Netflix India’s 2022 fan event, Tudum, highlighted several upcoming films and series on Saturday, September 24. The event included director Vishal Bhardwaj’s Khufiya, which features Tabu and Raj Nidimoru. The spy thriller film is based on author Amar Bhushan’s book titled Escape to Nowhere and has received praise from fans.

The Tudum India show was hosted by popular comedian Zakir Khan and actor Prajakta Koli on Saturday. It also quickly made headlines, as did author Amar Bhushan, whose book Escape to Nowhere is now being adapted to screen by Vishal Bhardwaj.

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Who is Amar Bhushan?

Amar Bhushan is an Indian author and former chief of the counter-espionage unit of India. Bhushan worked as the Special Secretary at the Cabinet Secretariat for a long time and following his retirement in 2005, he turned his focus toward writing. As an author, Bhushan has written many thrillers such as Escape to Nowhere, The Zero-Cost Mission/The Wily Agent, Inside Nepal/The Walk In and Terror in Islamabad.

Bhushan worked for RAW for more than two decades, following his career with Border Security Force (BSF) intelligence, State Special Branch and the Intelligence Bureau. According to GoodReads, Bhushan currently stays in Jasidih, a village in Jharkhand.

According to writer and director Vishal Bhardwaj, also known for his film Haider, his upcoming film is inspired by true events and based on Amar Bhushan authored Escape to Nowhere. The film features Tabu, Wamiqa Gabbi and Ali Fazal and shows Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) agent Krishna Mehra, who has been assigned an important mission, which is forcing her into a dilemma between her two identities as a spy and a lover.

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The character of Krishna Mehra was originally a male character in Amar Bhushan’s book, however, Bhardwaj has revealed that he switched the gender of the character as it was not exciting enough as a male character.

“The film is based on Amar Bhushan espionage novel ‘Escape to Nowhere’, the character was male but it was not that exciting for me. When I thought of Tabu, the excitement was more and I changed the gender of the character. I found a reason to work with Tabu and I got that,” the Khufiya director told reporters.