Netflix has been extended Rana Naiduthe Indian adaptation of Showtime’s hit crime drama Ray Donovanfor a second season.
Rana NaiduNetflix’s first season, which kicked off March 10, ranked #1 on Netflix. 1 spot as the most watched series in India for its first three weeks of release. The show is still in the top 10 streamer series in India and was previously trending in the global top 10 for non-English TV shows for two weeks.
Like Ray Donovan, starring Liev Schreiber, the Indian show follows the titular character Rana Naidu (played by Rana Daggubati), who makes a living by fixing the mess left behind by his famous clients. Famed as India’s go-to “fixer of the stars”, Naidu nevertheless struggles with his own domestic situation, thanks to a troubled relationship with his wife and two children.
The extension was first tipped by Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos on Tuesday when the company reported its Q1 2023 results, which showed an increase from 1.75 million subscribers to 232.5 million global subscribers.
On the earnings call, Sarandos highlighted India’s continued growth potential saying, “India is a big prize because it’s a huge population of entertainment-loving people, and you just have to have the product that they love.”
“We need to get the content that people really love,” Sarandos added, saying, “We’ve seen steady improvement in that quarter over quarter, both in our movies and our series. Rana Naidu is a great show loved by the people all over the country. And it brings a lot of excitement to the service.”
Said Tanya Bami, series head at Netflix India: “Rana Naidu has been a great way for us to close out the first quarter of 2023. The adrenaline thriller has captivated fans in India and around the world. … We’re excited to announce that this high-stakes family drama with the riveting father-son suspense will be back for a second season with more twists and pulses of 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 a lot of promise to keep growing in India,” Sarandos added on Tuesday’s call. But the executive also admitted that Netflix still has a “long way” to fulfill its full ambitions in the country.
