Rajeev Khandelwal to play a Special Task Force officer in Zee5's Naxal

Actor Rajeev Khandelwal, who was last seen in Ateet (2020), the Zee5 original film, will be back soon on the OTT platform with a new series titled Naxal. The actor plays Special Task Force (STF) agent Raghav, who fights against the growing Naxalite menace.

 An eight-part action thriller, it alternates between the dense jungles of Maharashtra and the metropolitan cities, which have increasingly become hotbeds for the Naxal ideology.

Along with Khandelwal, the show also stars Satyadeep Mishra as Pahan, Tina Datta as Ketki, and Aamir Ali as Keswani. As the restrictions on shooting have been lifted, the makers are looking to begin shooting soon with appropriate and stringent safety measures. The cast and crew had to go through a lot of rearrangements because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Khandelwal who plays the lead is excited to start work on the project. "I am looking forward to working with Aamir, Satyadeep, Tina, and others as my co-actors. I have never had the opportunity of working with any of them, so it makes it even more exciting. We have had table readings for the show and I have used this time away from sets, to work on my character. I am hoping it is a treat for my fans because they have never seen me in a role like this," he said. 

Naxal is produced by Arjun Singgh Baran and Kartk D Nishandar of GSEAMS. It is also their first Hindi project as well as their first web-series. The series will be directed by Partho Mitra.

Talking about the series, the producers said in an official statement, "We are extremely excited to be working on this show with Zee5. This show is extremely relevant in today's time in India. We have taken a topic that is plaguing India but ensured that we kept it entertaining. We are happy to have Rajeev Khandelwal playing the lead role along with other eminent cast and crew members,”it said.

Naxal will be available to stream exclusively on Zee5 later this year.