‘The Black Tiger’: Anurag Basu to direct biopic on Indian spy Ravindra Kaushik

Filmmaker Anurag Basu on Thursday announced his next directorial venture Black Tiger, a biopic on Indian spy Ravindra Kaushik. The director, known for films like Life in a… Metro, Gangster, Barfi! and Ludo, said the stories of unsung heroes like Kaushik must be shared with the people.

“The story of Ravindra Kaushik is one of courage and bravery. At the young age of 20, he played a key role in many national and international security affairs of the 1970s and 1980s that defined the geopolitical character of India and South Asia. Much of our history is either hidden or forgotten. We should recognize and learn about this unsung hero,” Basu said in a statement.

According to a press release, Kaushik was 20 years old when he first went undercover for the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India's foreign intelligence agency. He is considered India's best spy to date for his success in infiltrating the top ranks of the Pakistani military, earning him the nickname "Black Tiger" from Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India.

Kaushik's intuitive and timely reporting of critical information ensured that between 1974 and 1983, Indian security forces were constantly retreating from any move Pakistan planned to make, the report said. His family members have given their consent for the biopic and are supporting the makers by sharing information apart from the story from their lens, the makers further said.

The Black Tiger is produced by Basu, R Vivek, Asvin Srivatsangam and Divay Dhamija. In 2021, superstar Salman Khan told in an interview that his sister Alvira Khan Agnihotri and brother-in-law Atul Agnihotri are producing a biopic on Kaushik. Director Raj Kumar Gupta of Raid 2019 fame had earlier said that he is all set to bring Kaushik's life story to the big screen.