The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to stay streaming of ‘Gunjan Saxena – The Kargil Girl’ on an Over The Top (OTT) platform at this stage, rejecting the Centre’s plea seeking to stop the streaming of the movie.
The HC sought replies of Dharma Productions Private Limited, which produced the film, OTT platform Netflix, and former Flight Lieutenant Gunjan Saxena on the PIL filed by the Centre alleging that film depicted the Indian Air Force (IAF) in a bad light.
During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, representing the Centre, said the movie has dented the image of the IAF as it showed that the force is gender-biased, which is not correct.
The bench headed by Justice Rajiv Shakdher asked the Centre as to why it did not approach the court before the release of the movie, saying an injunction cannot be granted now as the film is already streaming.
Produced by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions, the biopic is based on the life of IAF officer Gunjan Saxena who was the first woman pilot to take part in the 1999 Kargil war. Janhvi Kapoor played the lead role in the movie which was released on August 12.
IAF Raised Objection To The Movie
Earlier this month, the IAF had written a letter to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), OTT platform and production house objecting to its “undue negative” portrayal in the movie.
In its letter, the Air Force had said that Dharma Productions had agreed to represent the force with authenticity but it was later observed that “certain scenes and dialogues in the movie” portray the IAF in an “undue negative light”.
“In the aim to glorify the screen character of ‘Ex-Fit Lt Gunjan Saxena’, M/s Dharma Productions presented some situations that are misleading and portray an inappropriate work culture especially against women in the IAF,” the letter read, according to news agency ANI.
The Air Force further clarified that “it has ensured that the organisation is gender neutral and has always provided an equal opportunity to both male and women personnel”.
