Exclusive: Aftab Shivdasani and the producer of Special Ops 1.5 Shital Bhatia talks about the project 

Producer of the series Special Ops 1.5, Shital Bhatia, and actor Aftab Shivdasani talks about the project. 

Shital Bhatia, the producer of Special Ops took us on a journey of the RAW agent Himmat Singh who does his all to keep the country safe and has a target to solve a mission when he was in the retirement phase. Shital Bhatia now took us a little back when Himmat Singh was not an RAW agent.

You must have seen Special Ops 1.5, so here's the details about the project which we extracted from the one who made it, we roped in Shital and Aftab for a conversation.

Here are the excerpts from the conversation:
Shital Bhatia:

What was the reason for starting the Special Ops series? 
This full story that we had and we always thought that it was not for cinema. It was the longest story and OTT was the perfect platform to tell the story so that's how it was made.

How was the experience shooting post-pandemic?

It was difficult but thanks to all our actors and crew. They supported us in a big way to execute this project and then things were done this way because of their complete support.

As a producer do you see any difference between the pre lockdown film industry and the post lockdown film industry? 

Oh! There are certain challenges. You have to take care because currently, the pandemic is still there, we like the fact or don't like it. So we have taken extra precautions so that everybody's safe. and we try you know to execute projects in as a minimum number of people as possible.

Amongst this cast who was easier to work with?

All of them. I am blessed that we have had such a wonderful team of actors and even the crew and it was fun working with them and executing this project.

Do you think the youth is more inclined towards action-packed movies than romantic ones?

I think youth is attracted to good stories If we tell good stories in any genre, they'll like it.

Aftab Shivdasani:
Tell us something about your character and what was the reason behind choosing this?

It's a very interesting character, and something that I have not played before but I had a lot of fun and obviously to be a part of a show like special OPS and it has been a great experience for me but I have enjoyed thoroughly. When I watched the show and got a chance to perform in season 1.5. I was very excited because I was a fan of the show like everybody I also watched the show in 2020 and I liked it very much. A patriotic feeling aroused in my heart. I also wanted to be part of it and when I got a chance to be a part of it, it was just perfect. I couldn't ask for anything better.

How does this project happen to you?

I think when Neeraj Sir was casting for season 1.5. I got a call from the casting director with regards to the show and when I communicated with Neeraj Sir he explained the script, character and it worked out very beautifully. As I was a fan of the series I didn't have to think pretty much about it and I wanted to be a part of it immediately when I got the brief.

What are your criteria for choosing a project?

Stories should be good, how you tell the stories should be good and obviously, you should be excited to work with the people involved in it. This is something important and also as an actor, you should be able to explore, stretch,  and be creatively excited so I will go ahead, that kind of project I think these will be the main criteria I would look at while selecting.