‘Salakaar’ review: A dumbed-down show about Pakistan’s nuclear programme

The run-up to Independence Day inevitably brings a slew of patriotic, Pakistan-bashing films and series. This year’s batch includes Faruk Kabir’s Salakaar, in which an Indian undercover agent seemingly modelled on Ajit Doval single-handedly disrupts Pakistan’s nuclear programme.

The Hindi series directed by Faruk Kabir is out on JioHotstar. In 1978, Adhir Dayal (Naveen Kasturia) joins the Indian Embassy in Pakistan disguised as a cultural attache. Adhir reports to a buffoonish ambassador (Asif Ali Beg) who is a disgrace to the Indian Foreign Service.

Adhir’s real boss is in Delhi, to whom he sends reports about Pakistani’s new leader Zia Ullah (Mukesh Rishi). The dictator is building a nuclear bomb to counter India’s own nuclear test in 1974.

The programme, codenamed Project Kahuta, is apparently Pakistan’s worst-kept secret, revealed over drinks to Adhir by a disgruntled scientist. Adhir easily collects information on Project Kahuta, even standing right in front of the nuclear plant without being detected.

In 2025, undercover agent Mariam (Mouni Roy) is carrying on with the rogue Pakistani colonel Ashfaq (Surya Sharma). Ashfaq is too busy peering down Mariam’s decolletage to wonder why this very glam woman prefers spectacles to contact lenses. After Miriam learns about the existence of a new bomb, Adhir (now played by Purnendu...

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