Return of Himmat Singh

Himmat Singh is finally back on screen. His fans have had to wait a fair while since S1 was released back in March 2020 - right before chaos descended on the world (and also when JioHotstar was just Hotstar without annoying ads). 

Though S1 was closely followed by a four-part mini season (S1.5) in the autumn of 2021 - it was a prequel with a narrow emphasis on Himmat and his backstory. I expected S2 to be equally gripping and edge-of-the-seat stuff like its predecessor.

Standing Among Indian OTT

Alongside the Family Man, Special Ops is considered top drawer by OTT viewers when it comes to homegrown spy thriller series in India. 

This is chiefly because both of these highlight the 'ugly gray shades' of intelligence agencies - something that shows in the West like Homeland have mastered over a decade back and beyond. 

You are not coerced to feel and internalize hyper nationalism when you stumble upon such content on screen.

Cyber Threat and Futuristic Warfare

Mind you, S2 makes all the right noises about futuristic warfare by highlighting cybersecurity as a key deterrent in protecting national security. 

You see spick and span, state of the art and well funded IT labs with cutting edge infrastructure run by R&AW and wonder why can't the Govt. show a similar resolve and fix the EPFO website (for those unaware, try logging in once!).  Maybe citizen services aren't that high a priority.

But cyber espionage is not 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' in entirety. Watching a covert intelligence op being executed over keystrokes and mouse clicks instead of bombs and bullets is a perceptual shift in itself, particularly if you have been a long time viewer of this genre. 

And the concept for S2 although thematically promising, is plagued by poor execution partly because there are too many characters both old and new for the plotline to accommodate.

Overcrowded and Underutilised Cast

Besides Himmat Singh (Kay Kay Menon) and his team of spies (Karan Tacker, Muzammil Ibrahim, Saiyami Kher and Vikkas Manaktala) - this season brings in heavyweights such as Prakash Raj, Dalip Tahil and Tota Roy Chowdhury as supporting cast. 

But their roles lack the bite to justify presence in the larger scheme of things. Tahir Raj Bhasin as a white collar criminal is good in patches as the main antagonist - but falls short of doing things that would make you hate him.

Special Ops follows a 7 day timeframe for S2, which is sharp contrast to a well laid out S1. And this is where it is hamstrung by a crammy and rushed script that packs in too many elements that are abrupt and half-baked to be pressure fitted into a shorter 7 episode season. 

There is an attempt to weave in personal angles to the story, some of which appear out of place and under powered in making sense.

Missed Opportunities and Dated Feel

Poignant subjects such as the challenge of step parenting a teenage daughter and misplaced catharsis originating from a deep personal loss are fleetingly touched upon, but not covered in depth. 

The antagonist is shown to have a twisted side to his persona, but even the focus there barely scrapes the surface. Also introduction of romantic angles amongst intelligence operatives feels needless, trite and hardly spontaneous.

That extra edge of creativity you expect from Neeraj Pandey also appears missing this season - with episodes named after  days of a week (unlike S1 where episodes were named after Bollywood classics referenced back to the plot). 

Somehow this season feels like era inappropriate and good for 2015, not 2025.