India is in peril. Islamist terrorists are planning a major attack or two. They are working through their moles in the Indian intelligence ...
India is in peril. Islamist terrorists are planning a major attack or two. They are working through their moles in the Indian intelligence service and local collaborators. Who you gonna call?
If Neeraj Pandey is the first name that comes to mind, it is because he has doggedly built narratives dedicated to spies and government agents racing against time to foil terrorist plots. The 46-year-old filmmaker certainly didn’t invent the spycraft genre, but he has a special claim on it through the movies he has written and directed as well as produced – A Wednesday, Baby, Aiyaary, Naam Shabana.
Pandey is once again in terrorist-hunting mode in the web series Special Ops, which will be streamed on Hotstar from March 17. Pandey has created and co-written Special Ops with Deepak Kingrani and Benazir Ali, and shares a directing credit with Shivam Nair, who helmed Baby (2015).
Special Ops has a sprawling cast led by Kay Kay Menon, whom Pandey had previously cast as a terrorist in Baby. Menon plays Himmat Singh, a Research and Analysis Wing employee who is convinced that a man named Ikhlaq is behind a series of terrorist strikes on India. Himmat assembles a team to help him execute his mission.
Fans of Pandey’s work will be familiar with...
