Mumbai: As Janhvi Kapoor’s latest release ‘Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl’ is being criticized for representing the Indian Air Force in a bad light, the real Gunjan Saxena has come out in support of the movie.
According to a report by NDTV, Gunjan stated that some people are trying to “distort the basic founding values of her existence and identity”.
“Let me inform readers with utmost conviction and honesty that even though cinematic liberties were exercised in my biopic by the filmmakers, what they did not miss or exaggerate was me, the real Gunjan Saxena. I admit without hesitation that I have even more of an iron will and resoluteness than was portrayed in the movie,” she added.
Talking about portrayal of gender discrimination in the movie, she said that though there was no discrimination in the IAF at the organizational level, some people did create obstacles for her during her tenure.
“When I joined there was no discrimination at the organizational level. But yes, individually, no two people are the same and some individuals adapt to change better than others. Since the bias is not at an organizational level, the experiences of different women officers would be different. To deny it completely speaks of a feudal mindset and undermines the grit of women Officers. I also combated the difficulties of prejudice and discrimination at the hands of a few individuals for being a woman,” she said.
Talking about the film, Gunjan said that ‘Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl’ revolves around her journey and is not a documentary on Kargil war.
“The intention of the movie was to inspire people to chase their dreams with hope and positivity, the way I chased mine. The entire storyline was based on the theme of my journey, how my dreams became reality. As I understand, the film was never intended to be a documentary on the Kargil war,” she said.
IAF officers, including Gunjan’s course mate Retired Flight Lieutenant Sreevidya Rajan and Retired Wing Commander Namrita Chandi, have alleged that the film’s makers have “twisted” facts.
National Commission of Women (NCW) chief Rekha Sharma has sought an apology from the filmmakers and demanded they discontinue screening of the film.
Helmed by Sharan Sharma and bankrolled by Dharma Productions, the movie stars Janhvi Kapoor in the lead role.
