 "Netflix's ‘Saare Jahan Se Accha’ Review: Flawless performances by Pratik Gandhi, Anup Soni, Sunny Hinduja, Suhail Nayyar in a sharp espionage show")
Director: Sumit Purohit
Language: Hindi
Cast: Pratik Gandhi, Anup Soni, Sunny Hinduja, Suhail Nayyar, Rajat Kapoor, Tillotama Shome and Kritika Kamra
The best thing about Netflix’s Saare Jahan Se Accha is that it is a spy drama that isn’t a thriller. It is a well-researched, mature and sharp espionage story. All the characters, starting from Pratik Gandhi, Anup Soni and Sunny Hinduja to Suhail Nayyar are layered and complex. Here the story is the hero and the craft of not just one craftsman, but the entire team is laudable. Saare Jahan Se Accha is a true example of riveting storytelling that is convincing and relevant. Despite the complexities, the narrative never even once gets tedious.
Saare Jahan Se Accha indeed is a brain teaser. It just gets into your brain and plays with it in the weirdest ways. There is nothing about this story that is straightforward and simple, and that’s exactly how the lives of spies and armed force officials are. The script is definitely rich and unconventional, and that indeed makes the show immensely immersive. The series shows Pakistan’s attempts to build a nuclear bomb in the 1970s. Not showing the people of Pakistan in exactly a bad light, it’s a finely written series that shows how everything is controlled by politics.
This Netflix web series has intelligently shown how each and every character, from their perspective, is doing a job for the country. We may consider a Pakistani ISI official to be a terrorist, but to his country and also to himself, he is doing the most fearless job. We cannot question his love and dedication for his country. In the same way, we cannot question the dedication of Pratik Gandhi, who plays a RAW official.
Though it is inspired by real events, all the characters in Saare Jahan Se Accha are fictitious. Set in the volatile 1970s, when a single move could tip the balance of power and trigger a global nuclear war, _Saare Jahan Se Accha_ unfolds as India’s R&AW and Pakistan’s ISI clash in a deadly game of strategy. The series is set against the backdrop of India’s surveillance and espionage operations against enemy spies.
Like every series or films on the digital platform, in this show too, each and every character plays a very important role. Starting from Suhail Nayyar, who does a brilliant job of playing an Indian spy in Pakistan who falls in love with a Pakistani girl, but his life changes when he is just about to get caught by his girlfriend’s lover. Sometimes you may feel that there are too many tangents and too many details, but isn’t that how espionage dramas should be?
The show starts with Vinshnu Shankar played by Ptratik Gandhi, who undertakes a perilous mission deep inside enemy territory: Pakistan. He gets posted to Islamabad after his marriage and comes with a diplomatic passport to Pakistan. His wife played by Tillotama Shome also believes that she is married to a diplomat, until she figures out that it isn’t a regular job that her husband is doing for the Indian government. Tasked with stopping a nuclear program in Pakistan before it leads to global destruction, Vishnu crosses enemy lines on a mission where failure isn’t an option — and the fate of nations hangs in the balance.
Anup Soni who plays the role of an Army officer who has interest in India gets killed by his co-brother played by Sunny Hinduja after getting caught. That is the most touching scene in the entire series when he asks him how he wishes to die? To which he understood that he (Anup Soni) wishes to die in respect and not as a desh drohi. When one watches the series, they will realise that everyone is right from their point of view. As for Anup Soni’s character, the duty of a father takes priority and that’s how he goes against his country.
Created by Gaurav Shukla and produced by Bombay Fables, with Bhavesh Mandalia as creative producer, _Saare Jahan Se Accha_ is a tribute to all those who serve the nation and, most importantly, all those whose real identity we don’t even know. They just serve the nation tirelessly, without recognition, rest, and regret at the risk of their lives and also sometimes at the risk of their loved ones’ lives. There is an emotional toll of being invisible and then risking your entire life. This is one show that I will advise the viewers to watch at one go. The show mostly gets everything right, and that’s what makes it an immersive watch.
Rating: 3 and half out of 5
WATCH the trailer of Netflix’s Saare Jahan Se Accha here:
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