From 4.5-Year Toll To Recreating Aerial Action: How Operation Safed Sagar Creators Mounted An Authentic Air Force Drama

Abhijeet: We were hopeful, but we didn't anticipate this. We hoped people would recognise our honest intentions, but we never expected a connection on this scale. Because we worked with consultants and insiders, we hoped the show would be seen as an honest portrayal of Indian Air Force culture. What we couldn't have anticipated—and what has been deeply gratifying—is how strongly it resonated across all three defence branches. Receiving messages from veterans praising the accuracy of that military culture means everything to us.

Mehboob: I don't think anyone could have anticipated a response like this. Everyone wants their project and story to be loved, but this has taken on a life of its own. It has gone far beyond the creators or the Air Force. Even people outside the military are getting a glimpse into a very different way of life, which was the main goal behind the show: to let everyone experience the culture of the Indian Air Force.

Abhijeet: We've always been drawn to lived-in experiences. Whenever we meet a writer or hear a concept, our first instinct is to ask, 'Where are you from? What’s your background?' That’s exactly how this project started.

Kushal originally pitched it as a feature film. As he shared details—like how the Air Force relies on 2D maps while the Army uses 3D maps to navigate terrain—I realised we always see the swagger of the Air Force, but rarely the sweat behind it. None of that nuance was in the initial script.

A few weeks later, we decided to pivot to a series, but I knew that high-stakes aerial sequences required serious backing. I pitched the concept to Netflix. They were interested and asked for a 15-20-page outline.

I then went down a rabbit hole, interviewing pilots from the Golden Arrows squadron and piecing together the story of Operation Safed Sagar, which hasn't been documented in a definitive book. That outline quickly expanded into a 95-page pitch. Two weeks after submitting it, Netflix greenlit the project for development—noting that their internal team members with defence backgrounds verified the story as remarkably authentic.

Mehboob: When the teaser dropped, I was genuinely worried. No matter what we put in the marketing assets, I thought people wouldn't see beyond a conventional India-Pakistan storyline. But we knew they’d be shocked once they actually watched it. The fact that people are already re-watching it validates my instinct—the show really worked.

Abhijeet: And regarding longevity, it almost feels like it’s just starting right now. More people are recommending the show, and I anticipate that even after two years, someone will discover it, watch it, and reach out with a warm response.

Abhijeet: Getting the initial 95-page pitch approved by Netflix was a major challenge. The document didn't follow a linear narrative; instead, it contained separate 20-30-page tracks—blending an Air Force storyline with Pakistani politics and army dynamics. Because a multi-track war format like this had never been done before, no one was quite sure how to merge it all seamlessly.

Getting the story right took six months of continuous work and presented new challenges at every stage. Our first full draft was a massive 200 pages. To make execution manageable, I broke the narrative into modular segments, treating each setting—from the ground to the mountains—as its own distinct mini-show.

During pre-production, we fully animated an episode to balance technical accuracy with human emotion in the aerial sequences. Before writing the screenplays, we secured a three-week research trip from Netflix to visit all the real locations—including the bases, the Kargil peaks and the Drass sector. Having this clear vision beforehand allowed us to identify key shooting spots early on, including actual residences of Air Force personnel.

Abhijeet: We got permission and access, but the procedure was time-consuming. All the aircrew on the show whom you see fitting bombs are real airmen. Only the actors were allowed to sit inside the cockpit.

Mehboob: Other than the actors, anyone who physically works on the jets is provided by their team. If we need to fit bombs on an aircraft, they send the technicians for the job. If we need to move the jets from one location to another, they provide the crew to tow or fly them.

Abhijeet: Oni Sir came on board not just for the show, but for the emotion behind it. We are in love with the story, so we needed a cast that shared that love—one that understood the challenges of shooting inside an Air Force base, at extreme altitudes and under harsh conditions. Had we followed a conventional star system, we wouldn't have been able to pull this off. The production process here demands strict checks, regardless of who you are.

The main idea was to get people—both crew and cast—who truly fell in love with the project. The cast maintained their looks for a long time: Siddharth Sir and Jimmy Sir kept their short hair, and Jimmy Sir maintained his beard for over a year. Our DOP Setu Sir, production designer Meghna Gandhi (the Production Designer who built the cockpit) and costume designer didn't take on any other projects while working on this.

We needed people who were invested in the story rather than just big names. While we do have stars in the show, they were fully committed—they were actors first and stars second.

Mehboob: If the flying sequences didn't resonate with people, the show simply wouldn't have worked. From day one, we knew our biggest challenge would be getting the visual effects right for those scenes.

It was also a major hurdle from a storytelling perspective because the Indian Air Force never directly engaged with the Pakistani Air Force during that period. Since there were no traditional dogfights—which audiences are used to seeing on the big screen—we had to make viewers feel emotionally invested in what was happening in the air.

Achieving that was only possible with top-notch VFX. Netflix provided a dedicated VFX team, including a producer and supervisor, who worked with us on every draft. We broke each script down scene-by-scene to discuss every change and iterate on how to execute each sequence. They continuously advised us on what was achievable and what was getting too complex. Even though the show was incredibly ambitious, we made deliberate choices at the script level to realign scene counts so we didn't go overboard.

By the time the project was greenlit for production, we knew exactly what the final output would look like. The vendor we selected had never done anything on this scale before, but they were by far the most enthusiastic about the project.

Our production designer built the MiG-21 cockpit and it was placed on a computerised hydraulic stand synced with Unreal Engine.

Merge XR provided the Motion base and technology. For the first time, the lighting and hydraulics were automated and synced with the pre-visualisation through Unreal Engine—allowing the hydraulic system to turn with perfect timing.

The flying feels so natural and convincing because of how the light interacts with the actors. You can clearly see their real emotions because the lighting is spot-on. Additionally, our team's attention to detail was commendable—for instance, in the shot flying from Srinagar to the Tololing complex in Drass, the flight path and mountain terrain are accurate down to a T. That dedication to detail is why everything feels so real and resonates so well.

Mehboob: During our research, almost every person from the Air Force said that Vijeta was their go-to film. We approached our show aiming to make it a textbook reference, at least on some level.

Abhijeet: I still feel Vijeta wins with its authenticity. However, the highest praise we've received recently came from Air Force personnel. Earlier we had Vijeta, and now we have Operation Safed Sagar.