Special Ops 2

At a tech summit, AI scientist Dr Piyush Bhargav is kidnapped, and a RAW officer, Vinod Shekhawat, is killed. Months from his retirement, Himmat Singh is entrusted with the task of bringing Bhargav back. Meanwhile, his former superior, Subramanyam, who has lost his wife to a terminal illness, threatens dire consequences if bank defaulter Jignesh Dholakia isn’t put behind bars. Kay Kay Menon, much like his character, leads from the front with the right composure and level-headedness, scoring big in the tense, crucial moments, without missing out on the tenderness in the seemingly insignificant segments. A flamboyant Karan Tacker, a chiselled Muzammul Ibrahim, a no-nonsense Saiyami Kher, and an enthusiastic Shikha Talsania make for a solid team, contributing their bit to the show, doing what’s expected of them.

I’m just done binge-watching seven episodes of Special Ops 2, each lasting about 50-57 minutes, and I’m here to tell you that this one is a banger. Most sequels flatten and disappoint. Special Ops came in 2020, when we were in the midst of the pandemic; five years later, where much has changed in the media landscape, and part twos are where creativity goes to die, I’m most pleasantly surprised that this sequel, again co-directed by Neeraj Pandey and Shivam Nair, and written by creator Pandey, Deepak Kingrani, Benazir Ali Fida, has exceeded my expectations. We have finally got ourselves a spy franchise that is globally ambitious in the way it goes about laying out its wares, dropping in and out of political hot-spots casually, bunging in enough lol moments: what’s the point of a spymeister who can’t just say, ‘hamare pass CIA waalon ke liye kuchch hai,’ and his faithful dogsbody coming up with just a teeny detail that has the Langley HQ in Virginia salivating.

Cyber warfare is the new geopolitical reality and thus an essential exploration area for the celluloid world. Creator-writer-director Neeraj Pandey recreates the world of AI-driven digital espionage. As the master storyteller and his lead protagonist, Himmat Singh (Kay Kay Menon), are back, compelling storytelling is in the offing once again. This time, Himmat, the RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) officer, is entrusted with the responsibility of averting an imminent digital attack. Day in and out, we get to read news of digital scams. Imagine if it gets amplified at the national level, leaving not just individuals but the entire nation’s economy crippled. Chilling… but the way Pandey and his co-writers Benazir Ali Fida and Deepak Kingrani build the espionage game, it is more entertaining and engaging than alarming.

New Delhi. Nepal. Rawalpindi. Budapest. Slovakia. Serbia. Vienna. Georgia. Dominican Republic. Athens. Himmat Singh (Kay Kay Menon) has his network spread out all over, there are mutually beneficial trade-offs with Pakistani agents and China, Russia take turns under the spotlight with an Indian-origin psychopath who calls himself a global citizen with no loyalty to any country. Neeraj Panday and Shivam Nair who direct different episodes, update the spy game. It’s no longer about bombs being set off by terrorists from across the border. The world of technology is more insidious. When Dr Piyush Bhargav (Arif Zakaria), a brilliant tech-savvy scientist, is nabbed in Budapest and agent Vinod Shekhawat (Tata Roy Chowdhury) is killed back home in a shopping mall, Himmat Singh orchestrates action that zig-zags cities and continents.

मार्च, 2020 में आए ‘स्पेशल ऑप्स’ (Special Ops) के पहले सीज़न ने अपने प्रति जो दीवानगी हमारे दिलों में जगाई थी उसे नवंबर, 2021 में आई ‘स्पेशल ऑप्स 1.5-द हिम्मत स्टोरी’ ने डेढ़ गुना कर दिया था और तब से इस सीरिज़ के इंतज़ार में दर्शक पलकें बिछाए बैठे हैं। अब जियो हॉटस्टार पर ‘स्पेशल ऑप्स 2’ (Special Ops 2) में जिस तरह से रोमांच का दोहरा जाल बिछाया गया है उसे देखते हुए लगता है कि यह चुनौती नीरज पांडेय, शिवम नायर और उनकी टीम के सामने भी रही होगी कि उन्हें इस बार दर्शकों की उम्मीदों के उस बड़े पहाड़ पर चढ़ना है जिसे खुद उन्होंने ही तैयार किया था। शायद यही कारण है कि इस सीज़न को लाने में इन लोगों ने काफी लंबा वक्त लिया। लेकिन देर आए और बहुत ही दुरुस्त आए वाले स्टाइल में यह सीरिज़ अपने स्तर को बरकरार रखते हुए दर्शकों को रोमांच और आनंद परोस पाने में पूरी तरह से कामयाब रही है। ‘स्पेशल ऑप्स 2’ (Special Ops 2) का ट्रेलर बताता है कि किसी दुश्मन ने भारत के सबसे बड़े ए.आई. वैज्ञानिक को किडनैप कर लिया है। क्या चाहता है वह दुश्मन, इसका जवाब भी ट्रेलर देता है कि उसे भारत के उन सब लोगों के डाटा में घुसना हैं जो अपने मोबाइल पर रोजाना पैसों का लेनदेन करते हैं। कौन है यह दुश्मन और किस के इशारों पर काम कर रहा है? क्या भारतीय खुफिया एजेंसी का सबसे काबिल अफसर हिम्मत सिंह समय रहते उसे रोक पाएगा? यदि हां, तो कैसे, किस तरह…?

The second season of Special Ops returns to JioHotstar five years after creator Neeraj Pandey first introduced Research and Analysis Wing agent Himmat Singh (Kay Kay Menon). In 2021, Pandey presented Himmat’s origin story in Special Ops 1.5: The Himmat Story. Special Ops 2.0 – a true sequel – picks up the story of the senior operative and his hand-picked team of spies as they find themselves caught up in a complex issue that threatens national security. Directed by Pandey and Shivam Nair, Special Ops 2.0 moves away from traditional field operations towards the unseen battleground of cyberwarfare. The new season turns its focus to digital threats, artificial intelligence conspiracies, financial fraud and the murky web of political-corporate collusion. Episode one is a sprawling one-hour introduction that sets up the kidnapping of Bhargava (Arif Zakaria), a tech entrepreneur tied to a classified government project. At the same time, a RAW officer (Tota Roy Chowdhury) who was monitoring Bhargava’s movements at a summit in Budapest is attacked in Delhi. While this premise has potential, Bhargava never leverages his supposed genius to contribute meaningfully to the narrative, remaining strangely passive for someone with the nation’s future in his hands.

Once again, artificial intelligence is the focus of the narrative in the spy series Special Ops 2. Kay Kay Menon returns for a third time as senior RAW officer Himmat Singh, who is the only one equipped to take on the latest antagonist. Created by Neeraj Pandey, the series hurtles into yet another terror plot that threatens India, but this time one of India’s brightest minds needs to be rescued as well. Special Ops 2 doesn’t waste any time rushing off into the next mystery, and it’s only in the second half when all the details finally begin to make sense. The series opens with the abduction of Dr Piyush Bhargava (Arif Zakaria), who heads classified programs holding the key to several Indian organizations. Meanwhile, the Indian intelligence team loses one of their own (Tota Roy Choudhury), and pretty soon Himmat Singh has to oversee several professional and personal crises. Not only does he lead the rescue operation, but he also has to battle an enemy nation in a cyber war that could see casualties.