India, Jan. 22 -- In the world of streaming, timing is everything and for writer Smita Singh, it's been a bit of a curse. When the first instalment of Raat Akeli Hai dropped on Netflix in 2020, starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui as the tenacious Inspector Jatil Yadav, the internet was quick to label it 'India's Knives Out'. The similarities were hard to ignore: a sprawling mansion, a dead patriarch, and a family dripping with secrets.

But according to Smita, the mind behind Sacred Games S1 and Khauf, the blueprint for her whodunit existed long before Benoit Blanc ever picked up a magnifying glass.

While Rian Johnson's Knives Out (2019) became a global phenomenon in 2019, Singh reveals that her script was already gathering dust in her study ye...