Mihir Ahuja opens up about challenges of portraying flying officer CH Bal Reddy in ‘Operation Safed Sagar’

Actor Mihir Ahuja discussed portraying real-life Air Force officer CH Bal Reddy, or “Baldi,” in Netflix’s ‘Operation Safed Sagar’. He said mastering military posture and the character’s emotional journey was challenging, while filming at real locations made the experience especially fulfilling

Mumbai: Actor Mihir Ahuja has opened up about the challenges of portraying Flying Officer CH Bal Reddy, also known by his callsign “Baldi,” in the Netflix war drama series ‘Operation Safed Sagar’.

The actor said that getting the mannerisms and posture of an Air Force officer right was among the first challenges he faced while preparing for the role.

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Mihir shared, “I would say it was a mix of everything. For us, the first challenge was getting the Air Force posture right — the salute, the walk and everything else.” “After that, understanding the emotional arc of Baldi sir with Madhavi was a little challenging to crack. Apart from that, the character was different because he had a completely different track as well. So, that was challenging. But I really enjoyed playing Baldi sir’s part, and I am glad that I got the opportunity to portray him.”

Talking about the response to ‘Operation Safed Sagar,’ especially after portraying real-life military figure CH Bal Reddy, Mihir Ahuja said the experience has been extremely fulfilling. He described the opportunity to portray an Air Force officer and shoot at real locations as a particularly fortunate experience for an actor.

“It has been a very good experience. First of all, if you get a chance to connect with the Air Force, there is nothing more fortunate than that for an actor. Playing an Air Force officer and shooting at real locations was a very good experience. CH Bal Reddy sir, also known as Baldi sir, which is his callsign, was an integral part of the Kargil War. I still speak to him today.” “He has even saved my number on his phone as ‘Baldi’, which is beautiful for me. It is a great feeling because he is a real hero. He gives us so much respect by watching our performance, and that is a wonderful feeling for all of us.”

Operation Safed Sagar: The Untold Story of the Kargil War’, created by Kushal Srivastava and Abhijeet Singh Parmar, is directed by Oni Sen. It stars Jimmy Shergill, Siddharth, Vinay Pathak, Manu Rishi Chadha, Abhay Verma and others. The series premiered on Netflix on August 7, 2026.