When Vishal Bhardwaj first adapted William Shakespeare’s Hamlet many years ago, he and co-writer Stephen Alter envisioned it as an espionage story set in the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), India’s external intelligence agency. Claudius, a spy, betrays his elder brother, King Hamlet, forcing him to defect to another country; one day, at Heathrow Airport, he encounters his son, Prince Hamlet, and commands him to seek revenge. “I was obsessed with cracking the idea of the ghost,” Vishal, who eventually made a very different Hamlet, 2014’s searing Haider, tells The Hindu. “In the original story, it was the father living under a ‘ghost identity’.” Khufiya, Vishal’s new film releasing on Netflix on October 5, treads into similar murky waters. The film is adapted from the novel Escape to Nowhere by Amar Bhushan, published in 2012. Bhushan, a former chief of the counter-espionage unit of R&AW, fictionalised a real-life case, when a mole was discovered in the agency’s headquarters in New Delhi. In 2004, Rabinder Singh, an Army Major who later became Joint Secretary of the Southeast Asia desk of R&AW, fell under the suspicion of his seniors and was closely surveilled. His office and home were bugged; his every movement meticulously tracked. Then, one day, he was gone. Ahead of the release, The Hindu spoke to Vishal and actors Wamiqa Gabbi and Ali Fazal. Read the full story: https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/into-the-khufiya-verse-with-vishal-bhardwaj/article67353201.ece Reporting: Shilajit Mitra Production: Johan Sathyadas J #khufiya #netflix #netflixindia #vishalbharadwaj Thank you for watching our video! You can subscribe to our channel here: https://bit.ly/3c8Adi6 Visit https://www.thehindu.com/ for the latest updates, analysis, opinions, and more. You can also download our apps: Android: https://bit.ly/3nboBEi iOs: https://apple.co/3EDCwt4 The Hindu is committed to keeping you up-to-date with information on the developments in India and the world. We promise to deliver quality journalism that stays away from vested interest and political propaganda. You can support us by subscribing to our digital offerings here: https://bit.ly/3emywiz Follow us: Twitter: https://twitter.com/the_hindu Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_hindu/