Khufiya director Vishal Bhardwaj: ‘I try to always find a reason to work with Tabu’

Netflix on Monday unveiled sneak peeks of its upcoming Bollywood films. Among the many titles, Khufiya has left fans intrigued. The film will bring back the successful jodi of Vishal Bhardwaj and Tabu. At the Films Day event, Bhardwaj spoke about how he loves working with Tabu and shared more details about his upcoming project.
Talking about Khufiya, Bhardwaj revealed that it is based on Amar Bhushan’s espionage novel Escape to Nowhere. The filmmaker said the original character was male but that did not excite him. “I was more excited when I thought of Tabu and thus I decided to change the gender of the character. I try to always find a reason to work with Tabu and I got that,” he shared.

Calling it the ‘biggest compliment’, Tabu spoke about her character Krishna Mehra in Khufiya. The actor, who will be seen playing a spy in the movie, said, “Professionally, she works with the country’s espionage unit but as a person she is far layered, interesting and all that. There is a parallel between what she is doing, what her life is and who she has been. All this you will understand after watching the film.”
Vishal Bhardwaj further talked about his film Khufiya and spies. The filmmaker said how a spy’s life is behind the shadows was something that was exciting for him.
Here’s the first look of Khufiya:

“We have seen many films on their working pattern. When I read the novel, I felt it was unique. The detailing is so beautiful and dramatic because it is based on a real case which happened in 2004. So, the detailing was very fascinating for me. It was almost like you are sitting in a R&AW office. I knew it would be interesting to make a film and add drama, fiction to it,” he said.
The director also spoke about being spontaneous at work. He said that one can only be spontaneous if they are well prepared. “When actors like Tabu, Naseeruddin Shah come on set, they create magical moments on-screen. However, the basic homework is very important. We have changed things on sets and in this film too, we have altered a lot. You can afford to be spontaneous only if you are prepared well. Otherwise, one can also make a wrong decision while being spontaneous,” shared Vishal Bhardwaj.
Khufiya also stars Ali Fazal, Wamiqa Gabbi and Ashish Vidyarthi.