Twenty years ago, Siddharth stood on the other side. Playing a brooding, charismatic, and cynical youngster, Karan, in Rang De Basanti(2006), the actor’s heated discussions with his best friend, Ajay (R Madhavan), an idealistic Air Force pilot, formed the film’s thematic core. So, when Ajay passed his leather jacket to Karan in a memorable scene, it became a striking symbol of the baton of responsibility being passed. Ajay stirred an awakening in Karan. The spirit of that film returns to Siddharth as he takes on the role of a fighter pilot in the upcoming Netflix series, Operation Safed Sagar. Not just that, his character is named Ajay too, based on the real-life hero, Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja.“The coincidences are ridiculous,” says Siddharth as he recollects a conversation he had with Air Chief Marshal B.S Dhanoa, played by Jimmy Shergill in the series. Dhanoa jokingly referred to a scene from Rang De Basanti in which Karan criticises the aircraft MiG-21 after the death of his friend. “He said, ‘Iss baar tum MiG ko gaali nahi doge na (You won’t speak badly about MiG this time, right?)’”, the actor says with a smile.“I don’t think even Maddy’s character would speak badly about MiG if he were alive in that film, as the life of a soldier is different. So, in Operation Safed Sagar, I got to experience what my best friend’s character goes through in Rang De Basanti,” he says, adding that he sat in a fighter jet during the show’s shoot. “I don’t know what I did to deserve it. If twenty years later, the same coincidences happen in another form, then I have no complaints.”The preparation process for the role also involved detailed air procedures to add believability to the part. Siddharth feels that the heavy-lifting in making them look authentic was done by the creators. “As actors, our job is to just pretend something we are not. For that, we try to understand the world. But a lot of the preparation is already done on paper by the writers, which is then achieved further by other members of the crew,” he says.