There’s more to war than just gunfire and hand grenades. Strategic and diplomatic decisions made behind closed doors influence the fate of what happens on the battlefield. Operation Safed Sagar understands this as it shifts the perspective and spends time establishing the context of the Kargil war before getting into action. The Netflix series reimagines the turbulent time of the late 1990s as India and Pakistan held peace talks amid the looming danger of the nuclear bomb. A host of stock footage is juxtaposed to gather the grainy memory of the time. The familiarity starts to wade off gradually as the series establishes the Pakistani subjects. Yes, the background score underscores caution, the visuals darken, yet there is a willingness to engage with their perspective. They are not outrightly condemned here as absolute things of evil. The severity of their actions rises from parts of their own crumbling humanity.

The restraint is seen in the casting choice as Vinay Pathak plays former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif with nuance as he is shown to be caught in the middle of orders thrown by his father, Muhammed Sharif (SM Zaheer) and the abrasive decision-making of Parvez Musharraf (Manu Rishi Chaddha). The Pakistani army general hatches plan to claim parts of Kashmir, sending a sea of troops dressed in tribal outfits to the heights of the snow-capped mountains. The makers keep returning to these hasty meetings between Sharif and Musharraf where the latter easily comes across as the dominating force, successfully managing to manipulate Sharif to go to war with India.

Operation Safed Sagar (Hindi)

Director: Oni Sen

Cast: Siddharth, Jimmy Shergill, Abhay Verma, Dia Mirza, Prajakta Koli, Adil Hussain, Mihir Ahuja, Taaruk Raina, Arnav Bhasin

Episodes: 6

Runtime: 45-57 minutes

Synopsis: The series chronicles the Indian Air Force’s historic high-altitude aerial mission during the 1999 Kargil War, focusing on the courage of the Golden Arrows Squadron and the human stories behind the uniforms

The political intrigue pays off in these sequences, building a comprehensive picture of the times without overdramatising the events. In contrast, the Indian Air Force officers are shown to be a lively bunch with their own individual issues to tackle, whether it is the initial pride shown by Rajpal Singh Dhaliwal (Abhay Verma) or another officer Bal Reddy’s (Mihir Ahuja) difficulty of communicating with his lover, Madhavi (Prajakta Koli). Reddy and Dhaliwal work around their own differences and personal grudges too in order to find more balance in doing team drills.

They are guided by squadron leader Ajay Ahuja (Siddharth), who is called-in by B.S Dhanoa (Jimmy Shergill) to train the young officers for a special complex formation of their fighter jets which involves team coordination and alignment. The first three episodes carry a breezy tone as the officers go through their daily life while danger starts to build at the border as a conspiracy brews in Pakistan. The conflict intensifies as armies from both the countries hammer bullets, leaving behind heavy casualties. That’s when the role of the Air Force comes in as the Golden Arrows Squadron assemble to conduct some extraordinary aerial attacks. Director Oni Sen and creators and showrunners Abhijeet Singh Parmar, Kushal Srivastava (ex-IAF officer) exhibit some flair in portraying these meticulous operations, focusing as much on the finer technical details and the emotional turmoil that the officers go through with tensions escalating on the mountains.

The show avoids over-stylising the aerial sequences and focuses more on the urgency of moments than aimlessly beautifying them as seen in excess in Hrithik Roshan’s Fighter. Staying true to its name, the series diligently focuses on how the Air Force made use of dated resources to carry out high-altitude attacks in unfavourable conditions during the Kargil war. If Farhan Akhtar’s Lakshya gave an extensive look at the army’s resolve on ground, Operation Safed Sagar gives the perspective from the skies.

It does get a bit tedious to witness beyond a point as characters are merely shown to be reacting largely to the newer blows meted out by Pakistan. Even the conversations between Sharif and Musharraf get repetitive on occasions, failing to delve more into complex terrains. The writing struggles to look beyond and tends to over-simplify the events, mirroring them with an easy cause-and-effect undercurrents. The weight of the war doesn’t quite register as we are transfixed at seeing how will the Air Force solve a new problem created by the Pakistani army.

Amid these minor inconsistencies, it is the assured performances that keep the show afloat. Siddharth and Jimmy instil a charming, lived-in touch to their characters, unburdening them with any dramatic interventions. Abhay Verma remains sincere as he embodies feelings of arrogance and guilt with equal sophistication. Even Mihir Ahuja excels in bringing out the nuances of an officer without overplaying the exteriors. Together, the successes and heartbreaks of the characters they portray feel achingly personal even though the overarching emotion that the show leaves behind isn’t quite novel. There’s a display of courage, intelligence and sacrifice without overselling these qualities in dialogue. More importantly, the show doesn’t capture the other with eyes of hate. Some minor diversions feel like major victories in today’s polarising times.

Operation Safed Sagar is currently streaming on Netflix

Published - August 07, 2026 01:00 pm IST