Take two for the murder mystery

A still from the series

The Great Indian Murder, which dropped online in February, took viewers through several twists and turns before leaving the crime drama on a cliffhanger. Now, it is heard that Disney+ Hotstar, encouraged by the audience's response, has given the go-ahead to director Tigmanshu Dhulia for the second season of the Pratik Gandhi and Richa Chadha-starrer.

Adapted from Vikas Swarup's bestseller Six Suspects, the Ajay Devgn-backed series traces the murder investigation of Vicky Rai, a politician's son who was shot dead at his own party. The first edition depicted casteism, marginalisation of the tribals and powerplay in politics as Gandhi's CBI officer Suraj Yadav and Chadha's cop officer Sudha Bharadwaj led the investigation. "The first season covered only a part of the book. The upcoming edition will pick up from the death of tribal boy Ekati, who was wrongly believed to be Vicky's murderer.

Tigmanshu Dhulia. Pic/Sneha Kharabe

While Pratik's character has his own agendas to further, it is up to Richa's cop to uncover the mystery," says a source from the creative team. The remaining five suspects - essayed by Ashutosh Rana, Raghubir Yadav, Paoli Dam, Sharib Hashmi and Shashank Arora - are expected to reprise their roles alongside Gandhi and Chadha. The source adds, "The shoot will begin in Delhi in June. Tigmanshu will also introduce new characters, especially a news journalist, in the drama."

Confirming the filming, novelist Swarup says, "They will begin shooting from June. From the beginning, the [makers] were clear that they wanted to make it in two seasons. The storylines are all incomplete at the moment, and will reach their culmination point in
season two."