Special
Ops
2 captures
the
spirit
of
the
modern-day
spy
thriller
and
runs
with
it,
observes
Deepa
Gahlot.
A
financial
defaulter
living
the
high
life
in
Dominica
dismisses
a
pretty
young
agent.
‘This
honeypot
trick
is
old
now,’
he
sneers.
Thankfully,
also
out
of
the
picture
are
the
overused
jihadis,
suicide
bombers
and
drug
dealers.
Special
Ops
2
has
upped
the
ante.
Today,
wars
are
fought
in
cyberspace,
and
China
is
the
enemy
that
is
planning
an
attack
on
India’s
economy
by
hacking
financial
networks.
In
the
OTT
series
directed
by
Neeraj
Pandey
and
Shivam
Nair,
Himmat
Singh
(Kay
Kay
Menon)
is
back
in
position
with
R&AW,
where
he
reluctantly
reports
to
the
defence
minister
(Harish
Khatri)
and
glum,
suited
bureaucrats,
but
runs
his
operations
his
way.
This
time,
the
thriller
spreads
its
tentacles
through
several
countries
like
Hungary,
Georgia,
Bulgaria
(Eastern
Europe
laying
out
the
red
carpet
for
Indian
shoots),
Dominica,
Greece,
and
more.
After
some
time,
the
mind
starts
boggling
at
the
places
Himmat
Singh’s
team
operates,
seemingly
teleporting
from
one
country
to
another,
armed
and
dangerous.
At
one
point,
the
screen
reads,
‘Meanwhile
in
another
time
zone.’
Needless
to
say
nobody
sleeps,
eats,
or
gets
jet-lagged
while
the
insanely
dangerous
missions
are
carried
out
all
over
the
globe.
This
time,
Himmat
Singh
stays
off
the
field,
as
his
multiple
phones
keep
track
of
his
agents.
They
get
terse
orders
about
where
to
go
and
whom
to
target,
which
they
do
like
cheerful
schoolkids
on
a
picnic.
In
his
office,
with
robotic
minions
at
computer
terminals,
he
barks
impossible
deadlines
at
his
wide-eyed
assistant
Sahil
(Ashutosh
Shukla),
who
probably
never
goes
home,
still
his
white
shirts
remain
uncreased.
Two
main
plot
lines
involve
the
kidnapping
of
an
Indian
scientist
and
AI
expert,
Dr
Bhargav
(Arif
Zakaria),
and
Himmat’s
personal
mission
on
behalf
of
his
mentor
Subramaniam
(Prakash
Raj)
to
bring
back
multi-crore
bank
loan
defaulter
Jignesh
Dholakia
(Hitesh
Dave)
to
India.
Subramaniam
comes
out
of
Neeraj
Pandey’s
own
A
Wednesday
(2008)
in
which
a
common
citizen,
fed-up
with
the
apathy
of
the
system,
decides
to
go
rogue.
Himmat
Singh
moves
through
the
corridors
of
power
with
a
swift
pace,
only
taking
time
for
quick
phone
conversations
with
his
wife
(Gautami
Kapoor),
dealing
with
the
tantrums
of
his
adopted
daughter
(Revathi
Pillai),
before
heading
out
again
to
save
the
country.
A
man
like
this
needs
a
worthy
nemesis,
and
that
is
the
chameleonic
Sudheer
(Tahir
Raj
Bhasin),
the
evil
mastermind
behind
Bhargav’s
abduction
and
the
plot
to
destabilise
India
on
behalf
of
whichever
power
—
East
or
West
—
pays
him
more.
Like
Himmat’s
byzantine
schemes
to
deal
with
every
crisis,
Sudheer
plans
the
kidnapping
in
Hungary,
while
having
a
hit
carried
out
on
an
intelligence
agent
(Tota
Roy
Choudhury),
who
killed
one
of
his
Chinese
cohorts.
Himmat’s
globe-trotting
army
includes
Farooq
(Karan
Tacker),
Avinash
(Muzzamil
Ibrahim),
Juhi
(Saiyami
Kher),
Abhay
(Vikkas
Manaktaia),
and
Ruhani
(Shikha
Talsania),
the
last
brings
much-needed
humour
to
the
show
with
her
cover
as
a
Hyderabadi
housewife,
whose
husband
is
baffled
by
her
strange
and
sudden
comings
and
goings.
Dr
Harminder
Gill
(Kamakshi
Bhatt)
brings
the
smarts
as
Bhargav’s
second
in
command,
who
is
fond
of
partying.
Vinay
Pathak
returns
as
harried
Delhi
cop
Abbas.
Parmeet
Sethi
and
Kali
Prasad
Mukherjee
play
Himmat’s
disgruntled
colleagues.
Special
Ops
2
is
dizzyingly
fast,
and
it
zooms
from
one
mission
impossible
to
the
next.
Himmat
just
has
to
say
climb
that
hill,
jump
that
cliff,
neutralise
a
small
army
in
two
minutes,
assassinate
a
gangster
behind
a
fortress,
and
it
is
done
without
a
glitch.
Real-life
snippets
like
cyber
attacks,
the
spy
malware
Megasus
(Pegasus),
the
loan
default
scandal
are
peppered
into
the
narrative
(Pandey
has
co-written
with
Deepak
Kingrani
and
Benazir
Ali
Fida)
to
give
it
topicality.
Directors
of
Photography
(Arvind
Singh,
Dimo
Popov),
Editor
Pravin
Kathikuloth)
and
Action
Directors
(Abbas
Ali
Moghul,
Laszlo
Kosa,
Irakli
Sabanadze)
must
have
had
their
work
cut
out
for
them.
The
background
music
by
Advait
Nemlekar
is
not
loud
and
obtrusive.
Kay
Kay
Menon
conveys
a
range
of
emotions,
even
though
his
default
look
is
stoic.
If
there
were
to
be
an
Indian
Gabriel
Allon
(best-selling
novelist
Daniel
Silva’s
Israeli
master
spy),
Himmat
Singh
would
take
the
honours.
The
showy
world
of
a
tuxedoed,
Aston
Martin-driving
James
Bond
is
almost
over.
Himmat
wears
shirts
in
dull
colours
with
the
sleeves
rolled
up,
drives
an
ordinary
car
and
never
demands
a
martini
shaken
or
stirred.
Despite
its
bouts
of
implausibility,
Special
Ops
2
captures
the
spirit
of
the
modern-day
spy
thriller
and
runs
with
it.
Special
Ops
2
streams
on
JioHotstar.
Special
Ops
2
Review
Rediff
Rating:
