Actor Emraan Hashmi said he is not surprised that his latest thriller Taskaree: The Smuggler’s Web has debuted at the number one spot on Netflix’s global top-10 non-English TV list in its first week, becoming the first Indian series to achieve the feat.
Created by filmmaker Neeraj Pandey and co-directed by Raghav Jairath, the series explores the high-stakes world of airport customs, spotlighting officers who work behind the scenes to protect the country. Hashmi plays a customs officer locked in a battle of wits with a seasoned smuggler.
“You just hope for everyone to like your show. The intention was for it to kind of work in a big way in India... I got a call from my manager and he's like 'It's gone global and it's reached the number one spot so fast. So, I asked him, 'Can you say this again'. I'm still processing it.
“But it's great... It's very pulpy, thrilling and a fast watch. It's everything that a show should be. I'm not very surprised that everyone's enjoying the show across the globe. I know after this show, people are going to see airports in a very different light,” Hashmi told PTI.
Taskaree, which premiered on Netflix on January 14, adds to the streamer’s list of Indian titles that have found global audiences. Other recent successes include Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, Aryan Khan’s The Ba***ds of Bollywood and IC-814: The Kandahar Hijack, created by Anubhav Sinha.
Pandey said the core idea behind Taskaree was to bring viewers into an unfamiliar world.
“It should be about something that the viewers have not seen. It should be a new world. That newness, I believe, is the thing that all storytellers look out for. And that's exactly what we chased with this,” he said.
Tanya Bami, Series Head, Netflix India, said the platform was “cautiously optimistic” about the show’s ability to travel internationally. “We all knew the intensity of the idea and the scope that it had. It's a never-seen-before world and thriller. Neeraj brings these things alive like nobody else can with the flair and simplicity of a narrative that everyone across borders can watch. And when you add Emraan as a nice 'tadka', then it really lands,” Bami said.
