Mumbai: Debutant actor Meet Sadhwani, who stars in the recently released series IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack, has talked about his experience working with stalwart Manoj Pahwa and others, including Kumud Mishra, Arvind Swamy, and Dibyendu Bhattacharya.
Meet, 23, plays Barkazai, an Afghan translator who cares deeply about his country’s well-being. Barkazai reports to Muttawakkil, the Taliban’s Foreign Minister, and has a single goal: to prevent non-Islamic conduct on Afghan soil. His character’s exchanges with the negotiators are a highlight of the show, adding depth and refinement to a plot that combines great drama with cultural realism.
Speaking about working with the cast of the show, Meet shared: “Manoj Pahwa is a man who loves his food and his work. Watching him deliver was like an acting class every day. Kumud, a revered name in theatre, taught me to ‘keep my senses open and flow,’ making my job much easier.”
He further said: “Arvind Swamy, whom we’ve all adored since the days of ‘Roja’, showed unmatched sincerity and diligence in his role. I even shared with him how much my dad adores him and his characters. And Dibyendu, with his jovial nature, kept the set lively and was always curious about my beard’s texture–a testament to his attention to detail,” he said.
Reflecting on his debut, Meet commented: “I am incredibly honoured to have this as my first role. Working with Anubhav Sinha has been transformative. He taught me that in the name of creative liberty, we cannot distort the truth because future generations will see this piece of art and believe what we say. I’m grateful for the opportunity to bring this story to life with such a talented team.”
“This was a dream debut with a dream cast– legends coming together for ‘IC 814’, and I’m just ever so grateful to Anubhav Sinha and Mukesh Chhabra for trusting me with Barkazai as my first character,” he added.
The show follows the story of the hijack of the Indian Airlines Flight 814 by the Pakistani militants of the terrorist outfit Harkat-ul-Mujahideen.
Directed by Anubhav Sinha, IC814 brings together industry stalwarts like Naseeruddin Shah and Pankaj Kapur and an ensemble cast that includes Patralekha, Dia Mirza, Pooja A Gor, Anupam Tripathi, Yashpal Sharma, Arvind, Dibyendu, Kumud, and Manoj.
Produced by Matchbox Shots and Benaras Mediaworks, ‘IC814’ is streaming on Netflix.
The Controversy
In 1999, the five hijackers of IC 814 used the codenames Chief, Doctor, Burger, Bhola, and Shankar. Anubhav Sinha’s web series, ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’, likewise employs those identities. This has generated a big scandal, with Sinha being blamed for failing to divulge that the five were Muslim terrorists.
The Netflix series IC 814 is based on a book by Devi Sharan, the Captain of the hijacked Indian Airlines aircraft, and attempts to keep true to the actual events of 1999, when five terrorists diverted the Kathmandu-Delhi jet to Kandahar in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
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–IANS & Media Reports
