Taskaree: The Smuggler’s Web is a 2026 Hindi crime thriller created by Neeraj Pandey and built around the world of customs enforcement, airport surveillance and organised smuggling. The story follows a specialised customs team at Mumbai International Airport as it tries to dismantle a syndicate that moves contraband through carefully planned routes and a network of operatives.
Emraan Hashmi leads the series as customs officer Arjun Meena, with Sharad Kelkar playing the powerful syndicate chief Bada Choudhary. Anurag Sinha, Amruta Khanvilkar, Nandish Singh Sandhu and Zoya Afroz have other major roles. The first season has seven episodes and was released on Netflix on January 14, 2026.
Taskaree Web Series Cast
Emraan Hashmi as Arjun Meena
Emraan Hashmi plays Arjun Meena, a Superintendent of Customs who becomes the central figure in the operation against Bada Choudhary’s smuggling network. At the beginning of the series, Arjun is under suspension, but he is brought back when the department needs an experienced officer who can handle a growing contraband problem at Mumbai airport. He is then asked to lead a small team of officers with the freedom to pursue the syndicate more aggressively. Arjun’s role combines investigation, surveillance, field operations and the pressure of making difficult decisions when the smugglers begin fighting back.
Sharad Kelkar as Bada Choudhary
Sharad Kelkar appears as Bada Choudhary, the main criminal force opposing the customs team. He heads a powerful smuggling syndicate with operations extending beyond one city or one type of contraband. Rather than functioning as a distant villain, Bada Choudhary remains closely connected to the movement of goods, couriers and intermediaries that the officers are trying to trace. His ability to anticipate enforcement moves turns the investigation into a contest of strategy between the syndicate and Arjun’s team.
Anurag Sinha as Prakash Kumar
Anurag Sinha plays Prakash Kumar, the customs officer who takes charge at a time when the department is under pressure to curb rising smuggling activity. Prakash ends Arjun’s suspension and gives him the responsibility of putting together a focused team. He therefore becomes an important link between senior departmental authority and the officers carrying out the operation on the ground.
Amruta Khanvilkar as Mitali Kamath
Amruta Khanvilkar plays Mitali Kamath, one of the officers selected for Arjun’s specialised team. Like Ravinder, she enters the operation after previously being suspended. Mitali becomes part of the core group tracking passengers, couriers and suspicious movements connected with the syndicate. Her presence also helps the series show the work as a coordinated customs investigation rather than a one-man mission.
Nandish Singh Sandhu as Ravinder Gujjar
Nandish Singh Sandhu appears as Ravinder Gujjar, another officer recruited into Arjun’s team. Ravinder is involved in the field side of the investigation and gradually faces increasingly serious risks as the syndicate retaliates against the officers. One of the later episodes places particular emphasis on the consequences of his impulsive actions, adding a personal cost to the larger enforcement operation.
Zoya Afroz as Priya Khubchandani
Zoya Afroz plays Priya Khubchandani, a flight attendant whose storyline becomes important to the customs investigation. After Arjun catches her carrying smuggled gold, Priya is drawn into the operation as an undercover source. Her access to the travel network gives the officers a way to look beyond seizures at the airport and understand how the syndicate coordinates people and consignments.
Veerendra Saxena as Shrikant Saxena
Veerendra Saxena plays Shrikant Saxena, a character who becomes particularly important during the final stage of the season. Information obtained from him gives Arjun a crucial lead as the syndicate prepares another major smuggling run. His role helps move the story from investigation and surveillance towards the concluding confrontation.
Other notable cast members include:
- Jameel Khan as Suresh Kaka
- Freddy Daruwala as Rahul
- Sumit Nijhawan as Anna
- Anuja Sathe as Meenakshi
- Krishan Tandon as Sharma Ji
- Hemant Kher as Customs Officer Jainesh Patel
- Ekavali Khanna as Mrs. Sayyed
- Rajat Bhasin as Customs Officer Sajjad Sheikh
- Mohit Dagga as Customs Officer K. P. Awasthi
- Nancy Marwah as Customs Officer Srilata Nair
- Akash Ayyar as Customs Officer Kulvir Dhuria
Taskaree Web Series Crew
Neeraj Pandey created the series and is one of its directors and writers. Raghav Jairath and B. A. Fida are also credited as directors, while Vipul K. Rawal shares the writing credit. Shital Bhatia produced the series under Friday Storytellers. The technical team includes cinematographers Sudheer Palsane and Arvind Singh, editor Kathikuloth Praveen, casting director Vicky Sidana and production designer Sandeep Sharad Ravade.
