Rana Naidu Season 2 OTT Review: All Style, No Soul

Rana Naidu Season 2 is the Indian version of the American show Ray Donovan. It's a mix of stylish crime drama and mass entertainer, with flashy performances by Rana Daggubati and Venkatesh Daggubati.

The Daggubatis return as the Naidus — a father and son with a love-hate bond. This season is just as glamorous as the first one. While Season 1 focused on family conflicts, Season 2 is more about protecting the family.

One good change is that the show cuts down on bad language and explicit scenes, which makes it more watchable.

But even with a strong cast, Season 2 ends up feeling messy and disappointing.

The story continues from where Season 1 ended. After breaking ties with OB Mahajan (Rajesh Jais), Rana (played by Rana Daggubati) promises his wife Naina (Surveen Chawla) that he’ll stop being a “fixer” — someone who cleans up the rich people’s dirty secrets.

However, things take a dark turn when his old enemy Rauf Mirza (Arjun Rampal) returns, forcing Rana back into his old life.

He makes a deal with Alia Oberoi (Kriti Kharbanda), a smart businesswoman bidding for a cricket team to move away from her family’s struggling film business. This creates friction between her and her father (Rajat Kapoor) and brother (Tanuj Virwani).

At home, Naina suspects Rana is having an affair with Alia. Feeling distant, she turns to her friend Naveen (Dino Morea), who has his own hidden agenda.

Meanwhile, Rana’s brothers Tej (Sushant Singh) faces issues from his past, and Jaffa (Abhishek Banerjee) tries to find his place. Jaffa, in fact, steals many scenes with his performance.

Unlike the first season that had a clear focus on the father-son drama, this one adds too many subplots, all circling around the threat from Rauf.

Sadly, the writing is average. Directors Karan Anshuman, Suparn S. Varma, and Abhay Chopra bring in typical drama — suspicion, revenge, scheming — but nothing feels fresh. Though the show looks stylish and is shot well, with each episode lasting nearly 50 minutes, it ends up feeling long and hollow.

Rana Daggubati gives a decent performance again but shows no new shades. Arjun Rampal plays the cold villain with ease. But it’s Kriti Kharbanda who shines the most — her character is wicked and she clearly enjoys playing it.

One memorable moment is when someone tells her, “I’ve never seen someone as evil as you.” She coolly replies, “That’s evil woman, sir. Get my gender right.”

Unfortunately, Venkatesh Daggubati doesn’t get much to do this time. His character, Naga Naidu, starts strong but fades away quickly, leaving fans disappointed.