‘We didn’t need additional masala in Operation Safed Sagar to serve the patriotism'

When the first look teaser of Operation Safed Sagar was published in November last year, it didn't create much buzz despite featuring popular actors in the cast.

Key points

• Further talking regarding the understated element of patriotism in the series, Abhijeet notes, The most challenging scene to write was in episode 4 when Ajay Ahuja is interrogated.
• Abhijeet shares how OSS was first pitched as a film by Kushal Shrivastava, an ex-Air Force officer who is additionally credited as a co-creator.
• One of the major learnings, for both Abhijeet and Mehboob, was how the Air Force officers consciously keep their personal and professional lives apart.
• Throwing light on the execution process, Abhijeet reflects, I was horrified after writing 200 pages of beats of the show.
• I didn't look at OSS as a war show or an Indo-Pak Kargil conflict show.

Since its premiere on August 7, Operation Safed Sagar has received positive reviews from both critics and the audience – and its unconventional treatment of a familiar theme (Indo-Pak conflicts) perhaps plays a major role in it. Abhijeet shares how OSS was first pitched as a film by Kushal Shrivastava, an ex-Air Force officer who is additionally credited as a co-creator. Nevertheless, Abhijeet felt there was a lot to explore that needed an expansive treatment in a series format.

There were a lot of finer details of this universe Abhijeet had little idea regarding – and that became the driving philosophy for how the concept would eventually be developed. "So plenty of things – how Army life differs from Air Force life, why there are war cries in the Army but not in the Air Force, why the Air Force uses 2D maps and not 3D maps, how a fighter pilot gets produced. I didn't look at OSS as a war show or an Indo-Pak Kargil conflict show. My brief to my writers was let's create a mixtape of all unseen things, and record part of the history we don't know regarding." This brief is perhaps why OSS is additionally able to devote equal screentime to the tussle on the Pakistani side of the story. "We obtain to know what the conflict is. This person is sitting on those peaks. I had read so much regarding Kargil, but I didn't know all this. So, I kept myself on the forefront thinking, 'Whatever I don't know, I will write regarding.'".

One of the major learnings, for both Abhijeet and Mehboob, was how the Air Force officers consciously keep their personal and professional lives apart. Mehboob tells us, "When you actually meet these officers in their civilian clothes, you can't even imagine them to be from defence. As they wear their helms and uniform – it was so interesting to witness.", you meet some incredible individuals – fun and so simple to talk to – and you realise there is so much stress in the air that they have to keep it light when they're on the ground." Abhijeet adds, "To see that switch in their head.

OSS additionally makes a rare accomplishment of not going overboard on the jingoism and heroism despite the obvious potential. Abhijeet takes a moment to acknowledge Siddharth's conscientiousness. He adds, Siddharth was one of the first individuals we approached, and we all agreed that we were not going to depict Ahuja as a hero – he became a hero in retrospect, but at that point, he was just doing his duty. Even during the shoot, Siddharth would frequently ask, Am I stepping out of that zone? Am I becoming Siddharth? Am I playing this like a hero?' and he never once stepped out of character.

Further talking regarding the understated element of patriotism in the series, Abhijeet notes, "The most challenging scene to write was in episode 4 when Ajay Ahuja is interrogated. That's where he's particularly 'dialogue-y', and he could say those lines in a highly loud way. Yet, Ahuja is saying it so internally. When you're writing, you discover your sense of patriotism, sometimes. If it is earned, you feel patriotic. If it doesn't come from a sense of truth, it feels jingoistic – like you're exploiting that sentiment. We felt that just showing them doing their duties, the perseverance they have, how they bond with each other is patriotic enough – it doesn't need extra masala. We just followed that principle. They are doing what they are supposed to do under such circumstances – that patriotism doesn't need to be peppered or underlined anymore."

Meanwhile, the challenges didn't end with the authentic depiction of the inner lives of Air Force officers; they additionally extended to recreating the battleground – the white snow river that provided the operation its name. Throwing light on the execution process, Abhijeet reflects, "I was horrified after writing 200 pages of beats of the show. I knew I would handle the politics of the show, the slice of life element – but it was equally significant to convincingly sell the aerial sequences. That was something we really wanted to push the curve on. I was scared, 'What if they say yes? How will we pull this off?' Netflix offered us that backing where we could break down those 200 pages into smaller challenges, and everything became a mini show of its own – be it shooting in mountains, or cracking the cockpit visuals and the VFX elements." Recalling the live location shoot, Abhijeet adds, "We initially thought of shooting with fake snow, but both Mehboob and our DOP Setu raised so numerous reservations that convinced us we had to shoot the real stuff. Exactly a year before the shoot was supposed to commence, we went for the recce, finalising the peaks where we wanted to shoot. Mehboob was transporting rocks. There were so plenty of more logistical arrangements and acclimatization. But when you see even one of those visuals, it feels worth it."

Mehboob recalls, "It didn't feel right to shoot the snow parts of a show in a studio. It wouldn't have landed. When you see the close up of a mujahideen putting his foot on a snow peak, that footstep speaks to you. It was crucial to feel that impact of clothes flailing in that windy atmosphere. Our local line producer, with over 35 years of experience, remarked nobody had even shot a song here. But everyone stood for it since they all loved the story." Abhijeet additionally discussions concerning the importance of a platform's backing for a project like this. He adds, "Netflix was always excited, sometimes more than us, saying, 'everything is fine, keep doing it.' They really put their cross-functional teams on it. This is one such show where boundaries obtained blurred – it was hard to tell where the production house was and where Netflix was. Everyone was just trying to bring it alive."

Nevertheless, what is most inspiring is the 4.5 year long wait before the two could put the show together. We didn't pick up anything else. Mehboob took up a show as a supervising producer, to financially backing us and keep our kitchens running so that I could keep writing and researching. We were really taking our time to make this, and it took an incredible amount of effort to protect the soul of the show and its storytelling, Abhijeet concludes. Operation Safed Sagar Series Review: Impressive landing, familiar terrain.

In short, 'We didn't need additional masala in Operation Safed Sagar to serve the is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.