Season of Spies

After the ludicrous version of a superspy in Pakistan served to us in Salakaar last week, it is time to revisit our neighbour again. This time it is Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as India's chief antago­nist rather than a crazy-eyed Zia ul Haq. With his bleached hair and perma whisky glass, Bhutto is portrayed as a more sophisticated madman with a nuclear obsession. He said famously, "We will eat grass, even go hungry, but will build our own bomb." But it is 1974, and Ram Nath Kao is at the head of R&AW, a covert agency in India growing slowly in power.

Vishnu Shankar is one of his most committed officers whose inability to prevent Homi Bhabha's death weighs heavily on his conscience. Several conspiracy theories our genera­tion grew up with are presented as fact, including CIA's involvement in the air crash that killed Bhabha. But then that is the problem with storytelling that blends fiction and fact, existing in the increasingly grey area of urban legends. Pratik Gandhi is a valiant James Bond, without the cool cars, cool girls, and cool gadgets, while Sunny Hinduja is his Pakistani nemesis. The period is reconstructed well with standout performances from actors such as Suhail Nayyar playing an Indian spy working undercover as a Pakistan stockbroker. There are Mossad blondes, slick Indians posing as European party boys, and bored Bengali homemakers mak­ing sandesh to while away their time. All in all, Saare Jahan Se Accha, stripped of the manu­factured patriotism that has become widespread, is an intense binge watch.