Dia Mirza recalls her memory of the 'Kandahar Hijack' event: "I was in Mumbai for Miss India Pageant and....."

Netflix’s upcoming series IC814: The Kandahar Hijack promises to be a riveting recount of one of India’s most harrowing and defining moments in history. The series dives deep into the traumatic incident that shook the nation in 1999 when Indian Airlines Flight IC814 was hijacked by terrorists and diverted to Kandahar, Afghanistan. Over seven nerve-wracking days, the world watched in suspense as 176 passengers' lives hung in the balance.

Recently, at a press conference held to promote the series, Dia Mirza, one of the lead actors, shared her reflections on both the show and the actual event that transpired over two decades ago. Mirza’s role in the series is that of a sharp, intelligent journalist, a character that resonates with the strength and integrity that was required during those difficult times.

Mirza, reflecting on her connection to the event, recalled how she, like many other Indians, was deeply affected by the hijacking. “During the research,” she began, “we were a part of it as citizens. But when you did all the research and brought it to the forefront, was there something different, something that was going to shake you? Was it very painful? Did you have any experience? If you could share that. Something shocking. Because the reaction that you had, that they could have landed there, that there was a man, why didn't they go, that is still a question mark for us.”

She continued by acknowledging the gravity of the incident, remarking, “We know that we left the militants. We left them. That line still remains with us. It still remains with us, with the same questions. I was 17 years old. I came to Mumbai for the first time to participate in the Miss India pageant. Our training program was going on, interestingly, at that time.”

The actress also shared a poignant memory of that period, revealing, “I had a habit of reading the newspaper since childhood. I used to read the newspaper every morning. But at that time, we used to try to understand everything better. Because we wanted that in our answers, there should be the same level of honesty and integrity. So that we don't sound false. Or we don't go to the surface level.”

Mirza’s reflections highlight how, even as a teenager, she was deeply aware of the significance of the hijacking and the national discourse surrounding it. “At that time, television news was very limited. And whatever you could, whatever you had access to. 24 hours news had just started. We were on the cusp of it starting. But we didn't watch that much. And a majority of your information was coming from the print media. So you read as much as you could.”

As the conversation turned toward the making of the show, Mirza shared her approach to preparing for her role. “When we started working on the show, one of the first things that I asked Anubhav was, how many women were newspaper editors at that time?” She elaborated, “I was more interested in those aspects. Because, you see, the character that you see in the story is an intelligent, thinking, powerful woman in a very powerful place. And she doesn't take that job lightly. There's a lot of integrity in what she's trying to do in an extremely challenging time. And the challenge exists even more so today.”

For Mirza, the character she portrays is more than just a role; it is a representation of the real-life journalists and media professionals who had to navigate the complexities of reporting on such a sensitive and terrifying event. “For me as an artist, and as the character that I was being offered to play, the questions really were, how do I understand the world and the dynamic of media at the time better? How do I understand the nuances of the story better, with the integrity that the character needs to convey every line with?”

She further emphasized the weight of the research and discovery process during the making of the series. “There’s so much about the story one did discover that there was no way of knowing at the time when this thing was unraveling before us. And at that time, I think, I don’t know if many questions were even answered. I don’t even think there were so many things that eventually became public, came into the public domain, even were in the public domain at the time.”

As the show gears up for its release, audiences can expect not just a retelling of a historical event, but an exploration of the human experiences behind it—the fears, the questions, and the complex emotions that still linger in the collective memory of a nation. The show is all set to stream from 29th August onwards on Netflix.