The show’s realism is heightened by its high production values, including the detailed recreation of the Parliament premises and location shooting that spans India and the Middle East.
The premiere relies heavily on the gravitas of its lead actors:
Special OPS (TV Series 2020–2025) - Full cast & crew - IMDb Special OPS Season 1 - Episode 1
The episode opens with (Kay Kay Menon), a senior officer at the Research and Analytics Wing (R&AW), facing an internal audit led by Naresh Chaddha and D.K. Banerjee. He is grilled over "miscellaneous" expenses totaling ₹28 crores spent over 11 years on his Middle-East desk.
While history records five attackers, Himmat presents a radical theory: there was a sixth man, the mastermind Ikhlaq Khan , who escaped. The show’s realism is heightened by its high
as Farooq Ali, Himmat’s star agent who closes the episode by calling Himmat from the UAE to report he has finally found Ikhlaq Khan. Critical Reception and Style
Rather than yielding to the bureaucracy, Himmat uses the inquiry to begin a slow-burn narration of a 19-year-long manhunt. He refuses to reveal the identities of his five covert agents—Farooq Ali, Ruhani Khan, Bala, Juhi, and Avinash—stating that their safety is paramount. Flashback: The 2001 Parliament Attack He is grilled over "miscellaneous" expenses totaling ₹28
A significant portion of the episode is a gritty reconstruction of the . The show painstakingly recreates the chaos as five terrorists breach the gates using a car with fake stickers.
The episode is named " Kaagaz Ke Phool ," the first in a series of tributes to classic Bollywood films. Critics praised the episode for its and Menon's nuanced performance, though some noted the pacing can feel deliberate as it sets up the expansive globe-trotting plot.