''Crackdown'' is an Indian spy

thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

webseries directed By

Apoorva Lakhia Apoorva Lakhia is an Indian film director. Early life Lakhia was born and brought up in Ahmedabad, India. He was educated at the Lawrence School, Sanawar. He dropped out of a filmmaking course in New York University to assist Mira Nair on ''Th ...

starring Saqib Saleem in the lead role. All episodes premiered on

Voot Voot is an Indian subscription video on-demand and over-the-top streaming service, owned by Viacom18. Launched in March 2016, it is Viacom18's advertising-led video-on-demand platform that is available as an app for iOS, KaiOS (JioPhone) ...

on 23 September 2020. The second season releases on 25 May 2023 on

JioCinema JioCinema is an Indian subscription video on-demand and over-the-top streaming service, owned by Viacom 18, a subsidiary of TV18. Launched on 5 September 2016, JioCinema's content library includes films, television shows, web series, music ...

Plot

The plot revolves around the life of a few

Research and Analysis Wing The Research and Analysis Wing (abbreviated R&AW; hi, ) is the foreign intelligence agency of India. The agency's primary function is gathering foreign intelligence, counter-terrorism, counter-proliferation, advising Indian policymakers, ...

(RAW) agents. RP, the top agent along with other agents plans to uncover a conspiracy that threatens the safety of India. They use one lady, Divya who is identical to Mariam who was the lover of one Militant Zaheed.

Cast

* Saqib Saleem as Riyaz Pathan/RP *

Shriya Pilgaonkar Shriya Pilgaonkar is an Indian actress, director, producer, and stage performer. She is the daughter of actors Sachin and Supriya Pilgaonkar. Early life Shriya is the only child of famed Marathi actors Sachin and Supriya Pilgaonkar. As a c ...

as Divya Shirodkar/Mariam, RP's teammate *

Mohammed Iqbal Khan Mohammed Iqbal Khan (born 10 February 1981), more commonly known as Iqbal Khan, is an Indian actor. He was a contestant on '' Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 6''. Early life Khan was born in Kashmir and began school in Tyndale Biscoe School, Sri ...

as Zorawar Kalra, Garima's husband and RP's teammate * Ankur Bhatia as Tariq,

ISI ISI or Isi may refer to: Organizations * Intercollegiate Studies Institute, a classical conservative organization focusing on college students * Ice Skating Institute, a trade association for ice rinks * Indian Standards Institute, former name of ...

Agent * Rajesh Tailang as Ashwini Rao, RAW Chief (Season 1) *

Sonali Kulkarni Sonali Kulkarni (born 3 November 1974) is an Indian actress, producer, and writer who primarily appears in Marathi and Hindi films. She has also appeared in Kannada, Tamil, Gujarati and English films. She has worked in over 70 films, both ...

as Avantika Shroff, RAW Chief (Season 2) *

Waluscha De Sousa Waluscha De Sousa (born 28 November 1979) is an Indian actress and model. She made her debut in the 2016 Hindi film ''Fan (film), Fan''. Early life and education Waluscha De Sousa hails from Goa and is of paternal Portuguese people, Portugues ...

as Garima Kalra, Zorawar's wife/ Mausam Masoud,

Agent * Freddy Daruwala as Terrorist Abu Khalil/Mateen (Season 2) *

Ekavali Khanna Ekavali Khanna is an actress who stars in Bollywood, Hollywood and Bengali films. Early life Born in Kolkata, Khanna attended Modern High School and is a graduate of Delhi University. She is of mixed Punjabi and Goan heritage. Khanna divides ...

as Seema, Ashwini's wife (Season 1) *

Saba Saudagar Saba Saudagar is an Indian film and television actress. She is known for her roles in Hindi language web-series including ''Booo Sabki Phategi'' (2019), ''Crackdown'' (2020), and ''Gandii Baat'' (season 4) (2020). Career Saba played one of the ...

as Fawzia,

Agent *Tauqeer Alam Khan as Rajesh, RP's teammate (Season 1) *

Tanya Desai Tanya Desai is an Indian actress and model. She is mainly known for her roles in ''Crackdown'', ''Street Light'', ''Godman'' and ''Zero Kilometre''. She also acted as lead model in various music videos. Early life Desai was born in Ghaziabad ...

as Ananya, Rajesh's wife (Season 1) *Palak Jaiswal as Lekha, Ashwini's daughter (Season 1) *Vipin Bhardwaj as Bala (Season 1) *Mudasir Bhat as Kabir (Season 1) *Harry Parmar as Narang (Season 1) *Ram Menon as Max *Gauahar Khan as Kader Kazi (Season 1) *Ajay Choudhary as Hamid *Amal Sherawat as Terrorist (Police) (Season 1) *Rohtas Nain as Mohammad (Season 1) *Shreyas Zutchi as Ilham Brother 1 (Season 1) *Akshun Vashisht as Ilham Brother 2 (Season 1) *Arry Dabbas as Mr. Chopra, Mrs. Chopra's husband *Kalpana as Mrs. Chopra, Mr. Chopra's wife *Ashish Bhatia as Mehak, Lekha's fiance (Season 1) *Singh Rajni as neighbour Aunty (Season 1)

Episodes

Reception

Shweta Keshri of ''

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new on ...

'' praised performance of entire cast and wrote "Saqib Saleem as Riyaz Pathan is seen flexing his muscles and going shirtless in a couple of scenes, Iqbal Khan, is seen hurling expletives as Zorawar Kalra. Shriya Pilagaonkar impresses as Divya aka Mariyam but Waluscha De Sousa turned out to the surprise package of the show. Rajesh Tailang was as usual brilliant in his part as the RAW chief." Ruchi Kaushal of ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Ly ...

'' wrote "The success of a suspense thriller lies in its ability to offer the unexpected and Crackdown never loses its way down unnecessary twists. Unlike the emotional aspect of The Family Man, The Voot Select original doesn’t come with distractions of romance or comedy, keeping its eye firmly on thriller aspect." Ronak Kotecha of ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, t ...

'' rated 3.5 our 5 stars and wrote "The show loses steam midway as a host of characters are introduced making an already complex screenplay even more crowded. While the overall plot remains intense, too many subplots are a dampener." Nandini Ramnath of '' Scroll.in'' wrote "Determinedly preposterous and as riveting as a train wreck in slow motion, Crackdown makes short work of narrative intelligence as it rips through the terrorism thriller template." Avinash Ramachandran of ''

Cinema Express ''Cinema Express'' was an Indian Tamil-language entertainment fortnightly magazine published from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was a part of The New Indian Express Group, which also publishes ''Samakalika Malayalam Vaarika'' weekly as well as '' ...

'' rated 2.5 star out of 5 stars and wrote "In a series about terrorism will, of course, have good Muslims and bad ones. The angle of in-house sabotage and Islamophobia, brought in by RAW’s deputy director Zorawar (Iqbal Khan), adds some inadvertent humour, and the final resolution for this angle is even more laughable." Roktim Rajpal for ''

Deccan Herald ''Deccan Herald'' is an Indian English language daily newspaper published from the Indian state of Karnataka. It was founded by K. N. Guruswamy, a liquor businessman from Ballari and was launched on 17 June 1948. It is published by The Printer ...

'' wrote "Crackdown opens on a mildly engaging note before flattering to deceive. The narrative lacks a sense of urgency, which makes it difficult for fans to relate to or even care about the reel action. Most of the twists, barring the one seen towards the end of the fourth episode, fall flat."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=tt12701270 2020s Indian television miniseries Indian web series Hindi-language web series Indian thriller television series