Fans of the first season of Paatal Lok have been waiting with bated breath for a new season for a while. But all good (or great) creations take time, of which its creator, Sudip Sharma, seems very much aware.
In an interview with PTI, Sharma said he told his writing team to put aside every memory associated with the immensely popular first season and all the laurels and acclaim it received before starting work on season 2, set for streaming premiere on January 17.
"I told the writer's room, 'Okay, let's forget everything that has happened in the first season, block out all the success stories, memes, dialogues and characters that became popular. It was almost like we were writing a new show with these couple of characters who have survived from the first season. We are going on another journey with them," said Sharma, adding that the first thing the team told each other before beginning work on Paatal Lok is that the "onus is upon them to not "f*** it up."
Actor Jaideep Ahlawat, who played the rebellious and determined Inspector Hathiram Chaudhary in the first season, returns in the new season alongside his subordinate Imran Ansari (Ishwak Singh). In an interesting development, the latter becomes his senior this time around. In the trailer of season 2, we see Hathiram saluting Imran.
Season 2 will also see the return of director Avinash Arun Dhaware, known for his acclaimed directing and cinematography work in the films Killa, Three of Us, and the series School of Lies. He also worked as the director of photography on Neeraj Gaywan's Masaan and the 2015 Hindi Drishyam remake starring Ajay Devgn.
Like Avinash Arun, Sudip Sharma has demonstrated a penchant for dark, rooted stories exploring society's seedy and gritty corners. He has fetched his share of critical acclaim, too, for his work in films such as Udta Punjab, NH10 and Sonchiriya and another Netflix thriller series, Kohrra, which became as popular as Paatal Lok at the time of its release.
Sharma recalls planning a second season even before they conceived the first and that monetary reasons were not the key driving factor for creating another season. "We knew it was not coming from a place of 'Oh, because the first season worked, so we want to do another season'. We wanted to work on it even before the first season was released and became popular. It was always one of those deep desires that Jaideep, Avinash, I, even the rest of the team, all the HODs, all of us carried within us," he said.
