The Hollywood / foreign film industry is replete with spy films such as the ‘James Bond’ franchise, ‘Mission Impossible’ film series and the ‘Kingsman’ movies besides many fine standalone espionage movies. The Indian film industry is also catching up fast as we have witnessed the arrival of some well-executed spy movies like ‘Baby’, ‘Vishwaroopam’, and ‘Raazi’, etc.
These popular Indian spy films have garnered immense acclaim. But what about their relatively underrated counterparts that deserve a viewing. In this article, we give you five such underrated spy films which you can watch on various Indian OTT platforms.
16 December (Streaming on Amazon Prime Video)
Directed by Mani Shankar, the film is set thirty years after the Indo-Pak war of 1971. The film’s story follows an IRS officer (Milind Soman) who is hired by his former boss (Danny Denzongpa) to investigate a high-profile money laundering case. The investigation leads them to a terrorist plot whose mastermind is a former disgruntled Pakistani military officer (played by Gulshan Grover).
Madras Café (Streaming on Netflix, Voot & Jio)
An underrated political spy thriller helmed by Shoojit Sirkar which is set amidst the backdrop of the Sri Lankan Civil War. The film follows an Indian Army officer (John Abraham) who is recruited by Indian intelligence agency RAW to supervise a covert operation in Sri Lanka. A realistic spy film worth watching.
Agent Vinod (Streaming on Eros Now)
The film follows the globetrotting adventures of the daredevil and suave RAW Agent Vinod (played by Saif Ali Khan). When his colleague is killed on the field after sending an incomplete message, Agent Vinod sets out to discover the larger conspiracy behind the murder. The film was directed by Sriram Raghavan and also starred Kareena Kapoor and Adil Hussain.
Phantom (Streaming on Netflix)
Helmed by Kabir Khan, the film follows a disgraced former Indian Army officer (Saif Ali Khan) who gets a chance to redeem his lost glory by exacting revenge from the perpetrators behind the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. Helping him on his mission is another agent which is played by Katrina Kaif.
Naam Shabana (Streaming on Netflix & Zee5)
It’s a spin-off movie of Neeraj Pandey’s brilliant spy thriller ‘Baby’ and focuses on Taapsee Pannu’s titular character. The film follows the origin story of Shabana Khan, who is recruited by a secret agency after her lover is killed by a group of drunk men. She gets a chance to taker her revenge and the remaining story is about her mission to nab a global arms dealer. The film also featured Manoj Bajpayee, Akshay Kumar and Prithviraj in important roles.
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