MUMBAI: If there is someone who specialises in hatching the plot with his filmmaking vision, there is Neeraj Pandey who has created a special force universe with his projects. Bringing another marvel, the director is yet again in a terrorist-hunting mode with his web series Special Ops, which is now streaming on a leading OTT platform. Pandey has created and co-written Special Ops with Deepak Kingrani and Benazir Ali, and shares a directing credit with Shivam Nair, who helmed Baby (2015), a film which again brought a plot based on special forces.

Talking about his peculiar style of filmmaking which captures fiction along with facts in this space of content, Neeraj shares, “The process and step to creating anything in this space and genre is that you should be backed by solid research. Research is very integral to us. People who belong to that universe, not only documents have a very interesting take. So the more such interactions take place, more information you have. That's the big step in that direction. From thereon, it's just the building blocks in that direction”.

Ask Neeraj if he is planning to take the Baby franchise forward to make a special force universe- he shares, “I don’t want to take an easy route. I will do it at the right time with the script which is willing to take the franchise forward and figure out a mechanism which can churn it out.”

The show, Special Ops has a stellar cast led by Kay Kay Menon. Menon plays Himmat Singh, a Research and Analysis Wing employee who is convinced that a man named Ikhlaq is behind a series of terrorist strikes on India. With its gripping storyline, Special Ops opens with a recreation of the 2001 Indian Parliament attack, carried out by terrorists of Pakistani terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). The show is already receiving tremendous reviews and offers the perfect blend of thrill and reality, weaved in one.

With his artistry and skill set, Neeraj has always brought spectacular stories on screen and characters that stay etched for their nuanced, intricate and gritty characterisation. Special Ops is all served to be savoured on by the master of the special forces universe and with the rave reviews flowing in, we know the perfect show to binge watch!