More controversy surrounds film on Kargil war as Srividya Rajan claims she flew before Gunjan Saxena

More controversies surround “Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl” - the latest biopic from the bollywood stable – with one of Flight Lieutenant Gunjan’s coursemate Flt Lt Srividya Rajan claiming she was the first to fly helicopters in Kargil, days before Gujan’s arrival on the scene.

In a social media post Flt Lt Rajan (retired) wrote, “In the movie, Gunjan Saxena was shown as the only lady pilot to fly in Kargil operations. This is factually incorrect. We were posted together to Udhampur and when the Kargil conflict started, I was the first woman pilot to be sent along with the male counterparts in the first detachment of our unit, which deployed at Srinagar. I flew missions in the conflict area even before Gunjan’s arrival at Srinagar.”

"After a few days of operation, Gunjan Saxena came to Srinagar with the next set of crew. We actively participated in all operations given to us, which included casualty evacuation, supply drop, communication sorties, search and rescue operations etc.”

Asked to clarify, the Indian Air Force spokesperson maintains silence. However, in a blog post Flt Lt Saxena reiterated that she was the first woman to fly in a combat zone.

This is the latest controversy on the biopic produced by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions in which Sridevi’s daughter Janhvi Kapoor played the role of the protagonists.

Earlier several armed forces officers came out in the open on how the film portrayed male IAF officers as well as the organisations.

"Cinematic licences and creative freedom can't be stretched into an absolute travesty of set rules and established protocols of hallowed institutions like the IAF....creative license is one thing but when you deal with institutions, you can't change facts. Elaborate and fantasise, if you must. But don’t peddle lies," helicopter pilot Wing Commander Namrita Chandi (retired) wrote in an open letter.

"This rebuttal to “Gunjan Saxena, The Kargil Girl", has as little to do with Gunjan, as has the film. This has more to do with the house of Dharma Productions and of all those penny dreadful story and screenplay writers, who contributed to this monstrous film that has shown us all in the proud blue uniform in very poor light."

In her letter, Chandi also maintained that Srividya Rajan was the first lady pilot who flew to Kargil – not Gunjan.

Both Chandi and Rajan took strong objections to the way male officers and IAF as an institution were portrayed in the film.

Last week the IAF wrote a letter to the Censor Board objecting to its "undue negative" portrayal in the movie. According to an official, the letter mentions "concerns related to the movie's portrayal of gender bias as an institutional work culture" at the IAF.