I Don't Have To Prove My Love For My Country

PIES aren't exactly covert in movies. They will fist-fight on top of a running train, dangle from an airplane and chase through a busy bazaar, ready to feature in headlines the next morning.

- KARTIK BHARDWAJ

PIES aren't exactly covert in movies. They will fist-fight on top of a running train, dangle from an airplane and chase through a busy bazaar, ready to feature in headlines the next morning. They will be good-looking, charming, riding a car whose engine roars not so subtly with a woman on their arm that can turn heads. But as John Le Carre often wrote about, real spy-work isn't that glamorous. It's less expensive suits and futuristic gadgets, more tracing calls and analyzing heaps of documents. "Growing up, I thought a spy is a guy with the most swag," says Pratik Gandhi. "He can get into any building, steal anything and never get caught. If need be, he can also fight in the middle of the street and still nobody would recognize him. And I used to think, why is nobody noticing this guy? Hasn't he just blown his cover?"