Gunjan
Saxena
And
Sreevidya
Rajan
Trained
Together
At
The
Air
Force
Academy
And
Helicopter
Training
School
Talking
about
it,
Sreevidya
wrote
in
her
post,
"Both
of
us
were
posted
to
Udhampur
in
1996
but
in
the
movie,
it
was
shown
that
she
was
the
only
lady
pilot
posted
at
the
unit.
Since
the
two
of
us
were
the
first
lady
pilots
to
be
posted
to
that
helicopter
unit,
we
were
skeptical
about
our
acceptance
in
the
male-dominated
niche
area
of
flying.
We
were
received
with
the
usual
preconceived
notions
and
prejudices
from
a
few
colleagues.
However,
there
were
enough
officers
to
support
us."
Sreevidya
Says
Majority
Of
Their
Counterparts
Accepted
And
Treated
Them
As
Fellow
Officers
She
continued,
"We
were
under
strict
scrutiny
and
certain
mistakes
of
ours
were
met
with
corrective
actions
which
may
have
been
overlooked
had
it
been
done
by
our
male
counterparts.
We
had
to
work
harder
than
our
counterparts
to
prove
ourselves
to
be
at
par
with
them.
Some
were
not
happy
to
share
the
professional
space
with
us
but
the
majority
accepted
and
treated
us
as
fellow
officers
working
towards
a
common
goal."
Sreevidya
Slams
The
Makers
For
The
Creative
Liberties
In
The
Biopic
In
Janhvi
Kapoor's
film,
the
makers
have
shown
that
Gunjan's
sorties
are
cancelled
on
a
regular
basis
because
no
male
officer
is
comfortable
flying
with
her.
She
is
also
asked
to
arm-wrestle
as
a
show
of
strength.
However,
Sreevidya
denied
these
incidents
in
her
post.
She
wrote,
"Our
flying
began
within
a
few
days
of
our
arrival
and
was
never
interrupted
or
cancelled
for
petty
reasons
as
wrongly
portrayed
in
the
movie.
The
squadron
commander
was
a
thorough
professional.
He
was
a
very
strict
and
tough
officer
who
took
us
to
task
whenever
there
was
a
mistake
from
our
side,
be
it
male
or
female.
We
never
faced
any
humiliating
physical
strength
demonstrations
as
shown
in
the
movie.
We
were
never
ill-treated
or
humiliated
by
our
fellow
officers."
However,
Sreevidya
agreed
that
there
were
no
separate
toilet
facilities
and
changing
rooms
for
women
at
the
Udhampur
air
base,
as
shown
in
the
film.
But,
their
fellow
officers
‘always
accommodated
and
helped
us'.
In
her
post,
Sreevidya
also
wrote
that
it
was
‘factually
incorrect' to
portray
Gunjan
as
the
only
woman
pilot
to
conduct
recce
and
rescue
missions
during
the
1999
Kargil
War.
Sreevidya
Claims
The
Makers
Of
Gunjan
Saxena
Have
Twisted
The
Facts
Given
By
Gunjan
For
The
Sake
Of
Publicity
Sreevidya
wrote
that
she
is
a
good
friend
of
Gunjan
and
continued,
"She
(Gunjan)
is
a
brilliant
officer
and
a
thorough
professional.
She
had
many
achievements
during
her
career
which
should
have
been
portrayed
to
inspire
the
younger
generation
instead
of
showing
her
as
a
weak
and
oppressed
victim
in
certain
scenes.
As
the
pioneers
of
women
pilots,
we
were
treated
with
utmost
respect
and
it
was
our
responsibility
to
live
up
to
the
expectations
and
pave
way
for
future
generations.
The
movie
is
sending
out
a
wrong
message
about
the
lady
officers
of
IAF
there
by
demeaning
the
prestigious
organisation
of
our
country."
Sreevidya
also
wrote
that
Gunjan
Saxena
‘should
have
made
sure
to
show
the
facts
and
portray
IAF
in
a
positive
light'
before
giving
the
biopic
a
green
signal.
Sreevidya
claimed
that
she
was
the
first
lady
pilot
to
fly
in
Kargil.
However,
she
never
claimed
it
in
any
forum
before
this
due
to
her
strong
belief
in
gender
equality.