When the Golden Arrows Squadron of the Indian Air Force pulled off what became the world’s highest-altitude air operation, they changed the course of the Kargil War. Air Marshal Vinod Patney (retd), who served as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Air Command during the 1999 war, was awarded the Sarvottam Yudh Seva Medal (SYSM) for his leadership. In the series Operation Safed Sagar, Adil Hussain plays the officer – delivering a performance marked by a commanding ease.

In a conversation with us, Adil spoke about the series, what it took to step into the role, and how he found the human being behind a senior officer’s uniform.

Before Adil agreed to play Air Marshal Patney, he had a few questions. “‘Is it a hyper-jingoistic thing? There would be a bit of jingoism or violence because it’s a war story. But are we glorifying it? Or are we showing it so that people do not get inspired to become violent?’ These were the questions I had,” he says. “I said I would read the entire script and decide whether to be part of it or not,” he tells us, adding, “And after reading two or three episodes, I realized it was very different. So I was very sure about Operation Safed Sagar from the beginning.”

Adil credits much of the show’s realistic portrayal to the Air Force consultants. “Of course it makes a huge difference,” he explains, “The nuances, the details of their lives, the technicalities, the way they behave, look, think about their relationship between them and their aircraft, the way someone cleans the aircraft – all these things, when you see them by yourself, make a huge difference. When you have access to the actual people, actual aircraft, actual machinery, the person who comes and cleans the hangar, the person who works in the canteen, how the senior airmen behave, how they have fun and how they carry themselves in every aspect of their airfield – it’s a huge advantage.”

Besides, it traces back to one person: co-creator Kushal Srivastava, who served in the Air Force himself before becoming a creator. “I would say almost 50%, or maybe 60%, of the success of this particular series is because Kushal Srivastava is from the Air Force,” he emphasizes.

Air Marshal Patney’s Sarvottam Yudh Seva Medal makes him a decorated figure within the Air Force, but he is not a face familiar to the public. An actor playing him cannot draw on decades of footage and public memory. “I had the advantage of playing the role, not the character. There is a difference. Characters are defined by the characteristics of the person. The role is defined by what role this person has played in the entire thing,” shares Adil.

He elaborates, “He has this no-nonsense attitude, an absolutely dedicated person. I did not imitate him. I didn’t have to look like him, I didn’t have to walk like him. But the inner attitude – his sincerity, dedication and absolute masterful understanding of strategic warfare – these are universal qualities of any great leader. I embodied that.”

He reaches for a comparison outside military drama: Invictus (2009), in which Morgan Freeman played Nelson Mandela. For Adil, Freeman’s performance offered a useful lesson in approaching a real-life figure without becoming an imitation of them.

“Morgan Freeman never wanted to look like Nelson Mandela. He played the role, and I think it’s one of the best depictions of Nelson Mandela, in spite of him not looking like or behaving like him or sounding like him. So I took a similar artistic decision. I’m not going to imitate him. I will play the role – a person who embodies all these great qualities of a leader, which is called the archetype,” Adil tells us.

Filming at Air Force stations came with its own discipline. He recalls, “I shoot in Mumbai all the time, and suddenly I get to know that there’s an Air Force Station in Madh Island. And then you’re there and everything is confiscated at the gate. There are strictly enforced rules that no photography is allowed. In hindsight, we were really happy to be in each other’s company. We could dedicate our time to preparing for the scenes that were coming up.”

The warmth, he says, went both ways. “The kind of warmth that all the Air Force personnel had, whether at Madh Island or Chandigarh Air Force Station, was wonderful. They had all seen my films, so they were very sweet. They came to take photos and sometimes gave me access to sit in the pilot seat and look at the console. That was amazing.”

The officers, watching a shoot unfold for the first time, came away with new respect. “They were also realizing how hard it is to make a series. They were telling us, ‘Oh my God, we didn’t know it was so hard. You stand in the sun for hours and take one shot’. I was like – yes, it is,” he laughs.

If there’s a word viewers and Adil return to more than any other in explaining why the portrayal landed, it’s dignity. Adil explains, “The difference between the enemy and you is that you are dignified, you are graceful. You do not behave the way your enemy would. That is the difference: you do not fall from your grace, and yet you protect your country with utmost dedication. That is one of the strengths of this series.”

He extends the thought well past the show itself. “Dignity and grace have been lost, or are slowly disappearing from human society in every part of the world. So it is important to bring about, or inspire, or fill in the aspiration of people to walk towards a higher quality of human beings – dignity, grace, compassion, dedication, honesty, serving with absolute sincerity, whatever you do, whether you are an actor, a farmer, an airman, a military person, a doctor or a teacher.”