oppn parties Special Ops 1.5: Hugely Entertaining

News Snippets

  • Congress calls Election Commission's affidavit in the SC saying all decisions were taken unanimously as 'deceptive, deceitful and duplicitous'
  • Petitioners ask Supreme Court to order preservation of Election Commission's files and notings related to SIR
  • At least 89,000 people have been evacuated from vulnerable coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh as Cyclone Arnab intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal. The IMD forecast landfall on Wednesday morning with sustained winds of 115–125 kmph, gusting to 140 kmph, while 53 train services were listed for cancellation on October 27 and 28
  • Authorities deployed hundreds of additional security personnel in Arunachal Pradesh’s Siang Valley following violent protests against the proposed 11,200-megawatt Siang Upper Multipurpose Project near the Chinese border. Opponents fear the dam would submerge ancestral lands belonging to the Adi tribal community, while the project is also intended to address concerns arising from China’s planned upstream hydropower dam
  • The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre on the Digital News Publishers Association’s challenge to provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act and its rules. The publishers argue that the absence of a specific journalistic exemption could undermine investigative reporting and expose confidential sources; the matter is scheduled for further hearing on November 17
  • The Supreme Court gave petitioners additional time to respond to the Election Commission’s affidavit defending decisions connected with the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and fixed November 17 for the next hearing. The court also issued notice on a separate petition by Trinamool Congress MP Dola Sen concerning alleged changes to Form 6 used for voter registration
  • The Bombay High Court quashed an FIR against a Pune college student who was arrested over an Instagram repost related to Operation Sindoor. The case arose from a social-media post concerning the 2025 India-Pakistan tensions
  • A Reuters poll of economists projected India’s GDP growth to slow from 7.7% in fiscal 2025–26 to 7.1% in 2026–27 and 7.0% in 2027–28. Economists cited higher energy costs and inflation risks linked to the conflict involving Iran, while warning that prolonged price pressures could constrain household demand and employment growth
  • Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan cautioned India against exhausting its foreign-exchange reserves to defend a particular rupee exchange rate. He said moderate depreciation could support exports, while warning that high oil prices and continued foreign investment outflows were adding pressure to the currency and the current account
  • Indian equity benchmarks ended nearly unchanged after a volatile trading session. The Sensex slipped 8.08 points to close at 73,598.67, while the Nifty 50 fell 3.45 points to 22,749.75, with elevated crude oil prices and caution ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s decision weighing on sentiment
  • Ranji Trophy: Bengal recover as Shahbaz Ahmed scores 121 and then took 2 wickets to put them in a commanding position versus Kerala. In other matches, Delhi were in a fine position against Jharkhand and Gujarat and maharashtra were evenly placed
  • India thrashed Bangladesh 13-0 in the Asian Champions Trophy hockey
  • Despite a brilliant come-from-the-back effort, India A were robbed of victory against New Zealand A in the first unofficial Test as the Kiwis ended at 187 for 9 (target 313) when play was stopped due to bad light
  • Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced that India plans to amend its anti-doping law to criminalise the supply and sale of banned substances, including penalties for coaches and other participants in doping supply chains. The proposal was announced at a UNESCO anti-doping conference in New Delhi as India seeks to strengthen enforcement and support its bid to host the 2036 Olympic Games
  • India defeated New Zealand by six wickets in Wellington to take an unassailable 3–0 lead in their five-match T20I series. Abhishek Sharma smashed 113 off 38 balls, reaching his century in 35 deliveries, while he and 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi combined for a record 118 runs in the powerplay
A stunning 113 off 38 balls from Abhishek Sharma drowns New Zealand as India chase 199 in 13.2 overs to take an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the series
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Special Ops 1.5: Hugely Entertaining

By Yogendra
First publised on 2021-11-13 06:23:00

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Yogendra is freelance writer

Those who watched Special Ops are familiar with Himmat Singh (played brilliantly by Kay Kay Menon), the quirky RAW operative who had his own take on the number of people involved in the attack on the Indian parliament. Although no one believed his theory of a sixth terrorist who escaped, Himmat is still after Iqlakh. Special Ops 1.5, now streaming on Disney+Hotstar, takes us back in time and through the storytelling powers of Delhi Police SI Abbas Sheikh (Vinay Pathak), lets us know what went into making Himmat Singh the man and officer that he is.

As the inquisitive duo Bannerji  and Chaddha (Kali Prasad Mukherjee and Parmeet Sethi) dig deep to ostensibly appraise Himmat's work for post-retirement benefits, Abbas takes them on a roller-coaster ride which takes the viewer to London, Kiev, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Dubai, among other exotic locations. It tells the story of double agents, Sparrows (women trained and drafted by the Russians as spies to honey-trap officials) and international racketeers who steal state secrets and live a life of luxury. The story moves at a good pace and the seemingly unrelated espionage plots are woven into a whole after several 'accidental' deaths take place in different parts of the world and a RAW operative goes missing.

Kay Kay Menon is once again in his elements and proves he is one of the most under-rated actors In India. While he is brilliant as the secret agent, he is even better in the scenes where the girl woos him. He actually blushes and is spot on as the man who can kill in a flash but cannot pour his heart out to the girl he loves. Aftab Shivdasani as his friend-cum-partner in an operation is good. Vinay Pathak, Kali Prasad Mukherjee and Parmeet Sethi add an interesting angle to the proceedings with their banter. The dialogues are relevant and loaded, as the one when Abbas says that to understand any event one has to understand the chronology to which Banerjee promptly replies that yes, the government also says that. Special Ops 1.5, with four episodes of 45 minutes each, provides an excellent insight into operations of secret agents and how inter-department rivalry often comes in the way of national security.