from Netflix was summoned by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. The streaming platform added a disclaimer before every episode and highlighted the real names of the hijackers. Based on the Indian Airlines flight 814 hijack in 1999, IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack stars Vijay Varma, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Dia Mirza, Manoj Pahwa, and Arvind Swamy in key roles.