Here's Why Gunjan Saxena's Biopic Finds Itself in the Middle of a Controversy

While the movie received much appraise post it's release, it soon spiraled into a controversy amid speculations and allegations questioning it's authenticity.

As the war biopic released on Netflix on 12th August 2020, topping the charts globally, Bollywood celebrities took to social media to share the rollercoaster of emotions they experienced while watching the movie. Hritik Roshan tweeted, "Just watched Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl. What a film. Cried my eyes out and laughed out loud. Entire team, take a bow! Outstanding." Besides Hritik, Sidharth Malhotra tweeted, "Just saw this inspiring true story of Gunjan and love how Janhvi plays this ambitious girl who is so sincere that you keep rooting for her and connecting with her passion. Pankaj Tripathi ji is amazing! Loved this father daughter duo! Superb debut by Sharan... Kudos to the whole team."

All was well and good until the inspirational biopic landed in the middle of an unseemly row, mostly over sexism and the portrayal of the Indian Air Force in a negative light. While it is believed that women did struggle to create a niche for themselves in a male-dominated bastion, the gender biased challenges faced by Janhvi Kapoor in the film, for instance the lack of changing-rooms for females, was said to be far from reality. 

Did the movie take way too many creative liberties? Some say so. While the film chose to omit some real people, it introduced fictional characters such as Flight Commander Dileep Singh, with the purpose to convey a misogynistic ideology that served to be an obstacle in the way of Gunjan Saxena's historical success. However, sources from the Indian Air Force resented this sexist portrayal of men, claiming it to be entirely untrue and uncalled for. "It is a well-known fact that the Indian Air Force has the largest number of women officers serving actively," an IAF spokesperson said. "The IAF was the first to open all its branches to women officers, including combat roles in 2015. This wouldn't have been possible without an unbiased policy. Everything in the defence forces is done on merit alone."

Besides the IAF, the film has been blamed for 'peddling lies' and 'twisting facts', suggesting that Gunjan Saxena wasn't the first female pilot to fly in Kargil at all. A fellow pilot, retired Flight Lieutenant Sreevidya Rajan stated that it was an oversight on the filmmakers’ part to not include any mention of her at all, and to propagate an alternate narrative that excluded her achievements. “I cannot question a filmmaker why they chose her and not me. When I saw her being portrayed as the first woman pilot, my friends and colleagues suggested I respond to it. But I thought as long as the story inspires women to join the forces, I am happy,” she said. She further went on to explain the media confusion by stating that when the first batch went to war, only designated senior officers from Delhi were allowed to speak to the media. By the time the second crew came, the media was allowed and Gunjan was interviewed. Naturally, people assumed she was the first woman. 

Gunjan Saxena defended herself by stating, "From July 1999 till today, my name has featured in a number of headlines, in a number of articles, and in the Limca Book of Records, and in one of the promotion exams taken by the air force." When I went to Kargil, I never went there thinking of setting any records, or trying to make history. My only focus was to fly and do my job as well as possible."