#NewsBytesExclusive: 'Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein' director opens up about S02
Balika Vadhu director Sidharth Sengupta took on the pulp fiction genre with a delectable story in Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein. The inaugural season of the Hindi series dropped on Netflix this January and continues to rank among the most streamed shows on the platform. Banking on its success, the streaming platform renewed it for another season. Here's what Sengupta has to say on that.
What was the show all about?
Let us first refresh our memory. Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein (YKKA) follows Vikrant's (Tahir Raj Bhasin) life as he tries to evade, and later remove the clutches of a powerful political figure and his daughter Purva (Anchal Singh), who is passionately in love with him. Vikrant's love, on the other hand, is Shikha (Shweta Tripathi Sharma). S01 ended with a cliff-hanger, promising a return.
'Work is in progress,' Sengupta on S02 premiere date
Speaking about a probable timeline for S02, Sengupta said that "work is in progress" and the team was gearing up to launch it "as soon as possible." He told NewsBytes that he was "confident" Netflix would pick up YKKA for another season and that the initial story had been germinated years back. Thus, we can expect them to be done with the pre-production work.
What to expect in season two?
When asked about what to expect from season two, Sengupta borrowed Vidya Balan's iconic line from The Dirty Picture. One can look forward to "another bout of entertainment, entertainment, and entertainment." "We take this story forward so a lot more intrigue, a lot more looking into each character, and of course, the inevitable twists and turns in Vikrant's life and the lives of others."
Here is how Sengupta cast actors in 'YKKA'
Given Vikrant, Purva, Shikha, are returning soon, the filmmaker shared how he had cast them. Bhasin was the first one to be finalized. His "sincerity" during their meeting had attracted Sengupta. In the follow-up audition, he was "bang on." Separately, he read the script to Tripathi Sharma, who liked it and came on board. Lastly, Singh "happened" only six days before production.
'There was constant hunt for Purva because...'
"There was a constant hunt for Purva because, in my mind, I wanted a real being...not a stereotypical girl who's gonna rule the roost," said Sengupta. He needed an honest person who wasn't "dependent on craft" and Singh—who was part of his Undekhi—fit the bill.
