New Delhi: Strongly objecting to the portrayal of service life in a film on a woman officer who served during the Kargil war, the Air Force has written to the Film Certification Board and production house, alleging that it is misleading to show inappropriate work culture practices. In a letter sent on Wednesday, the Air Force has said that the film titled ‘Gunjan Saxena…The Kargil Girl’, has been found to portray the service in “undue negative light” and presented some situations that are misleading about the work culture for women in the service.

It says that as per the initial understanding, the Air Force was told that an authentic narrative will be produced to ensure that the film serves as an inspiration for the next generation of officers. However, on seeing trailers the Air Force has concluded that it is harmful to its interests. “IAF as a service has always ensured that the organisation is gender neutral and has always provided an equal opportunity to both male and women personnel,” read the letter, which included a summary of the scenes and dialogues in the script considered objectionable.

The air force has also raised objections that the production house was informed about the objectionable portions of the film and was advised to modify them in advance. “The production house has not deleted the scenes but had proposed a media plan in the run up to the release and inserting a disclaimer in the movie. This HQ considers that a mere media plan and disclaimer would not be adequate to prevent the presentation of incorrect facts about the IAF,” it reads.

The Film Certification Board, however, has little power on the release of web series and films that do not fall under its purview. It may be noted that last month, the defence ministry had written to the censor board, asking them to direct producers of web films and series to take permission and a ‘no objection certificate’ while generating content about the Army.