Title: Taskaree: The Smuggler's Web
Director: Raghav Jairath
Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Sharad Kelkar, Amruta Khanvilkar, Nandish Singh Sandhu, Anurag Sinha and Zoya Afroz
Where: Netflix
Rating: 2.5 Stars
Taskaree:
The Smuggler's Web is about how an Indian Customs Service team at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai tackle an international smuggling syndicate.
The series is like a tutorial on how smuggling is carried out at airports and what the role of the customs officers entail. Undeclared luxury watches, gold strapped to the body, precious items hidden in the underlining of clothes or suitcases are what the officers have to always be on the lookout for. And then there is the occasional individual who wants to get two new born spider monkeys for his children on their birthday, doing so by drugging them to sleep and carrying them in his blazer pockets.
It seems the digestive supplement Isabgol would be a fitting advertiser for the series, considering how one of the most common ways of smuggling certain items without detection is by the carriers ingesting them before the flight and then finding their exit in some toilet omce they have reached their destination.
Actors’ performances
Taskari follows the show’s creator, Neeraj Pandey’s formula used to excellence in his acclaimed show Special Ops, where the back story of each person who is chosen in the special task force is explained to us. There is Nandish Sandhu, an extremely honest officer who comes from a family of extremely corrupt income tax officers, and doesn’t want to follow in their footsteps., while Amruta Khanvilkar plays an officer who is a single mother. And then there is Anurag Sinha, tasked with heading the task force to bring down the international smuggling syndicate. His role as the most honest and upright officer struck me as the a very convincing performance. While Emraan is the honourable officer who also knows when to take a backseat and is self assured is his role, the crime lord is played by Sharad, who lives abroad in a huge mansion, married to a supermodel who post-marriage only dresses up in Indian sarees. If there are two other actors whose performance i can specifically point out, they would certainly be Veerendra Saxena, who always excels at playing slightly eccentric characters.
A Neeraj Pandey trademark, which one saw with Saiyami Kher in Special Ops and is repeated here is that the woman does not need a man’s help even when attacked by multiple men- something we witness in an action scene that Amruta is part of.
Shot in locations such Milan, Bangkok, Al Dera, Addis Ababa, Bahrain and Mumbai, we get to see some beautiful scenic shots, including stunning interiors of luxury mansions.
FPJ verdict
The novel part about the series is the role of a customs officer and how smuggling takes place in airports, which is what it needs to be seen for. However, that novelty fades away after the third episode. And if you are a Neeraj Pandey fan, then Special Ops, Khakee: The Bihar Chapter and Khakee: The Bengal Chapter definitely make for a more engaging and consistent watch.
