The trailer of Aditya Roy Kapur and Anil Kapoor-starrer spy thriller The Night Manager was unveiled on Friday. The trailer was released by the stars and makers of the show in a grand event in Alibaug. The Night Manager is based on John Le Carre’s bestseller of the same name and a remake of the British series based on it.
The trailer opens with a hassled looking Aditya in the snow trying to escape. We are then introduced to Anil Kapoor’s Shailendra ‘Shelly’ Rungta, a ruthless diabolical arms dealer on the radar of the Indian intelligence. The authorities plant a mole in Rungta’s empire - the night manager of a hotel named Shaan (played by Aditya).
As Shaan tries to gather information about Shelly’s wrongdoings, he finds himself drawn to his girlfriend (Sobhita Dhulipala), which threatens to compromise his mission. How he manages to balance his duty and his heart form the crux of the show. Fans were divided in their reaction to the trailer with some praising the production values and the leads but others criticising the makers for ‘another remake’. One fan commented, “After a long time watching a very promising trailer from Bollywood.” Another wrote, “Visuals awesome hai iske. (Visuals are awesome here).”
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Others were less welcoming. “The original is just magnificent. Should not have been remade,” wrote one viewer. Another argued, “I hope someday Bollywood would come up with their own originals than remake.” The original British series starred Tom Hiddleston as a night manager, who infiltrates an arms dealer’s (Hugh Laurie) organization as a police mole. It was critically acclaimed with particular praise for the leads.
The Night Manager, directed by Sandeep Modi, also stars Tillotama Shome, Saswata Chatterjee, and Ravi Behl. Co-directed by Priyanka Ghosh, the series is produced by The Ink Factory and Banijay Asia. It will stream on Disney+ Hotstar from February 17.
