Vijay Varma reveals flight IC 814 pilot Devi Sharan returned to flying just 4 days after the hijacking: ‘He didn’t want fear to get the better of him’ | Bollywood News

Vijay Varma is currently basking in the glowing reviews for his latest show IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack. Directed by Anubhav Sinha, the series recounts the real-life events of the Indian Airlines Airbus hijacking, which took place during a flight from Kathmandu to Delhi. The plane was diverted to several locations before eventually landing in Kandahar, Afghanistan. In a recent conversation, Vijay shared insights into how he prepared for the role of Captain Devi Sharan, the pilot of the hijacked flight.

In an interview with Sucharita Tyagi on her YouTube channel, Vijay revealed that he spoke directly with Captain Devi Sharan while preparing for the role. The captain shared that he returned to flying just four days after the hijacking, determined not to let fear conquer him. Reflecting on Captain Devi’s dedication, Vijay said, “I spoke to the captain Devi Sharan and I knew how sincere, dedicated this whole affair is to him. His seat, his outfit everything.” He continued, “He started flying 4 days of this incident. He said he didn’t want fear to get the better of him. When you meet somebody who goes through life with that much determination…it shows the character and I just played that.”

In an earlier interaction on Netflix’s YouTube channel, Anubhav Sinha shared his own conversations with Captain Devi Sharan. He learned that the captain’s biggest moment of relief came when he successfully landed the aircraft in Amritsar. However, his deepest moment of dejection was being forced to take off from Amritsar after a 45-minute wait. Anubhav added, “He still has a mark on his neck, where the hijackers had put the gun on him. It kept rubbing against his skin for so long that it left a mark, and the mark is still there.”

Also Read | IC 814 The Kandahar Hijack review: Effective and sharp, Vijay Varma-Anubhav Sinha series bravely unpacks the truth

IC 814 hijacking in December 1999 brought the entire nation to a standstill. The motive behind the hijacking was to secure the release of terrorists imprisoned in India—Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, Masood Azhar, and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar. The hostage crisis, which lasted seven days, ended only after India agreed to release the three terrorists.

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