- Creator: Neeraj Pandey
- Directors: Neeraj Pandey, Raghav Jairath and B. A. Fida
- Writers: Neeraj Pandey and Vipul K. Rawal
- Producer: Shital Bhatia
- Production Company: Friday Storytellers
- Directors of Photography: Sudheer Palsane and Arvind Singh
- Editor: Kathikuloth Praveen
- Casting Director: Vicky Sidana
- Production Designer: Sandeep Sharad Ravade
- Costume Designer: Falguni Thakore
Taskaree Web Series Story
Taskaree begins at Mumbai International Airport, where customs officials are dealing with increasing pressure to control organised smuggling. The department needs more than routine checks because the people moving contraband are working through a wider network that can change routes, couriers and methods whenever enforcement becomes stronger.
Prakash Kumar responds by bringing Arjun Meena back from suspension. Arjun is an experienced customs officer, but instead of being placed into an ordinary desk assignment, he is given the job of building a specialised team. Mitali Kamath and Ravinder Gujjar, both officers with their own troubled service histories, join him. Together they begin looking for the pattern behind repeated seizures and suspicious movements.
Their investigation leads towards Bada Choudhary, a smuggling boss whose network is designed to operate across borders and through multiple intermediaries. The series moves beyond the familiar image of a single passenger hiding gold. Couriers, airport access, travel routes, false identities and contacts in different locations all become parts of a larger system that the officers have to understand before they can disrupt it.
Priya Khubchandani becomes one of the most useful links in that effort. After she is caught carrying smuggled gold, Arjun uses her position as a flight attendant to obtain information from inside the network. The customs team then attempts a larger operation designed to intercept several smugglers at once. But the syndicate is alert enough to recognise that something may be wrong, forcing the officers to keep changing their approach.
As the operation develops, the conflict becomes more dangerous. The syndicate responds with intimidation and violence instead of simply abandoning its routes. The pressure affects the team personally, and Ravinder’s actions create additional complications. At the same time, Arjun continues following leads that may identify how Bada Choudhary’s organisation is preparing its next move.
The final part of the season brings these separate threads together. Information from Shrikant Saxena gives Arjun an important opening just as the syndicate attempts another major gold-smuggling run. The climax therefore returns to the basic contest established at the beginning: whether a customs team working with limited time and imperfect information can stay ahead of an organisation built to survive seizures, arrests and changing enforcement tactics.
How Many Episodes Are There in Taskaree?
Taskaree: The Smuggler’s Web Season 1 has seven episodes. All seven were released on January 14, 2026. The episodes run for roughly 39 to 58 minutes and follow one continuous investigation rather than separate standalone cases.
- Episode 1: Customs vs Popat – 45 minutes
- Episode 2: Bada Choudhary – 39 minutes
- Episode 3: The Priya Story – 51 minutes
- Episode 4: Operation Longshot – 43 minutes
- Episode 5: Hum Coin Hain – 43 minutes
- Episode 6: Darr Ka Dhandha – 42 minutes
- Episode 7: Kahani Khatam – 58 minutes
As of September 2026, the streaming platform lists one released season with these seven episodes. Any future season would depend on a new official announcement rather than the existing Season 1 listing.
Taskaree OTT Platform and Release Date
Taskaree: The Smuggler’s Web premiered on Netflix on January 14, 2026. The complete seven-episode first season is currently available on Netflix in India. The platform lists the show as a Hindi-language thriller, with additional audio options including English, Tamil and Telugu.
Because streaming catalogues and language options can change by region, viewers should check the current Netflix listing before subscribing specifically for the series. As of September 2026, Netflix continues to list the full first season in India.
What Kind of Series Is Taskaree?
Taskaree is primarily a crime thriller with a strong customs-enforcement and procedural angle. Instead of focusing on a conventional police station or murder investigation, it uses airports, international routes, contraband seizures and intelligence gathering as the machinery of the story. That gives the series a different setting from many Indian crime dramas while still keeping the central conflict easy to follow.
The season balances the officers’ attempt to understand the smuggling network with Bada Choudhary’s efforts to protect it. Emraan Hashmi’s Arjun Meena provides the investigative centre, while Sharad Kelkar’s Bada Choudhary gives the story a clear opposing force. With seven connected episodes, the series is structured as one sustained operation that moves from airport seizures and recruitment of the task force to undercover work, retaliation and a final attempt to stop the syndicate’s next consignment.
