You
are
hooked
on
The
Hunt:
The
Rajiv
Gandhi
Assassination
Case
from
the
first
episode,
applauds
Syed
Firdaus
Ashraf.
Sweaty
palms,
nervousness
and
a
racy
heartbeat
are
signs
of
a
heart
attack.
But
if
you
have
a
healthy
heart
and
still
feel
that
way,
it’s
probably
because
you’re
watching
The
Hunt:
The
Rajiv
Gandhi
Assassination
Case.
Based
on
Anirudhya
Mitra’s
book,
Ninety
Days:
The
True
Story
of
the
Hunt
for
Rajiv
Gandhi’s
Assassins,
the
OTT
series
The
Hunt
keeps
you
on
the
edge
of
your
seat
from
start
to
finish.
The
seven-episode
series
has
the
perfect
recipe
for
a
suspense
thriller
and
as
an
audience,
you
are
hooked
on
to
it.
Like
Director
Nagesh
Kukunoor
says,
‘You
think
you
know
about
the
Rajiv
Gandhi
assassination
story.
But
you
don’t.’
The
first
surprise
in
the
story
is
that
the
LTTE
(Liberation
Tigers
of
Tamil
Eelam)
suicide
bomber
Dhanu
(played
by
Shrutie
Jayan)
did
a
dry
run
of
her
suicide
mission
on
former
prime
minister
V
P
Singh
on
May
7,
1991
in
Chennai.
She
manages
to
meet
V
P
Singh
at
his
rally
in
Chennai,
garlands
him
and
then
touches
his
feet.
But
she
does
not
pull
the
suicide
belt
vest
trigger
tied
to
her
waist.
Her
target
was
not
V
P
Singh
but
Rajiv
Gandhi
who
was
to
attend
a
rally
on
May
21,
1991
in
Sriperumbudur.
Another
revelation
in
the
series
was
that
the
LTTE
had
a
backup
suicide
bomber
waiting
to
blow
herself
up
for
Rajiv
Gandhi
if
Dhanu
failed.
The
first
episode
of
The
Hunt
begins
on
a
slow
note
as
Kukunoor
takes
time
to
build
the
narrative.
But
before
you
lose
interest,
Sivarasan
(Shafeeq
Mustafa),
the
mastermind
of
the
Rajiv
Gandhi
killing,
makes
his
entry.
Sivarasan
is
called
the
‘One-Eyed
Jack’
after
the
Marlon
Brando
character
of
the
1961
movie
with
the
same
name.
He
lost
an
eye
when
the
Sri
Lankan
army
attacked
the
LTTE
base
in
Jaffna.
Sivarasan,
LTTE
chief
Velupillai
Prabhakaran’s
most
trusted
lieutenant,
runs
the
operation
to
murder
Rajiv
Gandhi.
That’s
when
the
palpitations
start
for
viewers
as
the
SIT
(Special
Investigation
Team)
hunt
for
Sivarasan
begins.
Will
Sivarasan
escape
to
Jaffna
before
the
SIT
captures
him?
Will
he
bomb
the
SIT
office
by
placing
a
bomb
in
the
sambar?
Will
Sivarasan
succeed
in
another
suicide
mission,
killing
J
Jayalalitha?
These
questions
keep
the
suspense
alive
in
every
episode.
Shafeeq
Mustafa
depicts
evil
and
cruelty
on
screen
superbly.
Not
much
is
known
about
this
actor
who
has
barely
800
followers
on
Instagram.
But
truly,
a
star
is
born.
Facing
him
is
another
brilliant
actor
Amit
Sial
who
plays
SIT
chief
D
R
Karthikeyan.
Sial’s
expressions,
mannerisms
and
leadership
qualities
are
worth
a
watch.
He
never
loses
his
cool
even
if
the
investigation
runs
into
a
dead
end.
As
SIT
chief,
he
uses
unique
methods
to
crack
the
LTTE
terrorists
arrested
after
the
assassination
to
reveal
information
about
Sivarasan.
One
of
the
interrogating
officers
tells
the
thirsty
LTTE
terrorists
in
custody
during
the
interrogation,
‘One
name
will
get
you
a
glass
of
water,
two
names
will
get
you
biryani,
revealing
Sivarasan’s
hideout
will
give
you
whatever
you
want.’
Other
actors
like
Anjana
Balaji
as
Nalini,
Sai
Dinesh
as
Murugan,
Danish
Iqbal
as
Amod
Kant
and
Sahil
Vaid
as
Amit
Verma,
Shrutie
Jayan
as
Dhanu
perform
well.
The
script
—
written
by
Nagesh
Kukunoor,
Rohit
Banawalikar
and
Sriram
Rajan
—
is
so
taut
that
there
is
no
time
for
your
mind
to
wander
from
the
series.
The
only
downside
is
that
they
do
not
cover
the
security
failure
that
led
to
Rajiv
Gandhi’s
killing.
Manoj
Mitta’s
2014
book
The
Fiction
of
Fact
Finding:
Modi
and
Godhra
blames
then
CBI
director
R
K
Raghavan
for
security
lapses
but
The
Hunt
does
not
explore
this
angle.
Instead,
it
blames
Rajiv
Gandhi
who
disregarded
security
and
allowed
Dhanu
to
come
close
to
him
and
garland
him.
The
Hunt
is
a
MUST
WATCH.
The
Hunt:
The
Rajiv
Gandhi
Assassination
Case
streams
on
SonyLIV.
The
Hunt:
The
Rajiv
Gandhi
Assassination
Case
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