Kay Kay Menon and Vinay Pathak on returning for Neeraj Pandey's Special Ops 2

You know they are ageing in reverse when you see Kay Kay Menon and Vinay Pathak looking dapper in their chic attires as they sit down with midday to chat about the upcoming show Special Ops 2 helmed by Neeraj Pandey Calling them versatile is an understatement considering their vast body of work and how they seamlessly become their characters mdash Himmat Singh and Abbas Sheikh respectively While they are yet to watch the show the two actors confidently tell us that they are already blown away by the filmmakerrsquos expertise in ldquoweaving fiction and making it almost seem realrdquoExcerpts from the interviewWere you as impatient as the viewers for Special Ops 2Kay Kay Menon It was ready six months back We were just waiting for the JioHotstar merger to happen Almost twoandahalf years ago we had finished season 15 So this bit of wait time is expected especially for a show of this massive scaleArtificial intelligence and cybercrimes are on the rise Have you ever personally been victims of it Does that worry youVinay Pathak Not really You get calls selling insurance or credit cards every now and then but we know now to be careful We havenrsquot been a victim yet It makes you wary but you cannot be panicstricken about it all the timeKKM Itrsquos as worrisome as your house getting burgled on one fine day The aura around the risk depends on how much you amplify it The lock was invented to keep thieves away but they found a way out so we moved to digital locks Itrsquos the same thing here mdash anything that is technologyoriented itrsquos always possible for someone to break through You eventually find devices to curtail itNeeraj PandeyHow big is Special Ops this seasonVP It feels fantastic to be a part of something this big and exciting The best is that it is really thrilling Sometimes I canrsquot believe that I am an integral part of that madnessKKM When I saw the trailer I was blown away by itWas any part of the story inspired by reallife incidentsVP I think that is best answered by Neeraj Pandey But I think he is very good at weaving fiction and making it almost seem realHow easy or difficult was it to go back into the world of Himmat Singh and Abbas Sheikh and what new did you learn about your charactersKKM The new thing came with the script of course which I cannot reveal Ultimately it all depends on the writing and Neeraj is brilliant in that department So that was taken care of Each time I come for a new season the only thing I look forward to is to see what he has done now Thatrsquos the most exciting part for me as an actor As for Himmat Singh I know him now quite well since wersquove also done his backstoryVP I know that I am going to read a new story with the references of what has already been established Itrsquos always exciting to read how and what story we are telling this timePandey is known for taking single and long shots and keeping his action real How easy is it to manage thatKKM We are both theatre actors so we usually do everything in one take only It is not a threat to us It is in fact very good because a certain continuity is maintained that you need not induce later for a different cut So I donrsquot think that is a problem It is all wellrehearsedWhen OTT newly emerged there was a latent fear that it could overtake theatres and TV Now after so much time do you think that fear was justifiedVP Hasnrsquot it spoken for itself OTT has been around for a while and itrsquos settled now I think we love to keep these theories of theatres being affected afloatKKM I believe therersquos always a correction that happens You have an inflation and then a correction When television came in everybody thought that cinema was done because no one was going to go to the theatres but nothing happened For some time everyone had that fear but it settled I donrsquot think theatrical releases are going anywhere Yes the format and the way people view it might be different but it will correct itself to cater to that audience You will have to up the ante a bit while making content understanding that there are two different kinds of people who watch it The same person becomes a different individual when he is watching something on OTT and I can guarantee that person will not stand up and dance to Sheila ki jawani after watching it on OTT In theatres itrsquos a mass psychology that happens It is a party syndrome so even if you donrsquot know how to dance you will also shake your leg As long as makers understand that and cater to it it will workWhile there are algorithms to check if a show is doing well how do you gauge if your performance has landed with the audienceVP Hum jo kaam karte hain woh accha hi hota hain We donrsquot sit and wonder ki woh jo kharaab kaam kiya hain uske baarein mein log humse kya kahenge laughs Our intentions are always good we want to do a decent and honest job That is how we look at all the jobs that one has been a part of Itrsquos an honest approach to how we go about our workDo you criticise your own performance And did you have any for this showKKM Oh that I wonrsquot reveal mdash why should IVP All the time that is the excitement We do discuss it a lot with our shrink