National award film-maker Vishal Bharadwaj is all set to make his comeback with a bang with the movie Khufiya. Khufiya will be released on the American streaming giant Netflix on October 5, 2023. Directed by Vishal Bharadwaj, Khufiya features Bollywood actor Tabu, Ali Fazal, Wamiqa Gabbi, Ashish Vidyarthi, Azmeri Haque Badhon, and more in the leading roles. Notably, veteran Bollywood actress Tabu has acted in multiple Vishal Bharadwaj movies including Haider, and Maqbool. Vishal Bharadwaj is known for epic film-making and narrating stories that based on famous books or novels. Interestingly, Vishal Bharadwaj recently made his web-series making debut when Charlie Chopra & The Mystery Of Solang Valley was released on another OTT platform. Since you have landed on this page, True Scoop News assumes that you are planning to watch Khufiya on Netflix or have already watched Khufiya on OTT. Hence, you have multiple questions revolving in your mind whether Khufiya is a true story or Khufiya is a real story or not. To know the answer continue reading below-
Is Khufiya a true story?
The answer is yes. Khufiya is a true story based on Amar Bhushan's best-selling espionage novel 'Escape To Nowhere'. Although Amar Bhushan’s espionage novel Escape to Nowhere claims that it is a fictional story, the makers of Khufiya say otherwise. As per Amar Bhushan's novel, the story is inspired by a traitor, his spying career, how he came to be suspected, how RAW's counter-espionage unit mounted major surveillance on him, how the civilian brass at the highest level wanted the surveillance ended because they did not want anything to spike India-US ties, how the committed ones in RAW continued to keep a watch on the spy, and how, sadly, he got away via Nepal.
It is pertinent to mention here that before becoming a writer, Amar Bhushan briefly served in the BSF intelligence, State Special Branch, and Intelligence Bureau of India. Not only this, but Bhushan also worked in the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) for twenty-four years.
Going by the trailer, it can be said that Ali Fazal is portraying the character of Ravi Mohan. It is pertinent to mention here that Ravi Mohan is a fiction name used by the writer in his novel, but it is actually the story of former R&AW agent Rabinder Singh. Khufiya's trailer shows Ali Fazal playing the character of Ravi who is working with R&AW, however, he comes under the scanner of India's secret service when he is seen making copies of sensitive documents and even taking them out of the office without secretly.
Now, the question arises who is Rabinder Singh, the former R&AW agent, and where is he now?
Who is 'real-life' Ravi Mohan?
Also Read: Real vs Reel: Is Khufiya a true story based on RAW's 'black-sheep' Rabinder Singh?
Ravi Singh's actual name is Rabinder Singh. Rabinder Singh fled to America via Kathmandu along with his wife on 7 May 2004 using a fake identity in the name of Mr. and Mrs. Rajpal Prasad Sharma. The R&AW unit at Kathmandu reportedly did nothing despite clear intelligence on Singh's escape plans. The book further alleged that R&AW got a hold of Rabinder's passport which was allegedly issued by the CIA. Notably, Rabinder was accused of passing secret information to a foreign country, the U.S. to be exact.
In 2007, in an affidavit submitted to the court, R&AW claimed that Singh was traced to New Jersey. The agency further suggested that Singh filed for asylum in the US, under the name of Surenderjeet Singh, which was rejected by the trial court but remanded back for reconsideration by the court of appeals. Finally, in 2016, it was reported that Rabinder died in Maryland in the USA in a road accident in late 2016. The tainted R&AW officer was living in the U.S. as a refugee. Also, Rabinder was facing a financial crisis after the CIA had stopped paying him money.
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