Inside the Mind of a Super Spy

Ever since Paresh Rawal played him in Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019), a fictional version of Ajit Doval has become part of our cinema. In the Hindi web series IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack, we saw him in his relative youth. In the forthcoming film ‘Dhurandhar’, Doval makes another appearance, played by R Madhavan. ‘Salakaar’ is almost entirely based on the life of Doval, who is played by Naveen Kasturia, cutting between 1978 when he was a spy in Pakistan, and in 2025, when he is, yes you guessed right, Salakaar. ‘National Security Advisor’ says the nameplate outside his home.

When he walks, the camera focuses on his brightly polished shoes as he enters the room in slow motion. There is a nuclear crisis in Pakistan, which can trace its roots to 1978, where Salakaar was posted in Islamabad. The story stretches into legend and we have a meeting between Zia-ul-Haq and the Salakaar. Mukesh Rishi plays Zia like a monster-cum- mobster, and there is an assortment of other spies, including Mouni Roy playing a Mata Hari charac­ter. It requires a lot of suspension of dis­belief and a thorough grasp of history so as not to believe fiction.

Faruk KabirJioHotstarMukesh RishiNaveen KasturiaSalakaar