When it was released back in 2020, Asur emerged as one of the most loved and praised web series in the Indian OTT space. Naturally, fans wanted more and when a second season was greenlit, it became heavily anticipated. It took three years but Asur 2 is finally here, almost. Ahead of the release, the show’s star Barun Sobti spoke with DNA about season 2, what is different, and why this season will dwarf the first one.
The fans have been asking for Asur 2 for years now. On every trailer of your work, there’d be comments asking about it. Then why this three-year delay?
How can I do this tactfully now (laughs)? A lot of changes happened behind the scenes. If it was up to me solely, I would have wanted to bring it out earlier, even in a business sense, to capitalise on the craze much sooner. But there were changes in management that led to delay. That is how the world works.
The delay can go two ways. One, it builds anticipation and second, it can be a case ‘we waited too long and now people are over it’. Which category do you feel Asur falls in?
Usually I would say ‘time will tell’ because that is the logical thing to say. But, like you were saying that people were asking about Asur on any teaser or trailer, the number of people asking that has not gone down. Then, I have watched the whole thing so I know it’s so good that it will find a new audience and not only the people who are already fans.
Asur was a critically acclaimed show as well. How does Asur 2 plan to top that? As you said you have watched it already so your thoughts.
Rarely does it happen that season 2 is better than the first one. I feel that if the first season was great, this one is phenomenal. When the first season came out, I remember feeling that this would be one of the best shows India has ever produced. It did turn out to be like that. And the second season is definitely far better than the first. It’s much bigger this time. It’s not confined to a room like last time. The stakes are higher.
Let’s talk about your character Nikhil Nair. Where do we see him in season 2 and how has he evolved over the years?
In this story arc, there is so much happening at breakneck pace that there is so little time for anyone to evolve. There is a little bit of emotional arc, of course. To top it off, he has lost his family now so that weighs on him. But he is not a drastically different man.
Asur 2, which also stars Arshad Warsi, Ridhi Dogra, Sharib Hashmi, and Anupriya Goenka, will be streaming free on JioCinema from June 1.
