Taskaree: The Smuggler's Web Review:
It takes a while to adjust to Emraan Hashmi playing the good guy. In the mid-2000s, the actor presented a different facet of the Hindi film hero as he delightfully played morally-grey hustlers, quick to con and even quicker to kiss. Last year, he played a principled Army officer in Ground Zero, a sincere performance. But, the full spectrum of his talents was on display in Haq (2025) where he essays a role based on Shah Bano’s husband Mohammed Ahmed Khan with a chameleon’s ease. The recently- released Taskaree: The Smuggler’s Web deftly plays with Emraan’s on-screen image. In the opening episode, his customs officer Arjun Meena is suspended and seems to be running a parallel operation of arm-twisting smugglers into paying him. After a deal is sealed, he gets a call informing him that his suspension has been revoked and he has to get back into the grind. Emraan’s Arjun then goes on to warn the smuggler he just did business with, threatening him of action if any of his couriers crossed his airport from now on. When the smuggler asks for his money back, since now he has become “the good guy”, Arjun declines. “The call came after I took the payment,” he says, with a smile. Hashmi’s still got it.
Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Sharad Kelkar, Nandsih Sandhu, Amruta Khanvilkar, Zoya Afroz and Jameel Khan
Created by: Neeraj Pandey
Written by: Neeraj Pandey and Vipul K Rawal
Streaming on: Netflix
Set in the world of Mumbai Customs, Taskaree revolves around a team of non-nonsense officers who have been tasked to bring down a syndicate headed by a Milan-based smuggling lord Bada Chaudhary (Sharad Kelkar). The core members of the Customs team are the aforementioned Arjun, the quixotic Ravinder Gujjar (Nandish Sandhu) and the firebrand Mitali Kamath (Amruta Khanwilkar). Their mission is simple, dismantle Bada Chaudhary’s network and prevent the syndicate from smuggling gold and other goods inside the country.
The series progresses like a cat-n-mouse chase, full with plans going amiss and Abbas-Mustan level of crosses and double-crosses. Taskaree is from the house of Neeraj Pandey (Special OPS, Khakee series), a director-writer who understands the mechanics of a potboiler. Although not that nuanced and deep, the show proceeds with the page-turning thrills of a pulp novel. Characters get into rooms with a fevered impatience and even if they are standing still, the camera revolves around them giving a semblance of some major unravelling. The setting of Customs can seem unsexy at first but Neeraj along with co-writer Vipul K. Rawal bring forth geeky details. It’s intriguing to witness the ingenious ways the smugglers resort to, to push the contraband which goes beyond gold and drugs. In a rather amusing scene, Marmoset monkeys spring out of the pockets of a nervous passenger when he is stopped for a check.
Often shows that are made for the sole purpose of being binged, sideline fleshing out characters. I liked how Taskaree gave interesting backgrounds to its characters, especially Nandish’s Gujjar, who comes from a family of corrupt Income Tax officers but himself would not even take a penny. Amruta’s Mitali isn’t just a tough officer and a single mother but also somebody who frequently brushes up her knowledge on what new items the syndicate is pushing now. Surprisingly Emraan’s Arjun isn’t explored that much except for a tired love-track between him and an informer.
Taskaree essentially is TV plus and doesn’t aim for anything higher. The production quality is cheap and unimaginative with racing video game like location aesthetics. European countries are shown in blue and white lens while anywhere in the Middle East is sepia-toned with Arabian tunes going in the background. The series begins well but then plot churnings take over and everything is rushed. Everything seems to be explained with the help of convenient flashbacks which demonstrate that whatever is unfolding was already planned in advance. It becomes tired and tropey but you can’t stop because you are now hooked. Taskaree is like a 2 am snack you can’t stop munching on, but it does leave a strange aftertaste.