Janhvi Kapoor's New Film Factually Wrong? Gunjan Saxena’s IAF Coursemate Claims To Be First Woman Pilot To Fly In Kargil

Gunjan’s coursemate Sreevidya posted a lengthy note accusing the Dharma productions of 'twisting the facts' and alleging that she was the first lady pilot to fly in Kargil.

Janhvi Kapoor starrer 'Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl', which received criticism by the Indian Air Force for negatively portraying the work culture at the defence wing, has now lately faced the ire from Gunjan’s coursemate, Flight Lieutenant (retd) Sreevidya Rajan, who has accused the filmmakers of being 'Factually Wrong'. Taking to her Facebook wall, Sreevidya posted a lengthy note accusing the Dharma productions of 'twisting the facts' and alleging that she was the first lady pilot to fly in Kargil. "We are course mates and had undergone our training together in AFA and HTS. Both of us were posted to Udhampur in 1996 but in the movie, it was shown that she was the only lady pilot posted at the unit," Sreevidya Rajan said. "Since the two of us were the first lady pilots to be posted to that helicopter unit, we were skeptical about our acceptance in the male-dominated niche area of flying. We were received with the usual preconceived notions and prejudices from a few colleagues. However, there were enough officers to support us," she wrote. Rajan went on to say that at various points in the movie, filmmakers have manipulated the real incidents. She pointed out that their flying began within a few days of arrival and was never interrupted or cancelled for petty reasons as wrongly portrayed in the movie. Further in her social media post, the former IAF officer pointed out how the movie projected the male officers in bad light while in reality, they were cooperative with the women officers. "We never faced any humiliating physical strength demonstrations as shown in the movie. We were never ill-treated or humiliated by our fellow officers. As shown in the movie, there were no separate toilet facilities and changing rooms for ladies in the unit. After initial difficulties, we shared the limited resources with our fellow officers and they always accommodated and helped us whenever it was needed," Rajan said. Rajan then claimed that she was the first woman pilot to be sent along with the male counterparts in the first detachment of unit which deployed at Srinagar. "In the movie, Gunjan Saxena was shown as the only lady pilot to fly in Kargil operations. This is factually incorrect. We were posted together to Udhampur and when the Kargil conflict started, I was the first woman pilot to be sent along with the male counterparts in the first detachment of our unit which deployed at Srinagar. I flew missions in the conflict area even before Gunjan's arrival at Srinagar. After a few days of operation, Gunjan Saxena came to Srinagar with the next set of crew," claimed Rajan. "The heroic acts of the protagonist portrayed in the climax never actually happened and may have been shown as part of cinematic licence. Gunjan and I were posted together in two stations. Being her coursemate and a good friend, I believe that the filmmakers have twisted the facts given by Gunjan for the sake of publicity," she added. Towards the end, the ex-officer also said that in Kargil operation, male pilots had flown extensively and faced more hardships than the women officers, however, they never got any publicity. She called this a bigger gender discrimination and said that in defence services, there is no disparity between male or female.