Real Life Gunjan Saxena Says She Got Equal Opportunities In IAF

Real Life Gunjan Saxena Says She Got Equal Opportunities In IAF And Was Supported By Seniors, Fellow Oppurtunities

Just a day after the Indian Air Force (IAF) raised objection over the presentation of gender bias in the film, Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl, former IAF pilot Gunjan Saxena, on whose life the film is based, has opened up about her experience at the Air Force as compared to what has been portrayed in the commercial film. She says she had support of fellow officers, supervisors, and commanding officers.

On Wednesday, it was revealed that IAF has written a letter to Dharma Productions, Netflix and the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), raising objections over inaccurate presentation of gender bias in "Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl", which documents the life of Gunjan Saxena and her journey towards becoming the first Indian Air Force woman pilot, who was part of the 1999 Kargil conflict. The Air Force said that certain scenes and dialogues in the movie portray it in a "negative light".

When IANS asked Saxena how she perceives all such sequences, she said: "Indian Air Force is at the core and the heart of this film. It is the very training of the Indian Air Force and the strong ethos of the Indian Air Force, which really gave me the courage to do all those extraordinary things that I could. And not only me, I think it is the strong values and rich culture of the air force that is really the driving force behind all the women officers from all the different branches of the Indian Air Force who have served or are still serving in this organisation."

"Yes, as a commercial movie or as a work of fiction, this film has creatively tried to capture my story or my journey. But what cannot be denied is that even in this film the doors did open and opportunities were given," added Saxena, who graduated from Hansraj College in Delhi, and cleared the entrance exam and joined the Indian Air Force in 1994.

The real-life hero continued: "Equal opportunities were there for me to perform, and I think they are still there for all the women officers who are in this organisation. We don't need any other or bigger proof than the fact that over the last 20 years the number of women officers in the Indian Air Force has gone up at such a high rate. So, this shows that the Indian Air Force, which is such a deeply respected institution, has been so progressive and positive about bringing about this change in itself. So I think that's how I would like to address this question."

https://swarajyamag.com/insta/real-life-gunjan-saxena-says-she-got-equal-opportunities-in-iaf-and-was-supported-by-seniors-fellow-officers

Thankyou for saying this.. I am sure things would have been difficult but not as demotivating as shown in the movie. That's the issue I have with dramatic representation of the struggle of protagonist in biopics ...

Obviously for glorifying Gunjan, they took the cinematic liberty of showing almost most IAF officers as misogynists and male chauvinists.

No wonder they are pissed and calling out the production house and Netflix on it

Thanks for sharing it here. I had also shared this link on the movie review thread. The movie is so over dramatized in the portions where Gunjan's IAF training days and the Kargil scenes are shown. Her seniors and batchmates in the IAF are shown to be plain mean, whereas respect for the opposite gender is a standout feature of the officers working in the armed forces. Such a pity that they had to resort to this kind of messaging when Gunjan's real life is so inspiring in itself.

She was present on set and was part of the making of the film and she saw it before release so she would've flagged anything before release only if it was problematic or something was portrayed in wrong light.

https://youtu.be/eE-Wz4ELUCs

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDwRAp1FaG1/?igshid=zl211z8ib487

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDVgc7KlYvf/?igshid=1h190jmt1a1as

Outright lies, falsehoods and misrepresentation with malicious intent. Who's funding these movies that depict Indian Armed Forces in an utterly mendacious light? Who I ask? Who benefits?

Is it just for unnecessary drama or are the motives more sinister?

Insincere, shoddy and dishonestly one tone biopics are BW's forte. Indian audience laps it up too like no tomorrow. Gunjan Saxena, Shakuntala and the list goes on.

Sellers Remorse 😆

https://www.outlookindia.com/website/amp/opinion-dear-makers-of-gunjan-saxena-you-cannot-peddle-lies-in-the-name-of-creative-freedom/358726?__twitter_impression=true&s=08

Sharing a related article here. This is the kind of film making that comes out of Dharma films. Very nice way to fool people under the garb of patriotism.