Parliament 13 December 2001

We see a group of men in a car, driving towards the Indian Parliament. They have guns. Earlier we see them call their leader for instructions and then begin their mission with chants of Allah hu Akbar.

Since they have a red siren and fake Home Affairs stickers on their car, the Parliament security lets them pass through the gates. The terrorists are inside but they take a wrong turn and get stuck at a closed gate. When they try to take a U-turn they crash into another car and the security is alerted. Before they can engage, the terrorists start shooting everyone in their vicinity.

Parliament security seals the main gate just as one of the terrorists is about to enter inside. Open fire begins as armed guards of the parliament take their positions. One of the terrorists takes the pin out of the grenade and just as he is about to throw it, gets shot and the grenade explodes on him. The remaining terrorists run away from the main gate but are shot one by one. One last terrorist is alive but wounded. We see an ominous figure hovering above him. It is hinted that this man is hinted as their leader. The leader shoots him.

2019, Annexe Red Fort

A man is waiting outside a conference room. He is getting a series of calls. He responds to these calls with either ‘Kill’ or ‘Leave’. He is called inside the room. The officers inside begin introducing themselves but he already knows both their names. This scene establishes the dominance and control over the situation by this character.

We learn that the man’s name is Himmat Singh and he is the desk head of Middle East. Himmat is here for internal audit inquiry. Chaddha and Banerjee, RAW officials, will be heading the inquiry to find out how Himmat has spent 28 crore rupees in 11 years for his secret service missions.

Himmat tells them that what they actually want to know is if he has committed money embezzlement. Chaddha asks him about the miscellaneous expenses from his file. Himmat informs him that it was the cost of maintaining agents in the Middle East who give intelligence reports and information to Indian agencies. 

The RAW officials begin asking about each country to which money is transferred on Himmat’s behalf. He refuses to share any information about his agents. Chaddha sees the Parliament attack report on his file and inquires if Himmat was part of the investigation.

Flashback to Himmat’s department the day the Parliament attack happened.

Himmat’s senior is shouting at his employees for failing to procure information beforehand for the terrorist attack and alerting the authorities. He gets a call from the Ministry of Defence and asks Himmat to accompany him.

After the meeting in War Room, South Block, where all departments of defence are reprimanded for their shortcomings, Himmat starts his investigation with Delhi Police. He informs the Police of a sticker from a dry fruit shop he found in the terrorist’s car and asks them to find more about it.

The police finds the owner of the shop but when they show him the pictures of the slain terrorists, the owner says that none of them had ever visited his shop. As the police are about to leave, the shop owner informs them about a man who came to his shop a few days ago from Rawalpindi, Pakistan. He tells them though he doesn’t remember his face, he knows the name of the auto driver this man travelled with.

The flashback ends and we see Himmat informing the RAW officials about his theory behind the Parliament attacks. Himmat believes that on the day of the attack, there were 6 terrorists not 5.

The flashback starts again. Himmat is present at the police station where the auto driver is being interrogated. He learns that the driver never knew the place where the terrorist stayed or his number. The driver says that he had an agreement with the main terrorist to meet at random places planned beforehand and the only information he had was that the terrorist could see a mosque from his terrace.

Back at the War room, Himmat is introduced as Senior Analyst and Logistics Head in RAW. He tells the officials about his theory and informs them that this was a Jaish attack to create a hostage situation in the Indian Parliament.

Now, we see Himmat and Delhi Police trying to find the leader’s house near the mosque. We see flashes of the terrorist trying to slip from the police but we don’t see his face. The leader goes to his house and collects his passports and other evidence and burns them in a sink. 

Himmat is on a terrace trying to figure out the terrorist’s house when he sees smoke rising out of a window from a house far away from him. He runs to the house and tries to put out the fire but he is too late and most of the documents are burned. Still he figures out the name on the passport ‘Ikhlaq Khan’. He also catches a passing glimpse of the terrorist from the window he is standing at.

The Flashback ends.

Himmat’s theory is that this attack was planned to capture attention and create enough conflicts to easily slip Osama Bin Laden out of Pakistan because  the attack took place right after 9/11 which Laden had headed. Chaddha doesn’t believe his theory.

Himmat's phone rings again and he is asked to switch it off. Himmat refuses and informs them that they will need permission from the PMO for him to do that.

Himmat goes home and we meet his family. Himmat gets a call from his agent in Dubai. The agent says he has found Ikhlaq Khan.

That was an amazing first episode!

I love Kay Kay Menon’s acting as Himmat Singh. I also like how the setting of Parliament attacks is used as a theme but with fictitious elements so that it remains interesting and new.

The direction was perfect and the story did not have slow narrative or too many establishing scenes to decrease the pace of the episode, something that a lot of pilot episodes tend to do.

We still haven't seen the face of the terrorist but we know that he is very clever. This adds to the intrigue and compels us to remain interested as the story progresses.

Though this was just the first episode, I already like the protagonist.

 Rating 5/5