Nobody besides the higher-ups at Netflix are completely sure what constitutes the case for a series being renewed, but you can guarantee fantasy fans will be left scratching their heads after the remake of a show that didn’t even originate at the streamer landed a second run of episodes, with Ray Donovan retread Rana Naidu returning for more.
The premise is pretty much exactly the same as the widely-acclaimed crime thriller that found plenty of awards season recognition during a run that spanned 82 episodes over seven seasons, and even a feature-length bow to tie things off. Rana Daggabuti stars as the title hero, who occupies the role of shady fixer for Bombay’s power players in the exact same vein as Liev Schrieber’s Ray.
The original aired on Showtime for the entirety of its duration, but Netflix has pulled a winner out of the bag by snapping up the distribution rights to Rana Naidu, which capitalizes on the company’s desire to make serious inroads into the Indian market, after the retooled iteration of the dysfunctional central family’s antics spent weeks on the global Top 10 most-watched chart.
It’s frustratingly ironic that subscribers have had to sit idly by and watch dozens upon dozens of popular genre projects axed after a solitary season, only for the latest in a never-ending line of remakes, reboots, and overhauls to come along, capture the imagination of audiences around the globe, and then be rewarded with an extended stay of execution.
That’s how the world of streaming works, though, and Rana Naidu does at least come close to living up to the reputation of its forebear.