“We had no warning at all,” told Dulat to The Print refuting what was depicted on the show. “There was no reason for the station head to sit on information like this. This is all just imagination,” he added when Anand detailed how there are 100 prompts spiking out from the intelligence network but no active and direct warnings of a possible hijack were given. 

The Netflix show also showed how the agency got the information from the media while Anand claimed that news arrived at everyone simultaneously. The former special secretary also asserted that a control room was set up almost immediately. Dulat added, “An officer rushed in and asked me to come to the Crisis Management Group (CMG)  meeting. I left immediately, and a few joined later. They were all there within 20 minutes, that’s when the CMG started functioning.” 

The duo then also denied knowing about the RDX smuggling via that aircraft as shown in the series while acknowledging, “Yes, the hijacked aircraft with the relief crew wasn’t getting permission to leave, and it was said that the Taliban brought their trucks, and they were looking for a red suitcase. Even the Joint Managing Director of Air India said that they were looking for something. But we don’t know what they were actually looking for,” signed off Anand.

Blanchett described how Haynes, known for his meticulous approach, appeared frustrated. “You could tell Todd was finding it really difficult,” she said. The actress took an unexpected step when she suggested Haynes take a break. “Sometimes they’re the ones that need a hug,” she told the TIFF audience. “And you need to say, ‘Why don’t you step away and clear your head a little bit?'”

Blanchett’s advice to Haynes prompted him to step back momentarily, allowing the team to reconsider their strategy. “He stepped away so we could figure out a different way to position it,” she said. 

Blanchett said that actors should stand by their directors during her talk. She said you expect a director to have everything together and always hold it together.

However, she stated that filmmaking is a two-way street, with both actors and directors creating a safe working environment for one another. Blanchett added that in the way that he’d make the space for the actors to do that, we make space for them.