Picture: Netflix
No Indian director is as synonymous with the thriller genre as Neeraj Pandey. His previous collaborations with Netflix on behalf of his Friday Storytellers banner have included the 2024 Original heist film Sikandar Ka Muqaddar and two seasons of his Khakee crime series (The Bihar Chapter in 2022 and The Bengal Chapter in 2025).
Now Pandey is back with a new series that focuses on an unheralded branch of law enforcement: customs agents. Pandey says: “Airports are familiar to all of us, yet what unfolds behind the scenes is rarely seen. The world of customs is not something that has been explored on screen, and that was part of the appeal in our endeavour to introduce our audiences to a new unexplored world which is quiet, disciplined, and high-pressure.”
The new series — Taskaree: The Smuggler’s Web — marks the first collaboration between Pandey and actor Emraan Hashmi. Hashmi was one of Netflix India’s first leading men, starring in the 2019 espionage series Bard of Blood. His memorable cameo in 2025’s The Ba***ds of Bollywood was one of the show’s highlights.
Taskaree: The Smuggler’s Web is created by Pandey, who shares directing duties with Raghav Jairath. Pandey co-wrote the series with his Sikandar Ka Muqaddar co-writer Vipul K. Rawal.
What is the plot of Taskaree: The Smuggler’s Web?
Here’s how Netflix describes the new Hindi thriller series:
Spanning key smuggling corridors across Al-Dera, Addis Ababa, Milan and Bangkok, Taskaree opens up the complex machinery of the international smuggling world- a web built on coded routes, false manifests, and calculated misdirection. At its centre is a specialised customs task force at one of the busiest airports in the country, Mumbai International Airport, led by an uncompromisingly honest team of officers.
Who is cast in Taskaree: The Smuggler’s Web?
The crew of meticulous customs agents is played by:
- Emraan Hashmi as Supervisor Arjun Meena
- Amruta Khanvilkar (Malang) as Mitali Kamath
- Nandish Singh Sandhu (Super 30) as Ravinder Gujjar
- Anurag Sinha (Sanam Teri Kasam) as Prakash Kumar
Sharad Kelkar (Srikanth) stars as the series villain, smuggling kingpin Bada Chaudhary.
Taskaree: The Smuggler’s Web has 7 episodes and a TV-MA rating in the United States. It is subtitled in 34 languages (including Hindi closed captions) and features dubbed dialogue in English, French, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Latin America), Tamil, and Telugu.
You can see more of Netflix’s upcoming TV and movie slate from India scheduled to arrive in 2026 and beyond in the link provided.
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