Imagine this: You decide to adapt an Israeli prisoner of war drama for Indian television audiences, and a few weeks before you are scheduled to go on air, there are serious engagements along the country’s border! What is a tragedy for the families of the soldiers killed in action may transform into large scale interest in the serial. POW (Bandi Yuddh Ke, in Hindi, a literal translation) is a STARPLUS production, based on the Israeli hit, Hatufim (literally ‘kidnapped’), written produced and directed by Gideon ‘Gidi’ Raff, who is currently directing the Priyanka Chopra—starrer, Quantico. An American version is also being aired, titled Homeland.

Raff revealed, "A lot of the changes came down to differences between the two countries. In Israel, we negotiate with terrorists to get prisoners released. The US don't, so one of the prisoners, Brody, had to be freed in a military operation. In Hatufim, I wanted to show broken soldiers, broken masculinity; whereas in Homeland, Brody comes back buffer, a poster boy." Initially shot as a 10-episode story, and aired in 2009. It got extremely popular, and returned the next season, to run until 2012.

As the locale moves to South Asia, the countries at conflict are India and Pakistan, and it is the Kargil face-off that happened, uncannily, in1999. Two young Indian personnel end up in Pakistani custody, and when they return 17 years later, everything has changed beyond recognition: their wives, their families and they, themselves. The serial is more about the personal and emotional price these characters pay, rather than victory or defeat in the battlefront. In feel, Bandi Yuddh Ke is closer to Hatufim than Homeland.

Director Nikkhil Advani (Kal Ho Na Ho, D-Day, Airlift) ventures into the small screen realm with this patriotic-reflective story, written for the Indian version by four writers--Aseem Arora, Aniruddha Guha, Gauravv  K. Chawla and Eisha Chopra. The main actors are Sandhya Mridul (Force, Ragini MMS 2, Angry Indian Goddesses), Satyadeep Misra (No One Killed Jessica, Ferrari Ki Sawari, Bombay Velvet), Amrita Puri (Aisha, Blood Money, Kai Po Che!), Purab Kohli (Rock On, Jal, Airlift), Manish Chaudhuri (Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year, Band Baaja Baraat,  Mickey Virus, Bombay Velvet), Arun Bali (playing a Sikh/Sardaar for the umpteenth time). Tipped to be a 125 episode show, it has been in pipeline since 2014, and 106 days of shooting had been completed by October 7, 2016.

Telecast commences 14 October.

Trailer: http://www.hotstar.com/tv/pow-bandi-yuddh-ke/pow-bandi-yuddh-ke-trailer/1000152402

Star India has been around the Indian media landscape for over two decades and today is one of the country’s leading media conglomerates, reaching approximately 650 million viewers a month, across India, and more than 100 other countries. Star generates 20,000 hours of content every year, and broadcasts 40+ channels in 8 different languages, reaching 9 out of 10 Cable &Satellite TV homes in India.

The network’s entertainment channel portfolio includes Star Gold, Channel V, Star World, Star Movies, Star Utsav, Life OK, Movies OK and Star Plus, India's No. 1 Hindi General Entertainment Channel. It is also present in the Indian movie production and distribution space, through Fox Star Studios, an affiliate joint venture company.

Star India is a fully owned subsidiary of 21st Century Fox.