Ranjit M Tewari’s Bellbottom (2021), sees Akshay Kumar playing a R&AW agent, putting his brains and flares to get the better of hijackers. In the movie, set in 1984, during one of the many conferences to discuss the plan of action when yet another Indian Airlines plane has been hijacked, the eighth in five years, an elderly gentleman makes a comment. Everyone, including the Prime Minister (Lara Dutta makes for a believable Mrs G), listens to the man respectfully. It was only right that all assembled listened to the man, Rameshwar Nath Kao, (played by Denzil Smith) spymaster extraordinaire who set up the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW).
License to thrill
In The War That Made R&AW (Westland), filmmakers Anusha Nandakumar (35) and Sandeep Saket (33) have put together a thrilling account of the circumstances that led to the setting up of the intelligence agency. Speaking from Mumbai over a video call, the two who studied at the Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute in Kolkata, spoke of how it was the 1971 War that peaked their interest in the subject.
Down the rabbit hole
“We were intrigued by it,” says Anusha. “That led us down a rabbit hole of figuring out what the 1971 War did to us.” Sandeep, who had studied History from Hindu College in Delhi, says, “I have been fascinated with the military history of the country. While there are accounts by generals and some ex-R&AW officers have written about their field experiences, there is nothing in popular culture about the actual missions.”
The mixture of fascination to tell this story and research, led the duo to realise that there was material enough for at least four or five films. “Coincidentally, we were working with Hussain Zaidi on another project,” says Anusha. “We told him we have this material that we did not know what to do with. He said ‘why don’t you write a book’.”
Three-point programme
Demurring, the two said they did not how to and that they were not trained to write. “He said, ‘write the way you can. Tell the story the way you want to see it’. That is when we decided to give it a shot. After two months of throwing ideas around, we stumbled upon a structure starting with Kao, the formation of R&AW and its first victory, the 1971 war,” Anusha says.
These three points were the building blocks for research. “We found out whatever we could and put them under these three broad headings. We had a linearity to the story, which was helpful. Our research assistant, Yogini, who had just graduated from college, helped us categorize the research.”
Easy and difficult
Research, Sandeep says, was neither easy nor difficult. “The ex-R&AW officers we interviewed were forthcoming and most of the books on R&AW are in the public domain.” What was difficult, according to Anusha was segregating and editing the material. “We had to take a call on what needs to go into the book and what should be left out.”
The two sent out emails introducing themselves and while there were some who did not reply, most were kind enough and responded with a ‘why not’, says Anusha. “They plied us with lot of chai … It was almost like a mehfil . We got around stuff they had to be secretive about, by posing the right questions.”
Tough enough
The mechanics of putting the book together also was challenging according to Sandeep. “Figuring out how to start the book, how to go from one chapter to the next, how to build a story to a crescendo, how to tell a story merging intelligence, military, and the geopolitical history of the region, was tough.”
There was an element of piecing evidence together says Anusha. “We would read accounts from various books, or talk to people and then fill in the blanks. We pieced it together like a jigsaw puzzle.”
Stranger than fiction
The most fascinating fact uncovered during research, was that truth is stranger than fiction, Anusha comments. “While we have seen James Bond and other spy films from Hollywood, we could not have imagined Indian spies being like that. We realised that Indian spies have been quite the daredevils themselves. I remember during our research, we were told how there was a department that would manually go through random photographs, that foot soldiers would get back through these small, pinhole cameras. They were just some random, top-angle shots, and the department would still get information from them.”
I spy
Sandeep does not believe popular culture does any justice to spies. “Western films, apart from some such as Bridge of Spies , The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy , are far from realistic. While western spies whether fictional like James Bond or non-fictional organisations such as CIA, KBG, Mossad or MI6 occupy a folklore-ish space, the same cannot be said about Indian spies.”
Anusha feels it is nice to have both kinds of movies. “The two are equally fun— the Agent Vinod, Tiger, Mission Impossible and James Bond kind of larger-than-life spy film, and the realistic ones like Raazi or Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Who doesn’t love a good spy story?”
Lives and lies
The fact that a spy lives different lives and lies simultaneously fascinates Sandeep. “They have to live these different roles perfectly. They cannot afford to trip up. Their job of gathering information, making credible intel out of that information and passing it on to their respective governments is difficult and risky.”
The word spy comes with drama attached, says Anusha. “They come with all the aspects needed for a good story. They are already heroes fighting for the country. There is conflict and emotions. All the essential things for a good story come packaged with a spy. There is also the aspirational value.”
Not gadget heavy
During the course of research the writers found that when R&AW started, it was not so gadget heavy, says Anusha. “A lot of intelligence-capturing happened manually. Kao’s first big assignment was the Kashmir Princess Probe when, an Air India aircraft carrying delegates to the Bandung Conference exploded and crashed into the Pacific Ocean killing 16 souls on board. Kao was summoned by the Chinese Premier to investigate. He was in a foreign country for six months—navigating five different countries, gathering information, and presenting his case. This was in the Fifties. It was tough but also helped Kao cultivate relationships with different countries, which was bonus when he was setting up R&AW. While gadgets are a part of espionage, it is also about people skills and how your brain is wired.”
After the book came out, others reached out to share information. “It almost became a community thing. We feel we have to write another book with so many people wanting to share their stories,” Anusha says with a laugh. “There were two or three big missions in the ‘70s that we hope to cover. The legacy of Kao and the Kao-boys is the thread that will run through the books.”
