Special Ops is unbelievable and that makes it totally worth a watch
The 8-part Hotstar series isn’t just a thriller. It’s a fantasy thriller.
Five terrorists were gunned down on December 13, 2001, outside Parliament House after they killed six Delhi Police personnel, two Parliament Security Service personnel and a gardener. All five extremists were killed on the spot by the personnel tasked with the responsibility of protecting Parliament House and those it houses.
What if you are told that one of the five was killed by a sixth terrorist who was also present in Parliament? Hotstar series Special Ops is a hunt for that sixth man - Hafiz Ali (Sajjad Delafrooz), whose existence no one believes in.
Except for one man - intelligence officer Himmat Singh (Kay Kay Menon). Singh leads a hunt for this sixth man with five agents over 12 countries. All this while, Singh stays in Delhi, monitoring the operations. He has a system with which he can track all his agents whenever he wants. They talk over mobile phones without codes or encrypted messages, like the only intelligence agency on the face of the Earth is an Indian one. No other country is trying to track spies on its soil. Good for Himmat Singh and his men.
The spies do not change looks, after operations they just go underground and then come out with the same look, killing the enemy at will. This ain’t no ordinary hunt. It is a 19-year chase. In these 19 years, the only person who seems to undergo a look change is Himmat Singh himself. Everyone else looks frozen in time as the story strings together the events spread over nearly two decades.
From 2001 Parliament attack to 2008 Mumbai attacks and Kashmir terror attacks, it all leads to one man, who is actually the sixth man, Hafiz Ali.
The show is written by Neeraj Pandey, Deepak Kingrani and Benazir Ali Fida. Apparently, the three have spent years researching the ways of Indian intelligence. None of that shows in the series though. And that’s okay because the series scores high on other elements on the condition that you are ready to keep logic aside.
Special Ops is a fantasy thriller. People become spies and go touring countries with stunning looks, flaunting the best fashion has to offer, they kill, succeed in missions, and also fail in operations.
The villains try so hard to get the accent right that they look anything but dangerous. But who cares when they stand and talk from some of the best locations in Turkey, Azerbaijan and Jordan? (Especially at this point in time when we are all locked inside our homes, with travelling a distant dream.)
At no point does the plot slow down. Things happen and things happen fast. Himmat Singh is tracking the terrorists as he is also tracking his teenage daughter. Not that she is a threat. She is just a teenager in love and Himmat Singh a concerned father. In the face of whatever spy movies have been telling you so far, Himmat Singh’s operations are no secret. His wife knows about them. Not that he tells her. She just knows. Apparently, how concerned wives get to know. That’s how covert the operations are.
When it all ends, you feel if it was so easy why, did it take so long?
Should you watch Special Ops? Yes. The series helps you take your mind off the one thing the world is obsessing over and spend time at home. Kay Kay Menon totally kills it with his performance as a spymaster.
The espionage thriller also stars Divya Dutta, Vinay Pathak, Sajjad Delafrooz, Parmeet Sethi, Gautami Kapoor and many others. They do a fine job too. And Himmat Singh’s five agents (played by Karan Tacker, Vipul Gupta, Saiyami Kher, Meher Vij and Muzammil Ibrahim) score high on looks.
The story is unbelievable and that is perhaps what makes it worth a watch.