‘It’s not a show about war or bravado in disguise’: Siddharth on Operation Safed Sagar

Siddharth plays late Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja. Pics/By Special Arrangement, Youtube

Intent is the soul of every story told. And it's that very intent that drew Siddharth to Operation Safed Sagar, also starring Jimmy Shergill and Abhay Verma. The Netflix series might be about the Indian Air Force's (IAF) mission during the 1999 Kargil War, but to the actor, it's more about the inner lives of the young officers who fought the battle.

Recalling his reaction when he read the script of the Abhijeet Singh Parmar and Kushal Srivastava creation, Siddharth told mid-day, "A lot of research had been done with a good heart and intent. By the time it came to me, it was very clear that it's not a show about war. It's not a show about action, or dogfights, or bravado in disguise. Those are elements of the story. But for me, it's a human interest story. The individuals, their families, what the war did to them and what they did to change the course of the war is what Operation Safed Sagar is about."

According to the actor, now is the right time to tell the story about the world's highest aerial operation fought by the IAF. Why? Because of what long-format storytelling affords, he reasoned. "We have not gone screaming about a crazy action [mission]. We've gone into understanding that there were young boys who went into battle for specific reasons. The altitude it happened at, the political climate at the time, the diplomatic situation on both sides of the border - [these factors] make it a layered story. Today we have the luxury of making something so detailed, thanks to long-format storytelling."

For Siddharth, sitting in an MiG was an experience he had never dreamt of. "While we've not done sorties in the sky, we did taxiing procedures. [At such times,] you suffer from imposter syndrome because you've not done anything to deserve this honour. But the [IAF] trusted us; they gave us enough time and resources to do the research," he shared.

The spirit of ‘Rang De Basanti' (2006) could be felt in the student protests that ran across the country till July 25. Siddharth, who was part of the iconic movie, hopes that ‘Operation Safed Sagar' too has a similar impact. "My hope is that in 20 years, you'll be celebrating [this show] the way you celebrate ‘Rang De Basanti'. It will inspire young people to do good things," he said.