Operation Safed Sagar was a brilliant six-episode run exploring another untold story from the Kargil War of 1999, where the Indian Air Force helped the Indian Army win the battle against Pakistan! The show was presented in a way you’d expect a Kargil War tribute to be – with grief, gallantry, and the Golden Arrows Squadron’s sacrifice finally tipping the war in India’s favor.
But as the show ended with the details of the officers whose story became the anchor of this web series, it also quietly passed on some details, which we might have just missed! One of those details was about Wing Commander BS Dhanoa, fondly called Tony, who was played by Jimmy Sheirgill!
With the end credits rolling, Operation Safed Sagar offered a little hope of its return with Jimmy Sheirgill‘s Officer Dhanoa! Because he isn’t just a character who survives this story. He’s a real IAF officer whose career did not just end with the Kargil War or years after! While most of the decorated officers started their journey as Commercial Pilots after their retirement, Officer Tony had bigger plans!
From Operation Safed Sagar to Operation Bandar!
While Operation Safed Sagar was a successful and one of the most difficult missions led by the Indian Air Force, the charioteer of this mission, Wing Commander Birender Singh Dhanoa aka Tony, played by Jimmy Sheirgill, went ahead to become the Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force! In fact, he was the man behind 2019’s Operation Bandar, an Air Strike by the Indian Air Force in Balakot!
If you can remember, Balakot Strikes were one of the most talked about missions of the Air Force, more so, because Captain Abhinandan Varthaman, whose fighter jet was shot down by Pakistan, was on a sortie. He was held captive in Pakistan, and later released!
So Operation Safed Sagar‘s history stops being just history. In real life, Birender Singh Tony Dhanoa lived the same life during the Balakot Strike! While his friend Captain Ajay Ahuja was captured by Pakistan in 1999 and brutally tortured till death, Captain Abhinandan Varthaman, for heaven’s sake, did not see that end! But, both the officers were held captive in Pakistan when their Jets crashed across the LOC!
That’s not a small connection to leave on the table. If Netflix wanted to build a sequel or a follow-up season around the Balakot Strike and Abhinandan Varthaman’s capture and return, Tony Dhanoa wouldn’t just be a convenient character to bring back – he’d be the same real officer who was actually in command during that operation, now on the other side of the desk instead of the cockpit. It’s the kind of full-circle casting that a franchise practically writes itself around!
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