Days and Nights in Mumbai

 

Family is everything to me, Rana Daggubati keeps saying in various ways throughout Season 2 of Rana Naidu. For some reason no one seems to be paying attention to him. Perhaps they are distracted by the mountain man standing before them, the unsmiling exterior, or the clenched fists that are ready to fly. In contrast there is Venkatesh, his uncle in real life, a goblinesque spirit, taunting, teasing, twisting and turning, speaking in Hyderabadi Hindi, and bringing some much-needed levity to some serious goings-on involving murders, buyouts and abductions. There are also two former pretty boys who have leaned into their emotive selves and are doing quite well as characters with unknown motives: Arjun Rampal and Dino Morea. Rana is Mumbai’s No 1 fixer, needed as much by crooked politicians as by ambitious businessman (here Rajat Kapoor makes a welcome return to his snakelike tendencies onscreen). We see a slice of Mumbai that aspires to live the Jamnagar life. People keep walking in and out of jail, which is probably more emblematic of Delhi, and Surveen Chawla, as Rana’s wife, does an excellent job of veering between concerned mommy, baby doll, and a very smart woman.

Karan AnshumanRana DaggubatiRana Naidu Season 2Venkatesh Daggubati