Veteran Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah has expressed that he was deeply "disturbed" by the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight IC814 to Kandahar.

Shah's comments come amid criticism of the Netflix series adaptation, IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack, in which he portrays Vinay Kaul, the cabinet secretary and head of India’s Crisis Management Group.

At a recent press conference, Shah shared his apprehensions about the potential for increased Islamophobia following the hijacking. 

"I was around 50 at the time, towards the end of the 20th century, and I found the situation deeply unsettling. I was concerned it might trigger a new wave of Islamophobia, though thankfully, that didn’t happen. Even after the crisis was resolved, I felt uneasy. I couldn’t quite pinpoint the reason, but it seemed that the passengers and the pilot had endured a truly horrifying ordeal, and the resolution didn’t feel like a satisfactory closure."

The six-episode series is based on the events of December 24, 1999, when an Indian Airlines flight IC 814 en route to Delhi from Kathmandu was hijacked after takeoff from the Kathmandu Tribhuvan International Airport in Nepal shortly after it entered Indian airspace. 

Meanwhile, 'IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack' triggered a row on social media over the names of the hijackers in the series. Later, Netflix updated its disclaimer with the real and code names of the hijackers.

"For the benefit of audiences unfamiliar with the 1999 hijacking of the Indian Airlines flight 814, the opening disclaimer has been updated to include the real and code names of the hijackers. The code names in the series reflect those used during the actual event. India has a rich culture of story-telling and we are committed to showcasing these stories and their authentic representation," said Monika Shergill, Vice President of content, at Netflix India.

The updation of the disclaimer comes after the content head of Netflix India Monika Shergill met the Joint Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in Delhi on Tuesday. The meeting was held in view of certain contentious issues on the web series based on the Hijacking of IC-814.