When Vijay Verma, the reel Captain Sharan, met the real Captain Sharan

Mumbai, Aug 24 : Actor Vijay Verma, who is gearing up for his upcoming limited series ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’, has shared a glimpse from the cockpit.

On Saturday, the actor took to his Instagram, and shared 2 pictures with Captain Devi Sharan who was the pilot during the hijack of the Indian Airlines Flight 814, along with first officer Rajinder Kumar, alongside flight engineer Anil Kumar Jaggia. Captain Devi Sharan exhibited tremendous courage and composure during the critical moments.

Vijay also penned a long note in the caption as he recollected meeting the pilot for the first time.

He wrote, “Real and Reel Captain Sharan. When I first met the captain.. I was taken in by his pleasant smile and his simplicity.. and then I saw a scar on his neck.. I asked him about it.. he simply and politely said ‘wo hijackers ki gun 7 din tak yahi ragadti rahi toh wound ho gaya tha jo heal nahi hua’ I froze (the wound that I got because of hijacker’s gun never healed) He smiled”.

He further mentioned, “I knew I was talking to a real life hero. It was such a huge honour to get to depict Captain Devi Sharan on screen. His efforts to save lives amidst chaos and dread is truly inspiring! A tale of resilience and honour.. of critical thinking and duty.. of patience and hope and most of all.. bravery. We salute you captain IC814 streaming on Netflix from 29th august. @anubhavsinhaa @netflix_in @matchboxshots”.

The series is based on the hijack of Indian Airlines Flight 814, an Indian Airlines Airbus A300 en route from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, to Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, India, in December 1999. The flight was hijacked and was flown to several locations before landing in Kandahar, Afghanistan which was then under the control of Taliban.