An epic undertaking

Filmmaker Neeraj Pandey has an insatiable appetite for stories. It is what drew him to the storybooks lining the dusty library shelves of his childhood in Kolkata. Later, from a consumer of stories, he became their teller with his much-applauded debut film, A Wednesday (2008). He followed it up with Baby (2015), MS Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016) and Aiyaary (2018). Spanning 19 years and spread across 12 countries, his latest venture is an eight-episode series on Hotstar called Special Ops, about the investigations into the 2001 Indian Parliament attack. The spy-action thriller, starring Kay Kay Menon as RAW officer Himmat Singh, has been three years in the making and was one of his most challenging projects, says Pandey.

What draws you to the stories of intelligence agents?

It is the story itself. The better the story, the more the interest. When you come across an incident that needs to be developed into a great idea, why not? Many a time, what happens is that, when you are assessing a story, you come across a piece of information that can become the basis for another story. That is precisely what happened in this case. We were working on Baby in Delhi, and I came across a couple of intelligence officers who were part of the investigations into the 2001 Parliament attack. As I spoke to them, there seemed to be the potential for a great story. That incident stayed [with me].

Did you think it would only pan out well as a series?

Obviously. You shouldn’t think that I have an idea that can turn out into a film and if you can’t make a film, you turn it into a web-series. That would be a wrong way to look at it. This is a very different medium. It has its own requirements. You have to have a story, which is worthy. This story, specifically, spans 19-years of manhunt that gets triggered after the Parliament attack in 2001 and culminates in the present time. It is the journey of one character (Himmat Singh played by Menon) that believes that there is something more than what met the eye that day. It was a huge intelligence failure and security breach. Fortunately, the attack was not successful and it may not be as deeply embedded in our collective memory as 26/11, but it is an important story.

You have been asked a couple of times about being associated to projects in which patriotism runs deeply as a thread...
Couple of times would be an understatement (laughs).

Agree. But at a time when we are discussing patriotism day in and out, as a storyteller, how do you remain objective to the idea of patriotism?

What it means to me is already conveyed in the films I have made and through the characters I have written. My interpretation of that word and what I think of our country is already spoken through my films. There is nothing more to it.

A subject like this goes into a political zone, which again has been a point of discussion— more than ever before—in the recent times. As a filmmaker, don’t you think politics is very important? 

I think that there is a place for talking about politics. When you are promoting a series or a film, or when you are introducing it to an audience by way of such an interview, that doesn’t qualify as a right platform. Mainly because if I state an opinion over here, I am not there to defend it to people and [say] I know more about it. A healthy debate is between two people sitting across the table and talking about something, where I might be available for an answer, which is the reason I think this is not a conducive medium for me to give my views. What needs to conveyed, I have never shied away from it. I talk through my films and work. I prefer to keep it that way.

Isn’t that playing very safe?

What’s the harm if I would try to play safe. Of course, this is important. But you are prioritising my political views more than what the show is about. It is very crucial, but this is not time. We should do another interview where the agenda is very clear. Then, we only talk about politics and not in the garb of a series or a film.

Was the research that went into the film difficult?

It started with two of the officers that I met during the making of Baby. They turned out to be of great help and became life-long friends. I can’t name them, but they led me to other people. One of those people were Neeraj Kumar (former Commissioner of Delhi Police) and it was very interesting to hear his take on the whole thing. But I believe I have more friends in the armed forces than in the film industry, so a lot of people turned up by the way of advice, great counsel, which sort of helped me shape the story.

Why did you cast Kay Kay Menon as the protagonist?

Not many people know that I had worked with Kay Kay in a TV original film about 15 years ago. He also had a small role in Baby. He has a great sense of craft, and is an actor I deeply admire. Like I mentioned, it is a 20-year journey. I wanted someone who could [capture] the essence of that odyssey.

The show was supposed to release last year. Was it difficult to put it together?

It was. Because of the volume, it was almost like making three films. Even I did not expect that so much of my time, effort and energy would go into this. It was an extremely challenging production. Shivam (Nair) co-directed it with me, which made things much easier, but I was working with another director for the first time, and that posed another challenge. We had to align ourselves to a common vision.

And now you are working on your first period project, Chanakya, starring Ajay Devgn.

It is going to be a challenge, but everything about Chanakya is so interesting. He was a visionary in the true sense of the world. He is a figure in ancient history, but all his thoughts are as relevant [now] as they were then. His voice needs to be heard. The film is in pre-production right now. We go on the floor in October.