★★★★½ (4.5/5)
Kay Kay Menon delivers a career-best performance here. His Himmat Singh is not a superhero. He is tired. His eyes are baggy. His shirt is always wrinkled. He yells at his subordinates because he cares too much. He is the closest Indian cinema has come to crafting a character on the level of The Americans ' Philip Jennings or Homeland 's Carrie Mathison. Special OPS Season 1 - Episode 1
When the data is decrypted back in Delhi, Himmat finally has a face. The laptop contains a single image: a photograph of a man in his 50s, with hard eyes, standing in front of a European landmark. ★★★★½ (4
Himmat watches the news feed. Then, he pulls up an old black-and-white surveillance photo. He points to a man in the crowd—a man who looks like a random spectator. He tells his boss: “He is there. He is always there. He watches his work.” His eyes are baggy
This is the "Eureka" moment of the pilot. The intelligence bureau focuses on the bomb makers. Himmat focuses on the watcher . He realizes that "The Bull" is not a field operative; he is a master strategist who visits the sites of his attacks to admire the destruction. After the court bombing, Himmat receives a cryptic piece of intel from an asset in Jordan: a laptop is being transported by a courier through the Turkey-Syria border. On that laptop is the key to identifying "The Bull."
When Disney+ Hotstar released Special OPS in March 2020, it raised the bar for Indian web series. Created by Neeraj Pandey (known for A Wednesday! and Baby ), the show promised a gritty, realistic take on the world of intelligence officers—far removed from the glamorous, song-and-dance routines of typical Bollywood spy capers. Season 1, Episode 1, titled “The Laptop,” does not waste a single second. It operates like a finely tuned Swiss watch: introducing a sprawling conspiracy, a damaged but brilliant hero, and a ticking clock that spans two decades.
Himmat whispers the name that will drive the rest of the season: Cinematography and Sound Design: Building the Mood What makes Special OPS Episode 1 stand out is its refusal to look like a TV show. Cinematographer Arvind Singh uses a cold, desaturated color palette. The scenes in Kashmir are grey and bleak. The RAW office is lit with harsh fluorescent lights, making it feel like a tomb. Even the action scenes are framed with a documentary-style realism.