It puts a huge amount of pressure on the makers and generates equal amount of expectations from the viewer's when you recreate a show that has won many international awards including Golden Globe and Emmy and is loved by fans all over the world.24 (international version) is such a show which had created a genre in itself in Action-Drama segment of television shows. Being one of the highest rated and the longest running espionage themed television drama ever it proudly sits in all its glory as one of Americas finest shows ever produced. Recreating such a classic for an audience which is not accustomed to watch anything except Saas- Bahu Opera is a feat in itself but it requires extreme clarity of vision nonetheless and a good production house and (financial backing) and capable actors to adapt an international genre to suit the domestic taste.24 (Indian version) has that clarity of vision, the backing of influential producers and credible actors, but is that enough? Indian 24 as the international version is a thriller which revolves around the political assassination of the to-be prime minister and Jai Singh Rathor's race against time to foil the plot and save the countries future as well as his family from the clutches of terrorism simultaneously uncovering the conspirators behind the event. Each episode is a real time depiction of 1 hour of rathors life, rather the most important day of his life. It uses the similar split screen technique as the original to depict multiple scenes occurring at the same time. The beauty of the original series lied not in the fast pace or the action sequences but in the complexity of the characters, every character had depth and the drama that evolved out of those complex characters was the where the real beauty of 24 lied and I must say the Indian version beautifully captures that essence more or less because it follows the same pattern as the original. There is a to-be prime minister with a dark past which no one is aware of, Rathor has skeletons in his love closet, Nikki (Rathors ex) is still in love with him but is in relationship with another co-worker, rathors daughter is beautiful and irritating a major distraction for rathor from his job and from the central plot for the viewer. All this goes on along with the high level plot to assassinate India's youngest prime minister who has all the countries hopes pinned on him.Will Jai Singh Rathor succeed in saving his family and country both or will he have to pay the ultimate sacrifice? Follow the series to find out. The story/screenplay 24 of is well crafted and is rock solid as it is based on a similar skeleton as the original, I guess that was how the original creators wanted it to be. Overall the show looks promising as it has an ensemble cast of promising actors helming pivotal roles(Anupam Kher,Mandira Bedi,Shavana Azmi,Anil Kapoor,Tisca Chopra etc) in the story. For people who have followed the original series till all 8 seasons you can miss couple of episodes and still you won't lose track but for people who are new to 24 .Watch it and savor the taste as it is definitely not something that you would have seen before.
