I was blown away by the Nikitin Dheer, Kranti Prakash Jha and Chittaranjan Tripathy-starrer Raktanchal, when it released in 2020 on MX Player. The story of deceit, revenge, bloodshed and power games kept me hooked throughout, making my lockdown phase a bit more entertaining. And now, my excitement has doubled up as the show is returning with a sequel. Raktanchal 2 promises that "Iss baar, ranneeti nahi - rajneeti hogi," and this tagline alone has just made me all the more intrigued.
Check out the trailer of Raktanchal 2 here:
The sequel is directed by Ritam Srivastav, and this nine-episodic high octane narrative marks the return of Nikitin, Kranti and Soundarya Sharma with Mahie Gill, Ashish Vidyarthi and Karan Patel being the new entrants in the world of Purvanchal. Inspired by true events of the early 90s when the entire dynamics of UP politics was about to change, Raktanchal 2 will give way to a fresh battle that sees power hungry adversaries engage in unconstitutional acts for their own greedy motives.
The action-packed trailer shows these power-hungry adversaries who all have set their eyes on becoming the new CM, and all of them are ready to go to any lengths to make it happen. Ramanand Rai (played by Ashish), a senior politician, has powerful competition from Waseem Khan (played by Nikitin) who was one of the big tender mafias of Purvanchal and has now entered active politics, while Sarawasti Devi (played by Mahie) - a sole woman representative of the state- also wants to stake claim to the coveted CM chair. What raises the stakes and makes the story more intriguing is the sudden announcement by the media that Vijay Singh is alive, throwing everyone's plans off track. The manipulative games and powerful dialogues have increased my curiosity to uncover the truth and find out who becomes the next CM.
Talking about his involvement in the series, Nikitin says,
"Playing Waseem has always been difficult. This character is very complex and has multiple emotions running high at each turn which is what compelled me to take this role. From learning dialects of UP to dressing the part as a politician, I have given this character my best shot. I only hope that the audience appreciates my role as much as they did in the first season."
Kranti resonates the emotions saying,
"I am really excited for the second season of Raktanchal. After ending season 1 on a cliffhanger, Vijay's comeback is much awaited and this time round - rajneeti banayega Purvanchal ko Raktanchal. I can't wait to see the audience's reaction."
The new addition to the team, Mahie says,
"Proud, and defiant, Saraswati Devi is an enigma who is taking this male dominated world by storm. After playing such a powerful character on screen, inspired by real-life instances from the early 90s, I realized what it takes to be a woman in Indian politics."
Ashish Vidyarthi adds,
"We have created an exciting political drama for our audience that unfolds the murky world of politics, and I hope they shower us with the same love and support as they did during Raktanchal season 1."
Raktanchal 2 is promising a thrilling tale of politics in Purvanchal just by its trailer, and going by the effect the first season of the show had on me, I am extremely excited to watch the new season as all episodes of the MX Original Series Raktanchal 2, start streaming for free, only on MX Player from 11th February, 2022.
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