‘IC 814’ Review: Vijay Varma and Naseeruddin Shah’s hijack thriller is riveting

Directed by: Anubhav Sinha

Starring: Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Vijay Varma, Arvind Swamy, Kanwaljit Singh, Manoj Pahwa, Kumud Mishra and Dibyendu Bhattacharya

Rating: 4 stars

There are many reasons to binge on IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack, the six-episode series released on Netflix, including its cast. You can watch Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Vijay Varma, Arvind Swamy, Kanwaljit Singh, Manoj Pahwa, Kumud Mishra and Dibyendu Bhattacharya on screen for hours even if they are reading the railway timetable. So when these fine actors come together backed by a solid script, taut editing and sharp direction by Anubhav Sinha, the result is, not surprisingly, riveting.

After a long time, we have an OTT series that (almost) ticks all the boxes of a well-made political thriller. That it derives its theme from a shocking true episode in the sub-continent’s geo-political history, the implications of which are being felt even today across the world, makes it all the more interesting.

As has been well-publicised, IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack is based on the hijacking of Indian Airlines’ Kathmandu-Delhi flight on the eve of Christmas 1999. It happened 25 years ago, when the world was grappling with a phenomenon called Y2K and much before social media and shrieking mainstream news channels invaded news narratives. Millennials would still have vivid memories of the incident that saw three dreaded terrorists being exchanged for the freedom of passengers. The ill-fated flight flew from Kathmandu to Amritsar to Lahore to Dubai before landing in Kandahar, Afghanistan, where tough negotiations took place in the presence of the Taliban and with the knowledge of a certain Osama bin Laden. Remember, this was before 9/11.

While a lot of facts are known and remembered, the series unravels what went on behind the scenes - the way intelligence hints were given before the hijack but ignored, the manner in which red tape and indecisiveness resulted in the loss of a crucial opportunity to rescue passengers in Amritsar, the compulsions of politics overtaking security as well as the human elements (the plight of the passengers and crew) that lay at the core of it all.

Usually hijack thrillers amp up the heroism of one character or go loud on the emotions of the victims — Bollywood has had enough tacky hijack films as example. It’s a tough act to convey both subtly and Sinha manages the balance pretty well. The restraint with which he has handled all aspects and humanises every character makes the screenplay stand out. The action shifts from Kathmandu (where the plot was hatched) to the government offices in Delhi to the closed confines of the aeroplane and the sunny tarmac of Kandahar seamlessly (kudos to editor Amarjit Singh and camera team led by Ewan Mulligan and Ravi Kiran Ayyagari). The integration of grainy footage from the actual sequence of events further adds gravitas to the proceedings.

Sinha and his team of writers also manage to keep the tension throughout and invite you to feel the emotions – frustration at the lackadaisical approach of authorities, fear for the lives of the passengers, sadness at the tragedies that unfold and anger at the repercussion of the release. The hijackers too are not treated as caricatures but real people with insane motivations which is a departure from routine. Middle-class rage, media narratives, religion, terrorism, the hypocrisy of the West…the script packs in a lot without anything comes across as jarring. The best part about IC 814 is that it’s not about one person or group. The only hero that emerges is the pilot (named here as Sharan Dev played by Vijay Varma) who keeps his calm even as he flies the plane in extremely strenuous conditions.

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