Jimmy says Ranneeti: Balakot & Beyond, which offers a retelling of Captain Abhinandan’s release, showed him how intelligence officers play a key role in wars
A still from the series
Among recent releases, Hrithik Roshan’s Fighter, and Operation Valentine revolved around the Balakot air strike. But while they focused on the aerial strike conducted by India in February 2019, Jimmy Shergill’s upcoming web series, Ranneeti: Balakot & Beyond, draws from the capture and subsequent release of Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman. On February 27, 2019, the fighter pilot was captured by the Pakistan Army, held captive for 60 hours before being released on March 1. Ranneeti offers a fictionalised version of the events, with Shergill playing an Indian intelligence official who strategises his release. The actor shares, “It’s a war-room-focused web series inspired from real-life events; [it depicts] the race against time to bring back the captured pilot while also battling Pakistan’s lies in global media. We always read or hear about what happens on ground during a war, but Ranneeti allowed me to witness the strategy, risk-taking, and the emotional trajectory of those who call the shots from inside the war-room.”
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The actor credits director Santosh Singh and his team of writers for developing a script that has its foundation in intense research. “The research had been done thoroughly by the writers and the director. The facts and figures had to be absolutely correct. The script was passed by top officials from the MoD [Ministry
of Defence].”
The JioCinema series—also starring Lara Dutta, Ashutosh Rana and Ashish Vidyarthi— was shot in Kashmir, Leh, Ladakh, Delhi, Punjab and Mumbai. Asked if such braveheart roles leave a deeper impact on him, Shergill says, “[I realised] these [intelligence officers] are probably as much a part of the battle as any other soldier. They strategise and do everything to win the war, after which they get lost in the crowd.”
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