Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; February 18, 2020)

In the months since he announced his digital debut, filmmaker Neeraj Pandey has been hard at work giving shape to his ambitious show, Special Ops. Pandey, who is helming the series along with Naam Shabana director Shivam Nair, spent the better part of last year perfecting the material. While there have been murmurs that the Hotstar Special is based on the 2001 Parliament attack, a source says, "The spy thriller is based on events of national significance spanning 19 years. Neeraj has woven a fictional story set against the backdrop of real-life events. The series went on floors in August last year, and has been shot across Turkey, Azerbaijan, Jordan and India." The cast includes Kay Kay Menon, Vinay Pathak, Divya Dutta, Saiyami Kher and Sharad Kelkar.

Pandey, who has turned to real-life episodes for his films Special 26 (2013) and Rustom (2016), remains tight-lipped on the chapter of Indian history that his show traces. However, he confirms that Special Ops has its root in true events, as he says, "We have tried to recreate real-life events that have affected our lives over the past few years."