Yes, IB71 is based on real historical events. IB71 is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language spy thriller film, written and directed by Sankalp Reddy. It is produced by Vidyut Jamwal, Reliance Entertainment, Abbas Syyed, Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumar. The movie stars Vidyut Jamwal in the lead role, alongside an ensemble of supporting cast, including Anupam Kher, Vishal Jethwa and Faizan Khan.
IB71 tells the story of a real plane hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight in the year 1971 and its strategic fallout in the lead up to the Indo-Pak War in 1971. The film is officially described as “based on true events” or an “untold true story” of a highly classified Indian intelligence operation.
Plot Summary
IB71 set in the backdrop of rising tensions in East Pakistan in early 1971. Indian intelligence receive reports that Pakistan plans to launch coordinated attacks on India to sever India’s North Eastern states. To this end, Pakistan needs to move its troops and air assets from west to east, which requires overflying Indian airspace. India cannot close its airspace without a formal declaration of war.
A sharp IB agent, Dev Jammwal, proposes a plan: stage the hijacking of an Indian civilian aircraft by Kashmiri separatists, land the aircraft in Lahore and use it as a pretext to close the Indian airspace. Dev manipulates two Kashmiri terrorists to carry out a real hijacking. However, the plane they hijack is not an ordinary civilian aircraft but carries 30 highly-trained IB agents, posing as passengers.
The plan succeeds and the hijacked plane lands in Lahore. However, heightened security and suspicions of Pakistani intelligence, lead to complications. The IB agents play a tense cat-and-mouse game, using their training and disguises to outmanoeuvre the Pakistani authorities. The tense climax plays out in a Lahore hotel as the IB agents struggle to avoid capture by the Pakistanis.
Real Historical Core
On 30th January 1971, an Indian Airlines aircraft, named Ganga, was hijacked by two Kashmiri terrorists. The plane was forced to land in Lahore, Pakistan. After negotiations, all the passengers were released. Subsequently, Pakistan blew up the aircraft right on the tarmac.
India responded by banning all Pakistani aircrafts from using the Indian airspace. This strategic move severely hampered Pakistan’s ability to quickly move troops and aircrafts from West to East Pakistan in the build-up to the war between the two nations in December 1971. Pakistan later accused India of staging the hijack.
The film presents a dramatised version where Indian intelligence orchestrates the hijacking as a clever pretext to close the Indian airspace. It portrays the hijacking as a brilliant, top-secret false-flag operation.