Special Ops 1.5 Reveiw : Have we got a non-filmy spy character in Himmat Singh?

Special Ops 1.5 Review: The history of espionage world in India is very old. It often happens that this detective is prodigious, skilled in all kinds of arts and brave, who finds a solution to every problem in a pinch. Alone, he fights with dozens and without being shot or hurt, he succeeds in achieving his objective by turning water on all the problems of the enemy. He solves international level conspiracies just like that, finds a place for romance in between. Unfortunately, when you read the autobiography of a real spy, you realize that espionage looks easy, but is probably one of the most difficult things to do. Released on Disney+ Hotstar, ‘Special Ops 1.5’ takes you through the spies in India and after watching this 4 episode series, you realize that nothing comes easy in this world created by Neeraj Pandey and spies Film makers should make films only once after watching Neeraj’s films and web series.

Last year, directors Neeraj Pandey and Shivam Nair presented Special Ops Season 1, which featured RAW agent Himmat Singh (KK Menon) on the hunt for an anonymous face involved in the Parliament attack. How Himmat, his team and Delhi Police Inspector Abbas Shaikh (Vinay Pathak) track down the terrorist and with difficulty foil a massive conspiracy by battling the government system, sometimes using blackmail, sometimes bribery and sometimes girls . Special Ops 1.5 shows the story of the main character of that story i.e. Himmat Singh becoming Himmat Singh. The story is told from the perspective of Abbas Sheikh and ends with the help of flashbacks and flash forwards, reaching their destination without an overdose of patriotism, preparing for a new operation.

The first season of the series was amazing. This Deodha season is even more amazing. KK Menon is shown young with the help of prosthetics, make-up and special effects as the story is from the early days of his career. KK never lets his personality dominate the character. They make mistakes, get hurt, save their lives by running away from enemy’s possession and they don’t even have any magical power. Neeraj, Benazir Ali Fida and Deepak Kingrani, who wrote the character, have kept logic paramount in the first and in this second season. A total of two or four scenes are such that they seem filmy, but apart from that the detectives have not been made super human. It is known to all that a lot of secret funds are kept for the spies of the government, but Himmat Singh does not do any such work which he has to do with the help of hi-tech gadgets or easily accessible local contacts.

Vinay Pathak is the chameleon of acting. Changing his style so many times, sometimes he becomes a clever policeman from a snooty person that it is unbelievable. This time the story is narrated by Vinay and hence the perspective of the story is more believable. Aftab Shivdasani has appeared after a long time. He has done a good job and seems to be getting rid of his cute boy image. They should do more work. Parmeet Sethi has got less work as an actor, while he is quite impressive with his looks and height. Along with him, Kali Prasad Mukherjee also makes you laugh with his expressions. The two newcomers who impressed this time are Aishwarya Sushmita as Karishma (named after two Miss Worlds, Ajooba but born in 1994 when both Aishwarya and Sushmita won their titles, so she Naam Chuna Ho) and Vijay Vikram Singh as Naval Commodore Chintamani Sharma. Aishwarya’s role is long and her being a Kingfisher model has been taken full advantage of. Vijay Vikram has shown the expressions of the character trapped in the honey trap very well.

Two or three scenes in the series cook a little. One is present in every work of Neeraj Pandey. Long shots of the character walking in slow motion who don’t know what they want to show. The second was the scene between Himmat Singh and Maninder Singh (Adil Khan). Adil’s personality is good but his acting is weak and he spoils the fun of the scene by using free dialogues. There is another scene where KK Menon visits his old classmate Aftab’s house and meets his wife (Gautami). This scene could have been better because it talks about love buried in ashes, because later Himmat marries his friend’s widow Gautami.

The series is short. Well made. Along with Neeraj and Shivam, the writers board is responsible for its success. Sudhir Palsane and Arvind Singh’s cinematography is good. The shots of Kyiv (Ukraine) taken with the help of drone look very nice. The pace is also fast, there is no scope for thinking much. You are immersed in the scene and watching the series and suddenly there is a new shock. The hallmark of a good spy thriller is the unexpected. Special Ops 1.5 succeeds in this. Must see. The length of a typical Hindi film. Can be settled on weekends.

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