‘Operation Safed Sagar’ Director Oni Sen: “The Wives Counting The MiGs Returning To Base Gave Me The Soul Of This Show” (EXCLUSIVE)

Netflix’s war drama “Operation Safed Sagar” tackles the 1999 Kargil conflict from a high-altitude perspective, following the Indian Air Force's Golden Arrows Squadron as they launch dangerous strikes to clear mountain peaks. Helming the six-episode series is director Oni Sen, who trades the dark psychological corridors of “Asur” for aerial dogfights and mess-hall camaraderie. In an exclusive interview with Variety India, Sen speaks about casting, humanizing historical figures across the border, deleting emotional scenes, and what servicemen said during private Air Force screenings.

‘Correct’ casting

The seamless chemistry within the Golden Arrows squadron drives the series, and Sen credits a methodical casting process for building that dynamic. “Overall, we wanted the casting to be reflecting the character and the character tones,” Sen explains. “Of course, some were based on real characters; for that, we were looking for the right faces and energy. This entire casting process happened over a few months. Everything put together, we were lucky to get an amazing bunch of actors. For instance, Jimmy Sheirgill and Siddharth are diametrically very different in terms of how they are as human beings and performers. They were so good in reflecting Wg. Cdr. Tony Dhanoa and Sqd Ldr Ajay Ahuja, respectively, in a way that the camaraderie and balance of temperament worked out beautifully. The boys were young, slightly unsure, trying to win the world, fumbling, stumbling, finding themselves. The women were really fantastic. Vinay Pathak, Manu Rishi Chadha and Barun Sobti brought everything alive.”

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An imperfect balance

Navigating the Islamabad political track required avoiding heavy-handed villainy. “That was a parameter I had right from the beginning, that we would play it real,” Sen says. “In our life, sometimes we react, underreact, or overreact based on who and where we are. With Manu Rishi as Pervez Musharraf, his entire thing was obsession — that nothing could stop him. It's not because he wants to be evil, he’s just obsessed. When we try to portray somebody who feels like an evil guy, we try to make him evil. It’s not that you're born evil; your actions become not so correct. Same with Vinay Pathak as Nawaz Sharif, that balance of trying to find himself, getting lost, realizing he's been controlled and had. We kept that slight balance of innocence and fear.”

Trimming the Kargil War into six episodes meant making sacrifices in editing. “It was written for an eight-episode show,” Sen reveals. “We had to be realistic about budgets. We brought it down to six episodes, which was an emotional, but not necessarily wise decision. Putting it together, we realized that the episodes were turning out an hour and a half long, which couldn’t do. To keep up pace, we had to curtail tracks, which was heartbreaking. There was this track of Alka Ahuja (played by Amrita Bagchi) driving her car for the first time. It was a beautiful moment of her overcoming fear and it being Ahuja’s last gift. All these little battles got edited out.”

Simple swag

Researching IAF pilots brought surprising revelations. “What surprised me most was the sense of simplicity amongst them,” Sen reflects. “There was no pretense. Their life was 30,000 or 40,000 feet in the air at a risky moment, bringing upon a certain youthful spirituality. In Nal, shooting with the MiG-21 squadron, I watched pilots go for sorties in the morning. While none walked like heroes, there was a very understated swag coming from deep inside. There's a routine pilots do before takeoff where they walk around the MiG and check it. Every time I saw them, I felt a spiritual bonding between man and machine. The way he touched the jet was almost like touching your horse before a walk. We built that little pause, that closure of eyes into the show.”

Reality check

Placing the series in front of defense personnel brought immense pressure. “That was one thing I was very worried about,” Sen shares. “Except for one of our showrunners, Kushal Srivastava, who is part of the Air Force, none of us have a direct background. I was worried if we underplayed or overplayed our hand and lost authenticity. What was beautiful is when we watched Episode 1 with the Air Force family, I heard chuckles at the right places. After it got over, they said it was the first time they felt represented the right way. Air Force ladies spoke about the bouncing scene, saying, 'It is exactly like this. I'm constantly keeping extra dal, chawal, and aloo because these guys land up in the middle of the night.' Another lady talked about when MiGs took off; wives would come out, look up, and count MiGs coming back to ensure the same number returned. It talks about the entire realism of that time.”