iWorld
Rana Naidu 2 team opens up on backlash, bold themes and big wins
MUMBAI: When your lead actor jokes, “I’ve mastered dying on screen,” you know a show isn’t playing it safe. At the 9th edition of The Content Hub Summit 2025, the spotlight fell on Netflix’s Rana Naidu’s second season, an audacious blend of blood, baggage, and brutal family dynamics that’s got everyone talking (and watching).
Director Suparn Verma, screenwriter Vaibhav Vishal, and actor Sushant Singh were joined by session chair and RJ Stutee Ghosh for a frank, no-holds-barred conversation on the show’s gritty new season where the emotions run as high as the body count.
“Reaching the heart is the real win,” said Verma. “The kind of emotional and thematic depth we’ve explored this season, I genuinely believe it hasn’t been done before in Indian storytelling.”
Indeed, the father-son conflict, explored with near-mythological gravitas, was framed by Verma in classic archetypes: “There’s a Shakti, a Vishnu… and now, with Angam, we’ve created a force that’s just as primal and layered.”
But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. The team faced backlash after Season 1 for its raw language and depiction of abuse. Vaibhav Vishal admitted that it did prompt some introspection and even self-censorship but only to widen the show’s reach without diluting its essence.
“There was a lot of criticism, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t affect me,” he said. “But then came the numbers. That’s when we knew we weren’t off-track Rana Naidu shot up to become the number one show.”
Sushant Singh, whose character meets a dramatic end in the new season, brought humour to the session. “He told me during the loop test, ‘You’re going to die.’ I just smiled and said, ‘I’ve mastered dying on screen by now.’”
The team also addressed representation especially of women with intention. Vishal noted that Arya’s character this season wasn’t written as a love interest or sidekick. “In her mind and ours, she’s the main character.”
This season also marked a shift in tonal choices. While the violence has intensified, the language has been consciously restrained. “We created narrative solutions,” said Vishal. “Like Venkatesh’s character doing Angoom Gilo to avoid abusing, it was all thought through.”
The makers are clear-eyed about the creative trade-offs involved in storytelling for a broad OTT audience. “You adapt, learn, evolve,” said Vishal. “Once Season 1 was out and we saw how the family dynamic resonated, we layered it back in for Season 2.”
OTT, for actors like Sushant Singh, has also offered meatier roles than cinema ever did. “It’s given me hope,” he said. “The kind of characters I’ve gotten on streaming platforms are far richer than most I got in films.”
The Netflix show creators didn’t shy away from controversy, but they also didn’t pander. Their belief? Let the characters be flawed, the dialogue be daring, and the women be unapologetic.
And if a few heads roll in the process well, that’s just part of the Naidu family tradition.
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iWorld
Subedaar puts Indian original cinema on the global map with record-breaking Prime Video debut
MUMBAI: Prime Video has a runaway hit on its hands. Subedaar, the gritty action drama starring Anil Kapoor, has stormed to become the most-watched Indian original movie on the platform in its opening weekend, cracking the Top 10 across 31 countries and landing in 91 per cent of India’s pin codes within days of its March 5 premiere.
The film, a visceral, emotionally-charged story of a retired soldier, Subedaar Arjun Maurya, wrestling with civilian life amid crime and corruption, has struck a nerve. Directed by Suresh Triveni and co-starring Radhikka Madan, Mona Singh, Saurabh Shukla, Aditya Rawal, Faisal Malik, and Khushboo Sundar, the film is already being hailed as a showcase for what Indian original storytelling can achieve on the world stage.
“Subedaar’s success is a reflection of the growing scale and global resonance of Indian storytelling,” said Nikhil Madhok, director and head of originals at Prime Video India. “The film’s emotional narrative, its rooted portrayal of a soldier confronting his toughest battles beyond the battlefield, has struck a chord. Anil Kapoor delivers an acting masterclass, while Suresh Triveni’s solid direction and great performances from the ensemble cast have resulted in love and appreciation from customers across the world.”
Kapoor, 62, has been here before, but rarely at this altitude. Written by Triveni and Prajwal Chandrashekar, with dialogues by Triveni, Saurabh Dwivedi, and Chandrashekar, the film is a production by Opening Image Films in association with Anil Kapoor Film & Communication Network (AKFCN), produced by Vikram Malhotra, Kapoor, and Triveni.
Subedaar streams exclusively on Prime Video in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu across India, and in over 240 countries and territories worldwide.
For Prime Video, the numbers tell the real story: one weekend, one film, a global footprint, and a very loud signal that Indian original cinema is no longer just travelling well. It’s arriving.
