Indian ‘Ray Donovan’ Remake ‘Rana Naidu’ Renewed for Season 2 at Netflix
Netflix has renewed Rana Naidu, the Indian adaptation of Showtime’s hit crime drama Ray Donovan, for a second season.
Rana Naidu‘s first season, which launched on March 10, held Netflix’s no. 1 spot as the most-watched series in India for its first three weeks of release. The show continues to rank among the streamer’s top 10 series in India and previously trended in global top 10 for non-English TV shows for two weeks.
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Much like Ray Donovan, which famously stars Liev Schreiber, the Indian show follows the titular character Rana Naidu (played by Rana Daggubati), who makes a living by fixing the messes left behind by his famous clients. Famed as India’s go-to “fixer of the stars,” Naidu nevertheless struggles to cope with his own domestic situation, thanks to a fraught relationship with his wife and two children.
The renewal was first tipped by Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos on Tuesday as the company reported its 2023 first-quarter earnings, which showed an uptick of 1.75 million subscribers to 232.5 million global subscribers.
On the earnings call, Sarandos emphasized the continued growth potential of India, saying,” India is a big prize because it’s an enormous population of entertainment-loving people, and you’ve just got to have the product that they love.”
“We have to get the content that people just really flip out for,” Sarandos added, saying: “We’ve seen a steady improvement in that quarter over quarter, both in our films and our series. Rana Naidu is a great show that the people are loving all over the country. And it causes a great deal of excitement for the service.”
Said Tanya Bami, series head at Netflix India: “Rana Naidu has been a great way for us to end the first quarter of 2023. The high adrenaline thriller has enthralled fans in India and around the world. … We are delighted to announce that this high-stakes family drama and the riveting father son tension will be back for a second season with more twists, turns and pulsating action.”
Produced by Sunder Aaron and Locomotive Global, Rana Naidu was created by Karan Anshuman and co-directed by Karan Anshuman and Suparn S. Varma.
“There’s always lots of promise to continue to grow in India,” added Sarandos on Tuesday’s call. But the executive also conceded that Netflix remains a “long way” from achieving its full ambitions in the country.
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