Every episode of Operation Safed Sagar ends with a note of thanks to late comedian Raju Srivastav. What was his connection with the Netflix series? When mid-day reached out to co-creator Kushal Srivastava, he revealed that the Jimmy Shergill and Siddharth-starrer wouldn’t have been possible without his late paternal uncle.
Kushal Srivastava and Antara Srivastava
Kushal, an ex-Indian Air Force officer, recalled, “Years ago when I told my chacha that I want to do something so that the whole world knows my name, he joked that I should install hand-pumps everywhere with my name on them. But when he realised I was serious about joining the film industry, he helped me secure permission to leave the Indian Air Force.”
A still from the series
After directing Vodka Diaries (2018), Kushal began working on Operation Safed Sagar with the comedian’s daughter Antara Srivastava. At the time, it was envisioned as a film. Antara recounted, “We had the cast and script locked. Then we faced a setback as COVID-19 happened. Later, we decided to develop it as a series, and around May 2022, Netflix gave us a go-ahead.”
Unfortunately, the comedian passed away in September 2022. She added, “This was the last project Papa knew about. This is a family show for us as our family has gone through a lot while making it.”
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