5 min readMumbaiAug 28, 2026 06:23 PM IST
Netflix’s Operation Safed Sagar has struck a chord with audiences. But for the actors who worked on the series, the experience has been even more personal. In an exclusive interview with SCREEN, Abhay Verma spoke about playing Wing Commander Rajpal Singh Dhaliwal in the show. He also talked about the experience of flying real fighter jets and the emotional impact of learning about his character’s story.
Operation Safed Sagar’s impact on Abhay Verma
Abhay Verma shared that it has been quite an emotional journey working on the show. Sharing the impact Operation Safed Sagar had on him, Abhay said, “Shooting in an airbase grounds you to the T. This show has made me grateful for everything I have in life. I have become a better person with it. When I was approached for this, I felt unreal. I thought it was a fictional story and nothing like Operation Safed Sagar happened.”
Talking about playing the role of Wing Commander Rajpal Singh Dhaliwal in the show, Abhay shared, “I don’t think I can ever become Dhaliwal sir. I am truly undeserving of it. It has been 16 years since he passed away, but when I heard his stories from his colleagues, I realised you truly cannot become a fighter pilot like him. His passion to choose death every day with a purpose is a different thing altogether. I don’t think we as civilians will ever understand it.”
“We feel sad about waiting for 3-4 hours in the traffic jam while the military convoy passes, but a show like Operation Safed Sagar is very important just to realise what our soldiers do and put on the line for us to have dinner with our family every day. It will be a great win for the show if people feel grateful for the country we live in,” Abhay added.
Abhay Verma on meeting Rajpal Singh Dhaliwal’s family
During the interview, Abhay Verma talked about the emotional interaction he had with Rajpal Singh Dhaliwal’s daughter. Abhay said, “I met his daughter. We had a brief conversation; otherwise, we both would have cried. It was a beautiful interaction with fewer words and more emotions. It was right before the screening, and I told her, ‘I hope Rajpal sir is seeing us and is proud of how we have represented him in the show.’ After this, I just went to the washroom and wiped off my tears. It is overwhelming to even discuss him. I can safely say I played my hero.”
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His meeting with Alka Ahuja was another deeply emotional moment for Abhay. “Unfortunately, I couldn’t meet Alka Ahuja Ma’am before, but I met her in intervals later. Thankfully, I met her afterwards because it was all smiles. She is a veer naari, and I saw her get emotional during a few scenes here and there. The show made everyone emotional. She gave us the most beautiful compliment that we took her back in time and cherish the moments she had forgotten. That meant more than anything.”
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Abhay Verma on training with real fighter jets, flying a MiG 21
Looking back at the preparation and shooting for Operation Safed Sagar, Abhay Verma shared, “The locations are all real. We shot at the Chandigarh Air Force Station, as well as in Bikaner and Gwalior. It was as real as it could be. You see the real choppers that we came out of. I was actually sitting in a MiG 21. I can proudly say that I am amongst the last few civilians and last actors to sit in a MiG 21. These feelings are to be cherished for life.”
He called the jet a live bomb, and added, “A joke about the MiG-21 is that the Russians put everything else in first and then figured out where the pilot would sit in whatever space was left. It’s a live bomb that you are flying. I am really proud of the show because of how realistic it is. We took real shots of the sorties taking off and landing. We did take flying lessons. Chow sir especially came for us. We had a cardboard diagram of the inside cockpit of a MiG-21. Chow sir would give us instructions to make it believable that we were at least capable of flying the MiG. We extensively trained with him. He was kind enough to teach us. We did the march-pasts and followed ceremonial protocols. We were particularly careful about getting the salutes right. It has changed now, but it was different in 1999. So all these things were taken care of.”
Operation Safed Sagar premiered on Netflix on August 7.
