Provision of make-up kits in choppers was never asked for or promised: Indian Air Force

Netflix film Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl is in the news for only the wrong reasons. Among all the wrong portrayals, a new one has come to the surface. A retired IAF official who was instrumental in training the first batch of women pilots for the Indian Air Force claimed that unlike what was depicted in the movie, IAF had never made any provision for having make-up kits inside choppers. 

“This is completely wrong. Neither did anyone request for it nor was it ever provided,” the retired Wing Commander told Humor Unplugged when quizzed over the scene where Gunjan Saxena is seen as celebrating when IAF provides a make-up kit within the chopper operated by Saxena. The movie shows Saxena facing all kinds of harassment with the biggest (according to the movie) being asked to fly a chopper that lacks a make-up kit and a hairdryer. The movie shows Saxena complaining about this to her brother who asks Saxena to run away to the mountains and open a Yoga clinc there. 

“This is beyond ridiculous. Why would any lady officer ask for a make-up kit or a hairdryer? We were flying shoulder to shoulder with our male counterparts and never made any request to treat us differently. This reference to make-up kits is downright demeaning and is meant to degrade every woman who has served in the armed forces. Bollywood should reduce its acid intake and stay away from the armed forces. If I ever meet Karan Johar, I will box him in a make-up kit and dump him across the LoC,” a former squadron leader said.  

The Indian Airforce has also issued a denial on this matter saying its "officers have always taken pride in serving the country without placing any such demand. We are examining some of the legal options available," a serving official said. 

Among other things, Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl also shows Saxena preparing to be India’s first astronaut towards the end of the movie while becoming India’s first Air Force officer to land an F-35 on an isolated atoll in Lakshadweep. She is also shown fighting hijackers to free IC-814 in Kandahar, defeating them and flying the aircraft back to India. 

When confronted, Chotu Lal, the chief background researcher for the movie said “everything we have shown is true. I have picked up the details from a very reliable source. This source is a blogger who had seen the whole thing himself while he was high on low-quality Chinese weed. This movie is based on what this blogger saw before he was admitted to a psychiatric facility,” Lal said. 

Nation’s own drama queen and self-styled spokesperson for the devil, `Kangana Ranaut meanwhile demanded a CBI inquiry into the movie. “This movie is a prime example of what is wrong with Mahesh Bhat and Hrithik Roshan. I am sure these two along with my other enemies in Bollywood wrote this movie to take revenge on me,” Ranaut claimed before being taken away to her cell in a new psychiatric facility that has opened in Dadar.