After 'Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story' (2020) and 'The Great Indian Murder', Pratik Gandhi has zeroed in on his third web series. Next month, the actor will begin filming 'For Your Eyes Only'. One hears that the Netflix show—produced by Sejal Shah and Bhavesh Mandalia, the creators of 'Serious Men' (2020) and 'Decoupled' (2021)—will be an espionage thriller set in the ’70s, with Gandhi portraying an R&AW agent.

Mounted on a grand scale, the story of 'For Your Eyes Only' travels across India and all the way to Budapest as the protagonist goes undercover to find and neutralise security threats to the country. A unit member informs, “Backed by Sejal and Bhavesh’s production house, The Bombay Fables Motion Pictures, the project will roll on October 1. An elaborate set is being put up in Mumbai, which will be the venue for the first schedule. After that, the team will move to Delhi, Rajasthan and Visakhapatnam, before heading to Budapest. It will be a start-to-finish schedule of over 40 days.”

The series also stars Rajat Kapoor, Tillotama Shome, Sunny Hinduja, and Kritika Kamra. In keeping with the style of the ’70s, Gandhi will sport a different look. “The designer and make-up teams have already created the looks of the primary characters, including that of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and R N Kao, the first chief of India’s external intelligence agency. While many films have depicted spies as suave and stylish, this story remains authentic, depicting Pratik’s character and other R&AW agents as everyday men whose job requires them to blend into the crowd. The subject has been researched for over a year. The creators including Gaurav Shukla and director Sumit Purohit want it to be authentic and gritty. Important real-life events of that decade will be depicted.”

The source adds that 'For Your Eyes Only' will be one of the biggest drama series sanctioned by Netflix India, besides Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi. “A foreign DoP has been hired. The budget too is steep as sets resembling certain cities of Pakistan will be built for crucial sequences. The title is derived from the fact that when the intelligence agencies send confidential documents to the prime minister, they are always put in an envelope with the words ‘For Your Eyes Only’ written on them.”

When you settle in for a Nawazuddin Siddiqui movie, you can be assured that it will be anything but run-of-the-mill. In 2020, the actor gave us a moody murder mystery in Raat Akeli Hai, a comedy in Ghoomketu, and some food for thought in Serious Men. As the shrewd Ayyan Mani who will go to any lengths to build a better life for his son in the satire, Siddiqui showed us again why he is considered one of the finest actors of his generation, and became a contender for the Best Actor (Film) nod at the upcoming mid-day and Radio City Hitlist OTT Awards.

Siddiqui, on his part, gives credit to the source material — Manu Joseph’s biting satire of the same name — and director Sudhir Mishra’s vision. “It’s a complicated yet interesting novel; the way Sudhir adapted it and Bhavesh [Mandalia, one of the writers] wrote it was commendable. Sudhir [beautifully explored] the idea of a father who couldn’t achieve much in life and wanted his son to do better. This happens everywhere in our society,” he says.

One of the first Bollywood stars to have explored digital medium, the actor is glad the film had a direct-to-web release, thus reaching a wide audience. “Theatres can never give us the reach that the web gives us. OTT is a democratic platform. There is a monopoly on theatres. Good films often don’t get adequate screens. In such cases, you can’t decide a film’s fate basis its box-office run. In contrast, even if a terrible movie is released in 5,000 screens, it ends up making Rs 20 crore at least.”

He feels that the OTT boom has brought about a much-needed shift in perception of films and given actors a level-playing field. “This year has proved that a film’s [commercial] success depends on the number of shows in cinemas. One can manipulate the number of screens in theatres, but not on OTT. No matter how big a superstar you are, you will get the same set of audience [as any other actor] in digital entertainment.”

During his struggling days, Siddiqui had tried to unsuccessfully land a role in Sudhir Mishra’s Calcutta Mail (2003).

- Nawazuddin Siddiqui has been nominated in the Best Actor (Male): Film category for Serious Men. 

The other nominees are:

- Adil Hussain: Pareeksha (ZEE5)

- Amitabh Bachchan: Gulabo Sitabo (Amazon Prime Video)

- Anil Kapoor: AK vs AK (Netflix)

- Kunal Kemmu: Lootcase (Disney+Hotstar)

- Vikrant Massey: Cargo (Netflix)

- Log on to www.hitlistottawards.com to cast your vote.

- You can also vote via SMS. Send HITLIST <space> category name <space> your choice (a/b/c as on the website) to 57575.

- Voting lines close on February 9.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui's prowess before the camera has so far been adequate in enabling him to charm his audience, but the actor is set to raise the bar with Umesh Shukla's next. "Nawaz will alter his physical appearance, and will need to acquire a certain definition to get into the character," Shukla, who is set to create a biopic on a customs officer, tells mid-day.

Following his socially-relevant satires Oh My God and 102 Not Out with a biography on prime minister Narendra Modi, the director is now drawn to stories that don't depend on fiction. In his second attempt at revisiting history to present another tale of bravado, he will showcase how the officer "fearlessly worked [to fix the flaws sin] the system."

"Nawaz is a committed actor. When we discussed about the physical transformation, he was excited. He will begin working on the character in early 2021. I always wanted to work with him. When this [film] came my way, I couldn't resist narrating it to him," he says of Sejal Shah's upcoming directorial venture that has been penned by Bhavesh Mandalia.

Shukla views Mandalia as a crucial addition to the team. Apart from penning his celebrated 2012 film, Oh My God, he was also instrumental in deftly creating Siddiqui's character in Serious Men. "The film will roll in March over extensive schedules in Goa and Mumbai."