IAF Instructor Who Trained Female Pilots Reacts To Janhvi Kapoor's Gunjan Saxena Biopic; ‘No One Ran To Their Room To Change’

The Janhvi Kapoor film Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl released on the OTT platform on August 12 and was love by many fans as well. The film garnered some great reviews from movie critics and Janhvi Kapoor, and Pankaj Tripathi’s performance was much-loved. After the film released digitally, it was reported that the Indian Air Force wrote to CBFC expressing their displeasure over ‘negative potrayal’ in the Gunjan Saxena biopic. Now, Instructor who trained the first batch of female IAF pilots reacts to the Janhvi Kapoor starrer.

In an opinion column for The Print, Retired Wing Commander IK Khanna, who says he trained the Indian Air Force’s first batch of female pilots, claims that much of what was shown in the Gunjan Saxena biopic in regard to the IAF, is inaccurate. Khanna wrote, “I was one of the instructors back in July 1994 when the first batch of seven women pilots arrived at the Air Force Station at Yelahanka, Bengaluru, to commence training on IAF transport aircraft.” Retired Wing Commander IK Khanna then went on to share how he wonders if the screenplay of the movie was shared with the IAF and mentioned that all the female pilots that he trained were treated as equals.

Referring to the scene in the movie where Gunjan Saxena, played by Janhvi Kapoor runs to her room to change her overalls, and faces some issues during the same, Khanna mentioned that under his watch, no female IAF pilot had to run to their room to change as portrayed in the movie. He wrote, “No one had to run to their room to change as shown in Gunjan Saxena.” Khanna also went on to narrate a story of Harita Kaur Deol (later Fg Offr Harita Deol), who was accompanied by a journalist on a training flight, and asked to perform an operation, not similar to what Gunjan Saxena performed in the movie. Talking about it, Khanna wrote, “As she went through the paces with a demonstration of the exercise by the instructor followed by practice by her, I could see the journalist sweating more than Harita.”

Meanwhile, Khanna continued to talk about how Gender bias has been part of Indian society for ages, but women have been part of the defence services in many fields for years. The film Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl stars Janhvi Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi and Angad Bedi in pivotal roles. Directed by Sharan Sharma, the Gunjan Saxena biopic is the centre of a controversy since its release.

Also Read: Gunjan Saxena Breaks Silence On The Controversy Over Janhvi Kapoor Starrer: 'Neither I Nor Sharan Sharma Intended To Insult The IAF'