Meet The Duo Who Brought Operation Safed Sagar, The Story About The Golden Arrows Squadron Of The Indian Air Force Dueing The Kargil War, To Life: FPJ Exclusive
· Free Press Journal
Operation Safed Sagar (OSS), has emerged as one of the breakout shows of the year, and India can finally say that we have a show that not only rivals, but is better than the iconic Top Gun (1986). The series is about the Golden Arrows Squadron of the Indian Air Force who led an extraordinary historic, high-altitude mission that altered the course of the 1999 Kargil War and made history as the world’s highest air operation. But behind this hit show is Abhijeet Singh Parmar (Co-creator and show runner) and Mehboob Pal Singh Brar (Co-producer) journey of four and a half years.
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Having built their careers on the production side, working across projects such as Gullak, Panchayat 2 and Rocket Boys, the two eventually decided to move from enabling other filmmakers’ visions to building one of their own, ultimately founding Feel Good Films. The story of Operation Safed Sagar itself is equally revealing of that conviction. What began with their discovery of the largely untold story of an Air Force reconnaissance squadron during the Kargil War grew into a four-and-a-half-year journey of research, development and relentless pursuit. They met real-life Air Force officers and veterans and spent time understanding the experiences of their families, and even undertook arduous recce journeys to understand the physical world of the story — including travelling to nearly 16,000 feet in Spiti.
In an interaction with us, both of them told us about their journey, the risks and what this means to them.
When and how did you come up with the idea of OSS?
The idea did not originate with us. Kushal Srivastava, who had served in the Indian Air Force, had been researching the Golden Arrows and the Kargil air war and had originally conceived it as a film. When he brought the idea to us, the war story was there, but what grabbed us were the everyday details of IAF life and the layers that were not necessarily visible in the larger history.
The more we researched, the more we realised that two hours could not contain the story. There was the war, the aerial missions, but also the pilots, their families, friendships, decision making and the enormous preparation behind every mission. We started discussing it as a series, and that became the starting point for Operation Safed Sagar.
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At the outset, did you ever doubt that you might not be able to do justice to the aerial action sequences?
Absolutely. In fact, that was one of our biggest fears. We were attempting something we had never done before, and the aerial combat had to feel convincing not just to a general audience, but to people who had actually flown these aircraft.
After writing the first large draft, we remember looking at the sheer scale of what we had written and thinking, how are we going to execute this? But that doubt became useful. We started treating every difficult aspect of the show as a problem that needed its own solution. The aerial sequences became their own mini project, with years of preparation, real aircraft, cockpit rigs and VFX. We never wanted spectacle for spectacle's sake. It had to serve the story.
Four and a half years is a long, arduous journey, no?
It is. But we don't think we ever experienced it as one long four and a half year wait. We looked at the next thing in front of us. First research, then story, then screenplay, then casting, production, post and so on.
There were definitely moments of exhaustion and doubt, but there was also a sense that we were discovering something every few months. Once we started speaking to veterans and families, the responsibility became much bigger than simply making a show. Walking away was never really an option.
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What aspects of the Kargil War and Air Force pilots were you unaware of before beginning research?
Almost everything beyond the broad history. What surprised us most was how much of the war was about decision making under extraordinary pressure.
We tend to see fighter pilots as these almost superhuman figures, but when you speak to them, you discover the people underneath the uniform. Their families, friendships, humour, fears and the discipline required to keep doing their job. We realised very quickly that if we did not connect with the people on the ground, we would never connect with them in the air. That understanding fundamentally changed how we wrote the characters.
Travelling to 16,000 ft in Spiti, did you face any health issues?
The altitude definitely hits you. Even simple physical activity becomes demanding and you become very aware of your breathing and your body. We were fortunate not to face any serious medical incident, but the altitude affected everyone differently.
The more interesting part for us was what the altitude did to the filmmaking process. You realise very quickly that you cannot impose your usual way of working on a place like that. You have to adapt to the mountain, the weather and the conditions. The environment becomes a collaborator and sometimes the boss.
If you haven't already, could you elaborate on the risks you took with this series?
There were the obvious physical and logistical risks of shooting in extreme conditions, working at altitude, operating around real aircraft and dealing with unpredictable weather. There were also enormous creative and financial risks.
This was Feel Good Films' first project. To put our first project, and effectively the first chapter of the company, into one story and stay committed to it for four and a half years was a risk in itself. We were investing a huge amount of time, energy and resources into something without knowing how it would eventually be received.
But the biggest risk was choosing not to compromise. We could have simplified the world, reduced the scale or relied more heavily on conventional filmmaking solutions. We kept asking what the story needed, and then trying to build that.
The best, or top two feedbacks you received on OSS post release?
Some of the most meaningful feedback has come from people connected to the Air Force and from families of those who served. When someone who has lived through that world tells you that the show felt authentic, it stays with you.
But perhaps the feedback that moved us most was from viewers who told us that after watching the show, they went and started reading about the pilots and the Kargil air war themselves. For us, that is the greatest compliment. If the show makes you curious about the real people and the real history behind it, then we feel we have done something worthwhile.