Ramesh Aravind’s detective flick Shivaji Surathkal 2 to drop on television first?

Director Akash Srivatsa has confirmed that the television premiere of the second instalment in the detective franchise will happen shortly

Ramesh Aravind as the title character

Three years after director Akash Srivatsa first introduced Kannada audiences to the eccentric but genius detective Shivaji Surathkal, with Ramesh Aravind in the title role, he presented a sequel. Always meant to be a franchise, the Shivaji Surathkal universe travelled six years from the events of the original film, with the sleuth investigating his 131st case – The Mysterious Case of Maayavi.

This time around, Shivaji is on the heels of a psychotic serial killer, but the investigation into the crimes puts the sleuth’s family in jeopardy. Whether or not Shivaji is able to overcome his personal demons and figure out this mystery in time is the crux of the narrative. The film received mixed reviews, but managed a 50-day run at the box office, after which it was rumoured that it would then head to OTT and subsequently TV too. Zee Network was speculated as the frontrunner for the rights, considering that Shivaji Surathkal: Ranagiri Rahasya is with the platform and the fact that leading man Ramesh has a long-standing relationship with the network. Many dates were speculated for when the film would be available to stream, but there was no news at all.

In fact, the film team did not confirm that Zee Network picked up the rights until now. Akash has finally revealed that Shivaji Surathkal: The Mysterious Case of Maayavi will indeed come to Zee Network, however, the filmmaker announced that a television premiere is what is slated to happen shortly. There was no word on the date, but with Varamahalakshmi and Ganesha Chaturthi not far off, it could get a festival outing after all. There is no update on the OTT premiere yet.

Shivaji Surathkal 2 also stars Radhika Narayan, Meghana Gaonkar, Nassar, Vinayak Joshi, among others, with 777 Charlie fame Sangeetha Sringeri appearing in a special number. The team we hear will work on more instalments in the franchise, or even look at making a web series, considering that the first film dealt with case no 101, and the second, case no 131.

Read our review: Shivaji Surathkal 2 review: Ramesh Aravind shines in a clumsy thriller that works sparingly

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