It was back in 2023 that Nandish Singh Sandhu had his last outing before Neeraj Pandey’s Taskaree: The Smuggler’s Web, which was released recently on 14 January 2026. Sharing the screen with a star like
Emraan Hashmi can be daunting, but for Nandish Singh Sandhu, faith in his character and director Neeraj Pandey made all the difference. Returning to the spotlight with the Neeraj Pandey directorial, the actor plays a no-nonsense customs officer and opens up about why Hashmi’s stardom never overshadowed his performance.
Speaking exclusively to News18 Showsha, Nandish says, “I am never scared of anybody on the set because it doesn’t matter who is in front of you; it is your character which will tell the story. When you have directors like Neeraj Pandey, then you can have blind faith in them because they have delivered such incredible stories in the past. Neeraj ji’s research is brilliant, and secondly, he will not compromise on the story for anybody, no matter who it is, so I had that faith in him.”
However, he is quick to point out that while he didn’t fear being overshadowed, Hashmi also never tries to overpower anyone. He adds, “If you see the series, he is not trying to overpower anybody, and on the sets also he is like that only. He lets the other actor do their part in any scene and does not try to overpower anybody or any scene, so it was a fantastic working experience with him.”
“I really like him; he is a very, very sweet person and a brilliant actor. One thing that I really like about him is that he is extremely grounded. He has been a huge star since he started working, and he has such amazing music in his films. I think everybody has a couple of songs in their playlist that are from Emraan Hashmi films. So working with him has been extremely satisfying as an artist,” the Jubilee star further adds while sharing his experience of working with Emraan.
Taskaree – Plot and Cast
Taskaree reveals the intricate machinery of international smuggling, a web based on coded routes, phoney manifests, and planned diversions. At its heart is a specialised customs task force at Mumbai International Airport, led by an unwaveringly honest team of officers: Arjun Meena (Emraan Hashmi), Mitali Kamath (Amruta Khanvilkar), Ravinder Gujjar (Nandish Singh Sandhu), and Prakash Kumar (Anurag Sinha). These officers rely on gut instinct as much as intelligence, knowing that a single overlooked detail might ruin weeks of observation. The notorious kingpin Bada Chaudhary (Sharad Kelkar) and his formidable syndicate stand in their way, operating through layers of deception and global routes meant to avoid detection.
