Emraan Hashmi's web series, Taskaree: The Smuggler's Web, opened to positive reactions upon its OTT release. Co-starring Nandish Sandhu, Amruta Khanvilkar and Sharad Kelkar, the crime thriller premiered
on Netflix on January 14. After the show arrived on streaming, Zoom did an exclusive interview with Taskaree's director, Raghav Jairath. In conversation with us, the director reflected on challenges of shooting the series in real locations. Raghav stated that while shooting at live locations, production becomes close to reality, giving an edge to the project.
Raghav Jairath on shooting Taskree in real locations
During a chat with us, Raghav admitted that it is a 'big challenge' to shoot airports. He added that shooting at such locations pushed Taskaree's production close to how things operate on-ground. "We were shooting at conveyor belts; these are live conveyor belts that you're shooting at. You're shooting at a live in-line operations area. The in-line operation area is an area which is under the airport in the basement, where all your luggages that disappear after you check it and they reappear on the conveyor belt," he told Zoom.
The director further explained that area below conveyor belt are where all suitcases and luggages are scanned. After being marked, they're put onto the aircrafts and once the plane lands, everything is put back in, scanned and handed over to the travellers. That said, Raghav revealed how shooting at live locations helps actors to perform better."So when you're shooting at such live locations and such live places, I think production becomes very close to reality, and it adds that edge. With actors also shooting in such areas, they're able to enact and perform or carry the character in a much more deeper way. They feel the entire area, and they feel what is over there," the director added.
More about Taskaree: The Smuggler's Web
Written by Neeraj Pandey and Vipul Rawal, Taskaree: The Smuggler's Web features
Emraan as Arjun Meena. He is the superintendent of customs. The series revolves around an Indian Customs Service team stationed at the Mumbai international airport as they combat an a smuggling syndicate. In this series, Sharad plays double role. The actor is seen as Raja Choudhary, leader of smuggling syndicate. He also essays the character of Chota Choudhary, Raja's corrupt brother.
Apart from Emraan and Sharad, the show features Nandish as Ravinder Gajjar and Amruta as Mitali Kamath. Zoya Afroz, Jameel Khan, Virendra Saxena and others are a part of the show's supporting cast.