'Makers have twisted the facts'

Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl', a biopic on the life of former Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Gunjan Saxena, has been at the centre of a controversy for its creative liberties. After the IAF objected to its 'undue negative' portrayal, Gunjan's coursemate, Flight Lieutenant (retd) Sreevidya Rajan, has said that

the makers of the Janhvi Kapoor-starrer have 'twisted the facts'.

In a lengthy note posted on her 'Facebook' page, Sreevidya said that Gunjan and she trained together at the 'Air Force Academy and Helicopter Training School'.

"Both of us were posted to Udhampur in 1996. But in the movie, it was shown that she was the only lady pilot posted at the unit. Since the two of us were the first lady pilots to be posted to that helicopter unit, we were skeptical about our acceptance in the male-dominated niche area of flying. We were received with the usual preconceived notions and prejudices from a few colleagues. However, there were enough officers to support us," she wrote.

"Our flying began within a few days of our arrival and was never interrupted or cancelled for petty reasons as wrongly portrayed in the movie. The squadron commander was a thorough professional. He was a very strict and tough officer who took us to task whenever there was a mistake from our side, be it male or female. We never faced any humiliating physical strength demonstrations as shown in the movie. We were never ill-treated or humiliated by our fellow officers," she wrote.