‘Salakaar’ Review: Naveen Kasturia and Mouni Roy’s Series Is an Amateurish Spy Drama Without Any Smarts (LatestLY Exclusive)

Salakaar Review: Faruk Kabir's Salakaar is a five-episode spy thriller series starring Naveen Kasturia as a master spy who might as well be Ajit Doval. While the character bears a different name, the older version of him in the present timeline is simply referred to as the NSA. There’s even a spunky rap theme celebrating his status as a "Salakaar". If you’re still in doubt, the character sports a balding, slicked-back hairstyle, and there are background portraits of President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi smiling down approvingly. Subtlety clearly wasn’t on the brief. ‘Salakaar’ Trailer Out: JioHotstar to Stream Naveen Kasturia, Mouni Roy’s Spy Thriller From August 8 (Watch Video).

Unfortunately, despite trying to cater to a certain online community with the above visual cues and throwaway lines - like the protagonist claiming Ayurveda can heal all wounds - Salakaar barely makes the minimum effort to fashion itself into a smart thriller worthy of the story it tries to tell.

'Salakaar' Review - The Plot

The show unfolds across two timelines. In the present day, Indian spy agent Sristi (Mouni Roy) is stationed in Pakistan, deployed as a honeypot to seduce General Ashfaq Ulla (Surya Sharma) and extract sensitive intel. She uncovers secrets dating back to 1978, the files of which are classified and accessible only to the NSA (Purnendu Bhattacharya) and the Prime Minister.

Watch the Trailer of 'Salakaar':

The second timeline, which carries the bulk of the plot, is set in 1978. The NSA, then known as Adhir Dayal (Kasturia), is embedded in Pakistan under the guise of an Indian embassy employee. His mission? To uncover and sabotage General Zia Ul Haq's (Mukesh Rishi) clandestine nuclear plans.

'Salakaar' Review -An Unintentional Spy Parody

On paper, this twin-spy structure - one operating in the present, the other in the past - sounds like a compelling premise. In more competent hands, it could have been a gripping espionage thriller. But Faruk Kabir (Allah Ke Banday, Khuda Hafiz) approaches these storylines with the subtlety of a filmmaker more interested in crafting a pulpy potboiler without the budget, ambition or the skill to deliver on these facets. Instead, we get a droll series with little to nil smart writing or tight storytelling - ironic, considering it spans only five episodes averaging about 30 minutes each.

How is the audience meant to take Salakaar seriously when Adhir’s disguises - elite Pakistani socialite with a fake accent, bucktoothed soldier, and so on - look more like failed fancy-dress attempts than covert ops? One particularly absurd moment involves him staging a fake ambush to earn Zia's trust… and then handing the mercenaries Indian bullets, which immediately raises suspicion. Some master spy, he is.

Fortunately for him, the screenplay is riddled with convenience tropes and paper-thin antagonists across both eras. Zia tells his right-hand man, Mohseen (Ashwath Bhatt), to keep an eye on Adhir, but we never actually see any surveillance play out, especially when Adhir’s off playing dress-up for misplaced laughs. I suppose the makers wanted us to giggle at the bucktoothed get-up.

'Salakaar' Review - Illogical Screenplay

You also have to swallow some monumental lapses in logic. RAW somehow has no clue that Ashfaq is Zia’s grandson, a revelation saved for dramatic flair by the NSA himself. Or that the spy they have stationed there has a family history that might get her caught. That’s intelligence 101, isn’t it?

Not that the enemy side fares any better - every fictionalised Pakistani villain here is painted as a bloodthirsty fool. Zia and Mohseen connect the attack to India via the bullets but never suspect the man who hired the attackers might be in disguise. Even worse, they assume the culprit can’t be a woman because a witness said so.

In another implausible stretch, Ashfaq casually takes Sristi to a top-secret nuclear facility - one that has somehow evaded detection by Indian spy satellites. The only reason she's there is because the plot demands it, not because it makes any logical sense. This all leads up to a supposedly "cool" crossover moment where Adhir from 1978 briefly intersects with Sristi in 2025.

But Salakaar never explains why a nuclear facility being built in 2025 is a significant threat to India - especially considering that between 1978 and now, Pakistan has already developed nuclear weapons in response to India’s own programme. So what exactly is the urgency here? Or are we to believe that in this alternate timeline - where Zia has a fictional grandson who’s also a military chief - Pakistan never actually went nuclear?

I could go on about the logical fallacies (including an Argo-style airport climax) but that might take longer than the show’s entire script. Just when you think it couldn’t get more far-fetched, they drag poor APJ Abdul Kalam into this mess, played by an actor with the most painfully heavy Tamil accent imaginable. Ghar Waapsi Review: Vishal Vashishtha's Disney+ Hotstar Series is One of 2022's Most Endearing Offerings!

I won’t even get into the political subtext - though one scene, where the NSA towers over two Chinese diplomats and makes them bend to his will, might just be fanfiction needed for the nationalist wet-dreams.

The show’s uninspired, almost parodical direction is matched by average production design, dodgy VFX (check out that explosion in the finale), and clunky action choreography that tries to be stylised but lands flat.

The performances don’t help much. Naveen Kasturia is passable when playing the diplomat but unconvincing as an action hero delivering punchlines. Mouni Roy has a limited range. Surya Sharma does what he usually does. Purnendu Bhattacharya gets the hero treatment with dramatic close-ups. And Mukesh Rishi hams it up as Zia Ul Haq, though given the man’s infamy, it doesn’t feel too out of place.

'Salakaar' Review - Final Thoughts

In an era where patriotic fervour runs high, even a half-baked nationalistic drama can find a loyal audience. But Salakaar doesn’t even manage to clear that low bar. With its sham storytelling, illogical screenplay, and middling performances, it squanders the potential of what could have been a sharp, politically charged spy thriller. The premise - dual timelines, real-world parallels, and a chance to explore India’s covert history - was ripe with promise. Instead, we’re left with a confused, clumsily written series that lacks both clarity and conviction in what it wants to say. Salakaar is streaming on JioHotstar.

(The opinions expressed in the above article are of the author and do not reflect the stand or position of LatestLY.)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 08, 2025 09:20 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).