Mukhbir

Mukhbiir
Promotional poster
Directed by	Mani Shankar
Produced by	Sudhish Rambottla
Written by	Mani Shankar
Starring	Sameer Dattani Om Puri Sunil Shetty Sushant Singh Rahul Dev Jackie Shroff Raima Sen
Music by	Karthik Raja Shashi Preetam
Cinematography	Ajayan Vincent
Edited by	Apurva Asrani
Release date	29 August 2008
Running time	137 mins
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Mukhbiir (Translation: Informer) is a 2008 Indian spy thriller film directed by the Mani Shankar. Filmed in Hindi, the film revolves around the life and events surrounding an Indian spy. The film stars actor Sameer Dattani as the spy, and Om Puri, Sunil Shetty, Sushant Singh, Rahul Dev, Jackie Shroff and Raima Sen play the supporting roles.

Director Mani Shankar had a story in mind in 1996 itself when he was shooting an anti-militancy music video for the Intelligence Bureau. It was during this time that he met a young Intelligence Bureau recruit who was badly tortured in militant captivity. The young man was left unaided by the Indian government thereafter as he offered them no utility. This rendezvous with the stark reality of their lives inspired Mani Shankar into the story for this film. Mani Shankar was once asked in an interview on why his previous films such as Rudraksh spent too much on research and very little on character emotions. He replied in affirmative and said that he strived to blend both of them well in this film. Since the subject of the film revolved around espionage, SMani hankar resorted to intense research to avoid any unverifiable instances in his film. He worked closely with the Indian espionage service and utilised information for the film. Producer Sudhish Rambottla selected Mani Shankar's script after reviewing 40 of them.

Director Mani Shankar felt that actor Sameer Dattani will not comprehend fear and hence not emote well while filming. To overcome this, Mani Shankar insisted that Dattani spend a night in a prison. Only the local inspector knew him to be an actor. Besides conducting several training workshops for Dattani to prepare for his character, Mani Shankar also organized a visit to the underworld. Though he had a harrowing experience during the night, he was happy that his efforts brought him praise from the critics.