Critical response Saibal Chatterjee of
NDTV gave 3.5 stars out of 5 and stated that "Authentic and to the point, Vijay Varma starrer is as good a web series as any we have seen this year." Shubham Kulkarni of
OTT Play gave the series 4/5 stars and stated "
IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack doesn't forcefully create a hero and Anubhav Sinha wins exactly there when he honours each being who managed to save even themselves." Divya Raje Bhonsale of
Mathrubhumi rated the series 4/5 stars and states "A gripping Netflix series based on the 1999 Kandahar hijack, 'IC 814' features an impressive ensemble cast and a razor-sharp script. Must-watch for fans of historical dramas." A critic for
Bollywood Hungama rated the web series 3.5 stars out of 5 and wrote "On the whole,
IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack sees the coming together of some of the most talented names of Indian cinema and also throws light on the shocking aspects of the 1999 hijack episode. Due to the taut execution, strong script and of course the ensemble cast, the show is sure to get a huge viewership."
Sukanya Verma of
Rediff.com rated the series 3.5 stars out of 5 stars and notes "
IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack begins by asking why the hijack lasted seven days and ends in wondering if the good guys fought the bad ones hard enough."
Shubhra Gupta of
The Indian Express gave the series 3/5 stars and notes "The Vijay Varma-Naseeruddin Shah-Pankaj Kapur show keeps it grounded, even when it’s in the air, and manages to distribute the tension evenly throughout." Shreyas Pande from
Cinema Express rated the series 2.5 stars out of 5 stars and states "It’s a new leap here, as he (Anubhav Sinha) makes his web series debut and largely creates an engaging experience by showing nearly all that transpired during the dreadful hijack. Yet, something seems amiss. As the credits roll, you know certain information and it is just about enough to leave you curious. Nothing more, nothing less." Devansh Sharma of
Hindustan Times notes "But in his (Anubhav Sinha) debut web series, he pulls off the Herculean task of telling a historical hijack story through a holistic, accurate, and non-judgemental lens." Anuj Kumar of
The Hindu notes "Anubhav Sinha recreates the story of the longest hijack in Indian aviation history with precision, fairness and a touch of humanity."
Criticisms by experts, Indian officials and survivors Several experts, high-ranking officers, senior journalists and the crew of the flight, including the former
Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief
A.S. Dulat and Former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, have criticized the series for its historical inaccuracies and not showing the passengers' perspective correctly. Journalist
Vir Sanghvi said the series misleadingly downplays the role of the
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to the point of serving as "propaganda" for the spy agency, and minimizes the threat posed by the hijackers. Historian
Hindol Sengupta said the film is "pathetic", accusing the filmmakers of glorifying terrorism and failing to "acknowledge the long-term impact of the terrorists released during the hijacking, diminishing the severity of the real-life events", according to a report in the
Swarajya. Dulat told India Today TV "There’s no doubt that the ISI had a role in this. It wasn’t just based on our intelligence reports; a well-known Pakistani journalist was in Kandahar at the time. He reported that it was obvious the ISI was orchestrating and controlling the entire operation". G Parthasarathy, India's high commissioner to Pakistan at the time of the IC 814 hijacking, calls Sinha's portrayal of
al-Qaida and
Taliban roles "ridiculous". He said in an interview, "It was totally Pakistani involvement. The persons concerned were Pakistanis. The people they wanted released were Pakistanis. So there is no question of al-Qaida, that's the farthest thing to say". The series also failed to show the hijackers' attempts to religiously convert the passengers on board. The identities of the five hijackers were determined to be
Ibrahim Akhtar (from
Bahawalpur),
Shahid Akhtar Sayeed,
Sunny Ahmed Qazi,
Zahoor Mistry (all three from
Karachi) and
Shakir (from
Sukkur). However, the series used their code names like Bhola, Shankar, Doctor, Burger, and Chief. Following the public uproar,
India's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting directed the content chief of Netflix India to appear before it and offer an explanation about the allegedly contentious aspects of the web series. Netflix responded by saying it would add new opening disclaimers to include the real and code names of the hijackers. However, some viewers outside India reported that this disclaimer was missing in version shown outside of India and was only present in the Indian version of it. == References ==