Siddharth may have won praise for his portrayal of Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja in Netflix’s Operation Safed Sagar, but the review closest to his heart came from Ajay’s wife, Alka Ahuja. After watching the series, Alka reached out to the actor and has since been in touch with him regularly, sharing her thoughts on his performance as well as messages from Ajay’s family.
The review that mattered the most
When Operation Safed Sagar premiered on Netflix on August 7, Siddharth was waiting to hear what Alka Ahuja made of his portrayal of her late husband. She had held back at the trailer launch, saying she wanted to watch the series before sharing her thoughts. After finally watching it, she reached out to Siddharth — and the two have been speaking every day since.
“I’m very happy to tell you I’ve got my best review from Alka ma’am. I also speak to her every day, so I get a new review every morning. She notices different things at different times, and points them out to me. She’s very kind,” Siddharth told Screen in an interview, adding “She also sends me screenshots of messages from Ajay’s family. The common consensus is that rest assured, I’ve achieved my biggest responsibility, to pay him the right tribute.”
‘Ajay bilkul tumhari tarah tha’
For Siddharth, Alka’s most touching feedback has been about how much he reminds her of Ajay. She saw glimpses of her husband in Siddharth, both in his performance and in the way he is as a person. “She says, ‘Siddharth, Ajay bilkul tumhari tarah tha. He was very jovial, fun-loving and badmash. But whenever he’d be at work, he’d become very focused, just like you,'” the actor revealed.
Alka also saw glimpses of Ajay in the camaraderie Siddharth shared with his co-stars. His bond with Baldy (Mihir Ahuja), Dhali (Abhay Verma), Sangy (Taaruk Raina) and Goofy (Arnav Bhasin) reminded her of the close friendship Ajay shared with his fellow officers.
About Operation Safed Sagar
Directed by Oni Sen and created by Kushal Srivastava and Abhijeet Singh Parmar, Operation Safed Sagar stars Siddharth, Jimmy Shergill,Abhay Verma, Dia Mirza, Prajakta Koli, Mihir Ahuja, Taaruk Raina, Arnav Bhasin and Amrita Bagchi, among others. One of the highlights of the series is its impressive aerial action, with the much-famed MiG-21 playing a key role. The aircraft was flown by the Golden Arrows squadron during the Kargil War. Interestingly, the series also captured the MiG-21 in action for the last time on film before it was retired from the Indian Air Force.
Netflix took the story of the iconic fighter jet forward withThe Last Salute. Directed by Kushal Srivastava, the documentary looked back at the MiG-21’s remarkable 62-year journey with the Indian Air Force.