Off to a flying start

Mumbai: The world of Indian television is no doubt women-centric, but it is mostly packed with saas bahu sagas that get overtly dramatic after a few episodes. However, here’s a show that promises to bring a breather from the household plots and aims to show the story of a powerful woman character in a male dominated industry.

As Star Plus is set to launch its ambitious show Airlines — Har Udaan Ek Toofan, we find out what’s new for the viewers. The main plot revolves around first officer Ananya Rawat (played by Tulip Joshi) and her colleague Captain Akash Saluja (played by VJ Yudishthir). The script of the show is written by Advaita Kala, who mentions that the story is about the journey of a girl who learns to navigate through a world of gender discrimination and regressive attitudes embedded in the modern and glamorous aviation industry. In her quest to establish her identity, Ananya realises that there is more to this industry than just battling male attitudes as she comes across many hindrances that eventually make her a stronger person.

Aviation is conventionally seen as a male-dominated industry, and the most-talked about profession for women in this sector is that of an airhostess. The makers of the show emphasise that with this story they want to challenge this stereotype and present the adventures of a female protagonist who is her airline’s first female pilot recruit. Nikhil Madhok, senior vice president, marketing and programming strategy, says, “Since most of the sequences require to be set inside an aircraft, a special set modelled on a Boeing 370 was created and the producers of the show Miditech, collaborated with Pixion to recreate that with computer graphics and visual effects.”

Actress Tulip Joshi, who is making her TV debut with this show, mentions that playing a commercial airlines pilot is a dream come true, as she always wanted to be one in real life. She says, “As a child I always dreamt of becoming a pilot and I took Science in Mithibai College to pursue my dreams. However, I became an actress and today I got a chance to play the role of a pilot. I hope this show connects with young women and inspires them to achieve their goals. I loved this role and did a lot of preparations to make it look real.”

Playing a commercial pilot wasn’t easy for Tulip, as she mentions that a lot of her preparations went in learning the body language. She says, “Apart from the technical aspects, we spent a lot of time studying the body-language of trained pilots. Each gesture inside the cockpit means something, so to understand and learn those details I did a lot of reading and research. It’s an action and drama show. So apart from Ananya’s professional journey, the audience will also get to see her personal journey and how she manages to balance her family and work life. There are no villains in this show, but the circumstances in each of her flights will be a new challenge for her.”

Tulip’s co-star Yudishthir too enjoyed working on the show as much as her. Speaking of Tulip, he says, “She is a great co-actor and is usually very reserved and quiet on the sets. However, when you start talking to her she has interesting things to talk about as she reads and travels a lot. In this show, I play an interesting role and I keep challenging Ananya to face new hurdles. The sets of the show are very advanced and we have a highly qualified special effects team that has given cinema-like quality to the end result.”