Mumbai: Zee Cinema will air the World Television Premiere of ‘NaamShabana’ on Saturday, 24th June at 9 PM.
Baby, the blockbuster film starring Akshay Kumar that released in 2015, threw light on India’s secret intelligence agency R.A.W like never before. Chronicling a thrilling journey of undercover agents, the film had a strong female character, Shabana, who was an integral part of the squad. While she garnered applause for her impactful performance in her limited screen time, her story remained unknown. This year, Bollywood had its first official spin-off to Baby in NaamShabana. The film back-tracks the journey of Shabana from being a simple girl to a secret agent and showcases a unique story of courage, determination and fearlessness.
Writtenby NeerajPandey and directed byShivam Nair, NaamShabanastars Taapsee Pannu in the title role. Akshay Kumar who headed Team Baby plays a critical role in the film. NaamShabana brings back the National award-winning duo of Akshay Kumar-NeerajPandey for the fourth time after delivering films like Special 26, Rustomand Baby. With a credible ensemble of Manoj Bajpayee,AnupamKher, Danny Denzongpa and PrithvirajSukumaran, the movie boasts of well-choreographed stunts, impactful dialogues and a hard hitting narrative to keep you on the edge. For portraying a tough character like Shabana, Taapsee Pannu underwent extensive training in mixed martial arts, aikido and kravmaga and the film went on to become a sleeper hit.
Talking about the premiere, Akshay Kumar said, “I would first like to thank the viewers for the immense support and appreciation they have showered on my films. I like to do films that cater to the entire family and subtly also deliver a powerful message. Zee Cinema entertains audiences with many of my films and the premiere of NaamShabana will definitely be one to watch out for with the entire family. I am sure viewers will enjoy the movie on Zee Cinema.”
On being asked about the idea of making a spin-off of Baby, director NeerajPandey said, “The idea of NaamShabana came when Taapsee’s character in Baby was applauded by the audience. She had a screen presence of some 10 minutes and it left a strong impact on the audience’s mind. We then thought of telling her story and tracing her character’s origin. We were very excited to showcase something different.”
Shabana Khan (Taapsee Pannu) is helped by Ajay Singh Rajput (Akshay Kumar) in avenging her lover’s death. While Ajay and his team are driven by an agenda, little does Shabana know that she is the chosen one to be trained and recruited as a part of R.A.W, India’s secret agency. With a team of able officers like Ranvir Singh (Manoj Bajpayee) and a secret agent, Om PrakashShukla (AnupamKher), Shabana and Ajay set out on a mission for the country to nab an international arms dealer, Mikhail (PrithvirajSukumaran). The chase that follows forms the crux of the story.
