{
  "id": 1439421,
  "title": "Father called up for Kargil, son stars in Op Safed Sagar: Meet Captain Akshat Saxena",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/17/father-called-up-for-kargil-son-stars-in-op-safed-sagar-meet-captain",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-17T06:59:08.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Indian Express",
    "slug": "the-indian-express",
    "url": "https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/kargil-war-veteran-son-akshat-saxena-operation-safed-sagar-netflix-10836746/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Captain Akshat Saxena was only eight years old when his father, Wing Commander Pankaj Saxena, was called up for Operation Safed Sagar during the 1999 Kargil war. The family in Hindon could only wait, shielded yet aware of the ongoing conflict. Wing Commander Saxena, a Mirage pilot, served with several Mirage squadrons. Though the family had no specific details about his mission, they were aware of the active war scenario. Captain Akshat later found himself back in that chapter of his life, this time on screen, starring in Netflix's Operation Safed Sagar, playing an Air Traffic Controller whose role is crucial to the series' depiction of the operations. He shared his happiness at having this professional connection to aviation, the personal history of growing up in an Air Force family, and the memory of his father who participated in the same conflict. Interestingly, Captain Akshat's last flying day as a pilot was on his father's birthday, December 27, 2023, and he shot his first scene for Safed Sagar exactly a year later on the same date. The coincidence left him feeling that his dad was proud of him. His mother, Sangeeta, mentioned that their connection with the Air Force continued through their children. Sangeeta recalled how after her husband retired from the Air Force, he joined a private airline, and the family donned the same uniform. The pride in seeing her son in the Air Force uniform and on screen filled her heart with joy. Captain Akshat Saxena spent over a decade as a commercial pilot before switching to theatre and acting. He had always wanted to try acting and was cast in the Netflix series after being approached with the role, considering his background as a pilot. The role of a fighter controller, although he would have liked to play a pilot, is just as important in military aviation. Fighter controllers work closely with fighter pilots, guiding and communicating in real-time, and form an intense collaborative relationship, working against the same clock with urgency and minimal room for error.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}