Gunjan Saxena’s IAF Coursemate Sreevidya Rajan Says She Was The First Woman Pilot To Fly In Kargil, Points Out Factual Inaccuracy
Janhvi Kapoor starrer Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl has been criticized for portraying the Indian Air Force (IAF) in a negative light. Now, Flight Lieutenant Sreevidya Rajan has pointed out that she was the first woman to fly in Kargil, not Gunjan
Janhvi Kapoor starrer Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl premiered on Netflix a few days ago, and the film is being criticized for portraying the Indian Air Force (IAF) in a negative light. After IAF’s letter to the Censor Board objecting to its “undue negative” portrayal in the movie, Sreevidya Rajan, a woman IAF officer who served along with Gunjan Saxena in the Kargil war also spoke about the same, and also pointed out factual inaccuracies in the movie.
While speaking to NDTV, Flight Lieutenant Sreevidya Rajan said that she was the first woman to fly in Kargil, and not Gunjan Saxena. She said, “I am the first woman pilot to fly in Kargil, I went with the first batch of pilots. Then when the second batch was sent, Gunjan came along with them. I never want to portray it is me who went and did all this first because I’m not here for fame. Having said that, I wanted to set the record right.” She also added that there is no problem or fight between her and Gunjan, she just doesn’t think the movie is inspirational for the future generation of girls.
Sreevidya Rajan said that they have gone through a lot, and have worked really hard against all hardships and reached here. “When we reached the unit also, initially there were a few problems which I don't want to highlight because all fresh pilots from the training stage getting posted to any operational unit face it, irrespective of the gender. Seniors will make us professionally tough. But there was no differentiation there,” she said.
Flight Lieutenant Sreevidya Rajan reiterated that she wasn’t here to claim the credit that she was the first woman pilot. She said that her issue was with the movie, and that she thinks the makers have portrayed the entire thing in a negative way. Sreevidya Rajan had also written a lengthy post on Facebook recently, pointing out factually incorrect things portrayed in Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl. You can read about it here.
Image Source: IMDb