Even at the worst of times, Pratik Gandhi is a dependable actor. But in his new nationalistic series on Netflix, blessedly only 6 episodes long, he seems pretty much uninvolved as an R&AW agent trying to stop Pakistan from acquiring a nuclear bomb.
Neither Pratik nor the character he plays, Vishnu Shankar, seem up to the task. As is the won’t in such fervent appeals to flag-waving passion, the Pakistanis are shown as bumbling, psychotic fools. In a move which smacks of foolhardiness, Vishnu and his bride by default Mohini (Tilottama Shome, strangely out of sorts) move to Islamabad to spy from up close on the Pakistani administration.
Once ‘dare’, Vishnu carries on his covert operations with all the subtlety and stealth of Kapil Sharma interviewing his guests. Anyone from miles ahead can make out that Vishnu is not in Pakistan for a vacation. Not the shrewd and cunning Murtuza Malik, who is to this series what Major General Hamid Iqbal was to Gadar.
Murtuza is shown as ruthless and psychotic, killing many for his country and kaum. I wished Murtuza (played by Sunny Hinduja in a wig borrowed from Anupam Kher’s collection) would kaum down a bit, if for no other reason than to scale down the volume of villainy that he embodies.
The Indian spies are not shown to be proper in their dealings either. At one point in the plot, they let an informer, Naushad (Samir Soni, bringing meat to be sketchy role), who is being blackmailed by R&AW to betray his country, die after he is outed.
“Naushad is finished. It’s time to move on,” drawls R&AW chief R N Kao (Rajat Kapoor, trying hard not to replicate K K Menon’s mysterious spy act).
Everyone tries to look involved and busy. But the lame execution of the plot fells any lofty aspirations. The lack of funds is visible everywhere: Islamabad looks like Chandni Chowk on a dry day. The politicians in Pakistan huddle together in what looks like the conference room of a 2-star hotel (Bhutto, a pale shadow of the original, takes the cake) and their basic common sense seems inapplicable.
The one actor who seems dedicated to creating a comprehensive and credible character is Suhail Nayyar. He plays Sukhbir, alias Rafiq, an Indian spy in Pakistan who is desperately seeking a sense of belonging in his two-nation chicanery. The character and the performance are the saving grace of a show that seems hellbent on shooting itself in the foot.
The absurdist shot is yet to come. A fearless(aren’t they all?) investigative journalist, Fatima Khan (the Kareena lookalike, Kritika Kamra), who turns against her government on Vishnu Shankar’s say-so, is the ultimate brain-basher. Why does Fatima take such a hazardous route to self-annihilation? Is she impressed by Vishnu’s powers of persuasion? Seems unlikely, since Vishnu himself seldom seems convinced about his outrageous manoeuvres in the enemy country. Is Fatima a closeted suicide? Is she actually a dimwit pretending to be a Vodka-swigging woman of the world?
For the answers to these, do we have to wait for the next season of Sare Jahan Se Achcha? Yes, believe it or not, the next season is on the way! Hopefully, this time the characters won’t look like rejects from Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist auditioning for the next season of Citadel.
