Khakee: The Bihar Chapter is streaming on OTT and is being appreciated by film buffs and critics alike. This cop-gangster drama directed by Neeraj Pandey is based on the book, Bihar Diaries: The True Story of How Bihar’s Most Dangerous Criminal Was Caught, written by 1998-batch IPS officer of Bihar cadre Amit Lodha.
In the series, Karan Tacker plays the role of Mr. Lodha, who is currently serving as the Inspector General of Police, Bihar.
Indian Masterminds presents the story behind the IPS officer becoming a writer of the book behind a web series that has taken the OTT platform Netflix by storm.
IF DESTINY WILLS
Mr. Lodha, who is an alumni of IIT Delhi and hails from Rajasthan, is among the youngest officers to join the IPS. According to him, writing has always been a part of his life. He has a good command over the English language and used to be the editor for his school and college magazines. During his IIT days also, he used to write, but didn’t continue with it as he had doubts then as to who will publish his books, if he wrote any.
However, writing a book was always there at the back of his mind. It was author of many best-sellers, Chetan Bhagat, who gave pushed him into writing and publishing his book. And, he is very grateful for that. “Chetan Bhagat was my batchmate but now he is a friend. I got inspired by him as he did something which was out of his league and it required a lot of guts to do that,” he says.
Bihar Diaries is not his first book. He had first started writing a humorous take on life in IIT and hostel. However, he dropped it mid way as Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone had already become a best-seller by then. “I still have the manuscript. I might complete it and publish it. No one knows what is in the destiny,” he says.
ALWAYS LOOKED FORWARD FOR WORKING IN BIHAR
When Mr. Lodha joined the police force, Bihar was facing a challenging scenario due to rise of crime rates, kidnappings, murders etc. He took this as a challenge and was looking forward to work in Bihar. The only thing that bothered him was how he will work as a police officer? Will he be able to stand on the expectation of people. He says, “Policing is not like any other 9 to 5 job where you have to follow the manual and instructions given to you. Everyday, there is a different challenge. All this became easy because of the love that was poured on me in Bihar.”
He also says that on the crime front, Bihar has changed a lot. It is a much peaceful place now as compared to that time.
WIFE STOOD BY HIM
It wasn’t easy for him to move to Bihar with his family, but his wife always had his back. She stood by him in every situation. At one point of time he was posted to a village where there was no electricity and water supply. One had to use hand pump. But, his wife came and stayed with him there, also. “That one incident made me realise her strength and gave me a lot of confidence,” he says.
Mr. Lodha has not seen the whole web series. He says director Neeraj Pandey is his close friend and when he asked for permission to make a series on his book, he didn’t hesitate. He was sure that Mr. Pandey will do justice to his book. However, he mentions that some facts and incidents have been exaggerated to add to the drama, and that should be allowed to any filmmaker.
