Sartaj Singh
With Anubhav Sinha and Trishant Srivastava at the helm, ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’ recreates the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814. With a star-studded cast, the Netflix series narrates the story from the perspectives of brave plane crew members, politicians, bureaucrats, intelligence agents, and international factions. Adapted from Captain Devi Sharan and Srinjoy Chowdhury’s book, ‘Flight Into Fear,’ the story creates startlingly real scenarios, taking us on the flight from Kathmandu to Kandahar.
IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack Filming Locations
Filming for ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’ was carried out primarily in Mumbai, India, Jordan, and Kathmandu, Nepal. Principal photography began in May 2023 and was wrapped up in the winter of the same year. Due to the cramped nature of the plane interior film set, packed with hundreds of cast and crew members, many felt claustrophobic. The situation was worsened by the need to turn off the air conditioning during shooting to avoid sound disruption, making the environment even stuffier. Director Sinha and actress Patralekhaa Paul fell ill due to the conditions. “It took me over a week to really come out of it,” said Paul in an interview. “I fell ill, (Anubhav) sir had a fever. Nonetheless, after some point, your mind is just there. That process was tough. Hopefully, I will never be in a hijack situation, but this felt eerily real.”
Mumbai, India
The city of Mumbai in the Indian state of Maharashtra became the main filming location for the Netflix show. The plane’s interior set was created using a studio in the city, which is the beating heart of the Hindi-language Indian film industry AKA Bollywood. While the show transports us to every location of significance to the hijacking incident from Kathmandu, Karachi, Amritsar, Dubai, and Kandahar, all the interior sequences were shot in the film studio. On the other hand, most exterior locations with 1999 backgrounds were simulated with visual effects. “Where (did) the 1999 airports come from? How did the aircraft fly? How did it land? That’s magic. And these are the magicians,” wrote director Sinha on Instagram, appreciating his visual effects team. “VFx Supervisor, VFx Producer, and countless boys and girls in various dark studios painstakingly managing pixels to make it all look seamless.”
Outside of the plane and cockpit interior set, dynamic lighting and greenscreens ensured that the appropriate backdrop could be simulated. “I was very excited to see what actually happens because while shooting, all I was looking at was a green screen,” revealed Vijay Varma. “I also felt that the screenplay was awesome because here we are with a cockpit, primarily with me, and an aircraft with Patralekhaa, 180 other passengers, and other crew members. There was this huge world that I wouldn’t get to see on set.”
Jordan
The production team flew to the Middle Eastern country of Jordan to shoot high-tension sequences of the plane’s final landing. The Kandahar airport seen in the series – where Taliban forces surround the plane – is actually an airport in Jordan. In a twist of fate, the Kandahar airport, where the true incident took place in Afghanistan, is once again under Taliban control as it was in 1999. Thus, the film crew made use of the airport in Jordan.
However, the location had its own safety concerns, as it was close to the Israeli border at a time when hostilities between the two countries were increasing. “There were some surprise instructions at times that you cannot shoot in this direction right now, or you can’t shoot for two hours,” recalled Sinha. “For those two hours, we’d not know why, because it was a very high-security area.” The arid landscapes of Jordan often stand in for Middle Eastern locations, Afghanistan, and even alien worlds in movies. Some such films include ‘The Goat Life’ starring Prithviraj Sukumaran, ‘Marmalade,’ ‘Zero Dark Thirty,’ ‘The Hurt Locker,’ ‘Holy Spider,’ and ‘Killer Elite.’
Kathmandu, Nepal
The film crew also ventured to Nepal, especially its capital city of Kathmandu, where flight IC 814 takes off from in the show. The bustling streets of the City of Temples serve as the backdrop for many of the show’s RAW espionage segments. The mountainous landscapes can be observed as the agent drives through the winding routes. As the aircraft takes off, the sprawling cityscape of Kathmandu is seen, with the Himalayan peaks looming in the background.
Read More: Best Thriller Movies on Netflix
