DUBAI: “The Day of the Jackal” — a 10-episode series written by Ronan Bennett available to stream in the Middle East on OSN+ — is a contemporary reimagining of Frederick Forsyth’s 1971 novel and the famed 1973 film, directed by Fred Zinnemann. 

UK film star Eddie Redmayne plays the titular Jackal, an extremely thorough and detail-oriented British assassin, often taking on intricate disguises and speaking several languages to get the job done.

“One of the thrills of this experience for me was that the Jackal kind of is an actor. And particularly in Ronan’s version of him now, he’s quite obsessive, and he loves the process.

“And so, the fact that he’s an artist, and he preps the prosthetics himself and he mimics the languages … The whole experience was a sort of actor’s playground, really. And I loved that element of it,” Redmayne told Arab News.

“What I found intriguing about the part was, normally, when I’m playing a part, I kind of reach out to the character, and there were many moments in this in which I was going, ‘OK, so if this guy’s an actor, and he’s quite a proficient actor, how would I navigate my way through this situation? If I had these formidable assassin skills, if I had to lie horrifically to my wife, if I had to manipulate things.’

“So, what’s odd is, of all the characters I played, much more so I found it was about trying to bring that character to me, rather than reaching out to him, which was helped by the fact that it’s the first character I played in 25 years in which he wears contemporary clothes. I’ve been stuck in tweeds and stiff collars. So, that was fun,” he said.

Starring alongside Redmayne is Lashana Lynch, who plays Bianca, an intelligence officer with firearms expertise and a similarly obsessive approach to her work. 

The thrilling series follows a tense cat-and-mouse chase across Europe, with Bianca hot on the heels of the Jackal, who is leaving a trail of bodies in his wake as he evades authorities.

The show traces an uncanny parallel between the two characters. They both have family lives, they are both exacting and skillful at their jobs, but chaos follows wherever they go, often with deadly consequences.

“For me as an actor, it was exciting to see a man and a woman in those positions. I’m very used to the films that I have come across over the years, seeing two men in those positions, and everyone being very excited that one’s going to oscillate between being good and evil,” Lynch said.

“Having a woman being potentially evil is really exciting because it breaks the parameters in a way that kind of re-educates the industry to continue to stay open minded with female characters, and that’s kind of what I’m all about. And to have a team like this that celebrated that and did it within the genre of espionage is special and very new for the kind of TV that I’m used to watching,” Lynch said.

NEW DELHI: India contemplated Test cricket without Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma on Monday after the star duo again failed to fire in the bruising series defeat to Australia.

With out-of-form skipper Rohit missing, the visitors went down by six wickets in the fifth and final Test on Sunday in Sydney to lose the series 3-1.

Fresh from a 3-0 home whitewash to New Zealand, the defeat sparked renewed debate in India about the future of the team and in particular two of its stalwarts.

The 37-year-old opening batsman Rohit, who missed the only India win of the series in the first Test because of the birth of his second child, managed 31 runs in three matches.

Kohli, 36, scored an unbeaten century in the first Test but otherwise had another underwhelming series by his sky-high standards.

Australia booked a meeting with South Africa in the World Test Championship final in June after India lost out in the race with six Test losses in eight matches.

India’s next Test assignment is their tour to England in June-July, when the visitors will play five matches and selectors will have to make a call on Kohli and Rohit.

“I think the next 8-10 days are crucial for Indian cricket to take a good, honest look at itself,” former captain Sunil Gavaskar told news channel India Today.

“Most importantly, the star culture has to end. Total commitment to Indian cricket is non-negotiable.

“We don’t need players who are partly here and partly elsewhere. It’s time to stop pampering anyone.”

Kohli skipped matches after the birth of his second child in February last year.

Apart from his century, Kohli scored 90 runs across eight innings.

Dubbed “King Kohli” for his prolific scoring, the batsman averaged above 54 before 2019, but from 2020 onwards his average has slipped to 30.72.

Kohli and Rohit have been criticized for not participating in domestic matches to improve their faltering form, a decision that irked many pundits including Gavaskar.

“The cricket board needs to stop acting like admirers and put their foot down,” the batting great said.

“They must tell the players that Indian cricket comes first. It’s either a full commitment to Indian cricket or other priorities.”

Rohit, who had also been censured for his decision-making as skipper, said it was his choice to stand down for the decisive fifth Test.

He also insisted he was not retiring.

Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar did not mince his words.

“When to retire is up to the player,” he wrote on social media.

“But how long to play is up to the selectors.”

Jasprit Bumrah, the vice captain, would be the clear pick to replace Rohit as Test captain after the pace spearhead took 32 wickets in five Tests in Australia and led the team to victory in the first match in Perth.

Coach Gautam Gambhir, who received flak for keeping the media guessing in his pre-match press conference about whether Rohit would play in Sydney, appears to favor keeping the duo at his disposal.

“I can’t talk about the future of any player. It’s up to them as well,” Gambhir said.

“They still have the hunger, they still have the passion, they are tough people and hopefully they can continue to take Indian cricket forward.”

He added: “Whatever they plan, they will plan in the best interest of the team.”

Kohli and Rohit both called time on their T20 international careers last year soon after India won the World Cup in June.

Both are expected to play in the one-day Champions Trophy in Dubai and Pakistan in February-March.