Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions will adapt the book, R.N. Kao: Gentleman Spymaster, written by Nitin Gokhale.

The film will tell the story of Kao, who founded India’s external intelligence agency RAW. Co-presented by Still and Still Media Collective, the biographical drama will follow Kao’s rise in the world of international espionage. 

— Karan Johar (@karanjohar) January 9, 2020, Karan tweeted. 

RN Kao served as the first chief of RAW from 1969 to 1977. During his career, he also served as the personal security chief to Jawaharlal Nehru and as security adviser to Rajiv Gandhi. One of India’s foremost intelligence officers, Kao oversaw RAW’s involvement in the Bangladesh Liberation War. Described as an ‘intensely private man’, he passed away aged 83 in 2002.