''Bard of Blood'' is an Indian

spy thriller Spy fiction is a genre of literature involving espionage as an important context or plot device. It emerged in the early twentieth century, inspired by rivalries and intrigues between the major powers, and the establishment of modern intelligen ...

web series based on the 2015 espionage novel of the same name by Bilal Siddiqi. Directed by

Ribhu Dasgupta Ribhu Dasgupta is an Indian film and television director. He made his directorial debut with 2011 film '' Michael''. He was nominated at the Shanghai International Film Festival for Asian New Talent Award of Best Film for the film '' Michael'' ...

and produced by

Red Chillies Entertainment Red Chillies Entertainment is an Indian visual effects, production and distribution company established by actor Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri Khan in 2002. It was transformed from the defunct Dreamz Unlimited. Based in Mumbai, the studio' ...

, the series stars Emraan Hashmi along with Kirti Kulhari,

Vineet Kumar Singh Vineet Kumar Singh (born 28 August 1978) is an Indian actor and writer known for his strong portrayal of an aspiring boxer Shravan Kumar Singh in Mukkabaaz (2018). A M.D. in Ayurveda from Government Medical College and Hospital, Nagpur, Vineet ...

Jaideep Ahlawat Jaideep Ahlawat is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films. He completed his graduation from Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune in 2008. After completing his education, he headed Mumbai, to pursue his dreams to become an ac ...

and Sobhita Dhulipala. It is a seven-episode series that revolves around the story of an ex-IIW agent. The series premiered on 27 September 2019 on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

Overview

Kabir Anand is a former Indian Intelligence Wing (IIW) agent who has fallen out after an operation that resulted in his partner's death. He is now a literature teacher who looks after his deceased friend's wife and son. When four Indian intelligence officers are captured by Taliban in Quetta, the secret service director Sadiq Sheikh summons a reluctant Kabir to rescue them. He refuses at first, but when he finally decides to undertake the mission, he arrives at Sadiq's house to find the latter dead. He is suspected of the murder and is interrogated by the intelligence head Arum Joshi, who later allows him to walk free. Upon noticing a man clicking pictures during the cremation of Sadiq, Kabir chases him and instead ends up meeting with analyst Isha Khanna. Decoding a message left by Sadiq before his death, Kabir comes to the conclusion that this mission in Baluchistan would be unsanctioned, and would involve him, Isha and another agent named Veer Singh who has been working undercover for a long time and wants to go home. Teaming up to complete the mission once they meet, Kabir and team face a lot of challenges on their way to Quetta while Arun learns of the unsanctioned mission and starts tracking them.

Cast

* Emraan Hashmi as Kabir Anand/Adonis *

as Veer Singh * Sobhita Dhulipala as Isha Khanna *

Danish Husain Danish Husain is the stage name of Murtaza Danish Husaini, an Indian actor, storyteller, poet and theatre director. He has also been credited as Dan Husain and Murtaza Danish Husain. Early life, family and education Murtaza Danish Husaini was b ...

as Mullah Khalid * Kirti Kulhari as Jannat Marri * Abhishekh Khan as Nusrat Bashir Marri * Ajay Mahendru as Rehmat Khatib * Asheish Nijhawan as Aftab Khalid * Shamaun Ahmed as Qasim Baluchi *

as Tanveer Shehzad *

Rajit Kapur Rajit Kapur is an Indian film and theatre actor and director. He is known for his portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi in the 1996 film, '' The Making of the Mahatma'' for which he won the National Film Award for Best Actor. Other notable roles are as ...

as Sadiq Sheikh *

Shishir Sharma Shishir Sharma (born 10 January 1955) is an Indian film and television actor. He appeared in Zee TV's ''Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann'', and is known for playing the role of Jagmohan Prasad in ''Yahaaan Main Ghar Ghar Kheli''. Currently, he can be s ...

as Arun Joshi * Amit Bimrot as Nihar Gupta * Sohum Shah as Vikramjeet *

Shruti Marathe Shruti Marathe (born 9 October 1986) is an Indian actress known for her works in Hindi, Marathi and Tamil films and television. Personal life Shruti married actor Gaurav Ghatnekar in 2016. Career She made her film debut with the Marathi ...

as Neeta * Sahiba Bali as Abida, ISI agent and love-interest of Tanveer Shehzad * Kallirroi Tziafeta as Jessica Parker /Sara Mansoor (Cover) * Nikita Sharma *Tanveer *Harshvardhan Singh * Ankit Hans as captured agent *Akshat Chopra as agent Samar Sharm *Mrinal Roy as Saif *Sharik Khan as Sadiq friend *Shah Fahad (uncredit)

Episodes

The episode titles are quotations from

Shakespearean William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

plays.

Release

The show features characters interacting in Hindi, Urdu, Pashto and English. It premiered on 27 September 2019 on

Reception

Rohan Naahar of The Hindu Times gave 2 stars and stated "It is one thing to have a poor script to begin with, but the problems metastasise when neither the filmmaking nor the acting is able to elevate it."

References

External links

* * {{Netflix original ended series (2019–present) 2019 Indian television series debuts 2019 Indian television series endings Indian television series distributed by Netflix Indian action television series Indian thriller television series Hindi-language Netflix original programming Red Chillies Entertainment Research and Analysis Wing in fiction Television shows based on Indian novels Television shows set in Pakistan India–Pakistan relations in popular culture Television shows set in Quetta