CAST: Emraan Hashmi, Shobita Dhulipala, Kriti Kulhari

DIRECTED BY : Ribhu Dasgupta

Shahrukh Khan-produced spy series Bard OF Blood is slick, dark, emotional and portrays Bilal Siddiqi’s book by the same name.

Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings flew down to Mumbai to announce a deal with Shah Rukh Khan-founded Red Chillies for their first partnership: Bard of Blood, a multi-lingual action spy series is the original spy thriller of Indian characters.

Set in the troubled Pakistani province of Balochistan, the series deals with cross-border terrorism, and involves rogue Indian agents contending with Pakistani intelligence services and the heroic actions of several covert agents.

We like the speed and the frames. We think it is international in its content, almost contending with the American Spy series which are more based on limited research on this subject; especially when cross border terrorism is limited to ISIS or Al Qaeda portrayal. Indians have their own demons. Being based on a work of fiction with international terrorism undertones, is always a difficult task- given how limited you can run your imagination.

Emran Hashmi looks good, Sobhita Dhulipala makes her mark as an actor and the Kirti Kulhari Sehgal creates a sizzle.

We recommend the series for its narrative, good direction by Ribhu Dasgupta and finally a spy thriller that we can talk about in answer to the barrage of ISIS and Al Qaeda fiction we are so used to in the USA. @therealemraan @iamsrk @redchilliesent