Spy thrillers have clearly become escapist cinema in Bollywood. Not much is known about life of spies because that is how they are supposed to be - secret. So filmmakers make their own fanciful versions of spy stories. There are full-blown masala varieties like 'Tiger Zinda Hai' where the protagonist is an advanced version of James Bond and can do anything. Very few spy films have the sensitivity to explore the human and vulnerable side of a spy like Raazi (perhaps it is the only one). And then there is 'Special Ops' that tries to be somewhere in between trying to have a realistic and gritty approach yet making its spies larger-than-life heroes who can do anything. And this is where it falters because it falls in no man's land!
The story is of an Indian intelligence officer trying to search for an Islamic terrorist mastermind who, the show claims, was behind almost every terror strike in India from the - Parliament attack to 26/11. And of couse the R&W also has to uncover and stop the latest terrorist attack planned by the same guy in Delhi. A very standard trope for a spy thriller.
The storytelling is filled with plot-holes at every juncture and resorts to convenience. Creator Neeraj Pandey has been credited with the overrated spy-thriller 'Baby' and terribly boring spy films 'Naam Shabana' and 'Aiyaary'. His earlier films 'A Wednesday' and 'Special Chabbis' were much more interesting and entertaining. But he choses to continue his spy legacy and this time in a web-series format. And even if you were to suspend your disbelief and watch it as a pure thriller, 'Special Ops' isn't gratifying. There was immense potential to make it a taut thriller but this one is lax in storytelling, suspense buildup, editing and other essentials of the genre.
One major irritating factor of the show is the prolonged shots of characters walking in corridors, climbing up stairs, cars speeding on highways, et al with these shots adding no value to the storytelling or depth to the characters. Just because you have got to explore it in web-series format doesn't mean you will keep extending shots for no rhyme or rhythm. More so with the forward button readily available on OTT, this gimmick makes absolutely no sense. The pace not only falls because of this but the energy of the thriller also falls flat every now and then.
The Special Ops team has some 5 spies on mission in different countries. But other than Karan Tacker's character, none of the others have any backstory for us to root for them and they hardly get scope other than in the climax. There is no emotional connect with these characters and you don't care for them much.
Comparisons are inevitable with 'The Family Man' which was a series in similar genre. While TFM had its own set of loopholes and conveniences, it still was more riveting as a thriller with twists and turns at every juncture and had much more layers to its storytelling. Over here the story is one-dimensional with not many subplots or side tracks to explore.
Unlike most other web-series, this one, more or less, has a conclusive end but the climax never reaches the crescendo that the genre demands and the finale is plain average.
With all its inconsistencies, it is left up to Kay Kay Menon to save the ship. He does a good job though not something that we haven't seen him do before. Despite not being part of most of the ground activities of a spy, he still grabs your attention with his solid screen presence. Others are purely functional.
The story is of an Indian intelligence officer trying to search for an Islamic terrorist mastermind who, the show claims, was behind almost every terror strike in India from the - Parliament attack to 26/11. And of couse the R&W also has to uncover and stop the latest terrorist attack planned by the same guy in Delhi. A very standard trope for a spy thriller.
The storytelling is filled with plot-holes at every juncture and resorts to convenience. Creator Neeraj Pandey has been credited with the overrated spy-thriller 'Baby' and terribly boring spy films 'Naam Shabana' and 'Aiyaary'. His earlier films 'A Wednesday' and 'Special Chabbis' were much more interesting and entertaining. But he choses to continue his spy legacy and this time in a web-series format. And even if you were to suspend your disbelief and watch it as a pure thriller, 'Special Ops' isn't gratifying. There was immense potential to make it a taut thriller but this one is lax in storytelling, suspense buildup, editing and other essentials of the genre.
One major irritating factor of the show is the prolonged shots of characters walking in corridors, climbing up stairs, cars speeding on highways, et al with these shots adding no value to the storytelling or depth to the characters. Just because you have got to explore it in web-series format doesn't mean you will keep extending shots for no rhyme or rhythm. More so with the forward button readily available on OTT, this gimmick makes absolutely no sense. The pace not only falls because of this but the energy of the thriller also falls flat every now and then.
The Special Ops team has some 5 spies on mission in different countries. But other than Karan Tacker's character, none of the others have any backstory for us to root for them and they hardly get scope other than in the climax. There is no emotional connect with these characters and you don't care for them much.
Comparisons are inevitable with 'The Family Man' which was a series in similar genre. While TFM had its own set of loopholes and conveniences, it still was more riveting as a thriller with twists and turns at every juncture and had much more layers to its storytelling. Over here the story is one-dimensional with not many subplots or side tracks to explore.
Unlike most other web-series, this one, more or less, has a conclusive end but the climax never reaches the crescendo that the genre demands and the finale is plain average.
With all its inconsistencies, it is left up to Kay Kay Menon to save the ship. He does a good job though not something that we haven't seen him do before. Despite not being part of most of the ground activities of a spy, he still grabs your attention with his solid screen presence. Others are purely functional.