“To set an evil empire ablaze, one has to light a fire. But what if the fire burns me down with it?” saysAditya Roy Kapur’s Shaan Sengupta in the trailer for the second part ofDisney+ Hotstar’s Indian adaptation ofThe Night Manager. In part two, which, to be clear, isn’t Season Two, the secret agent Shaan will further cement his relationship with the notorious arms dealer Shelly Rungta (Anil Kapoor), after successfully infiltrating his inner circle in part one.The Night Manageris based on the acclaimed 2016 British series starringTom HiddlestonandHugh Laurie, which in turn was adapted fromJohn le Carré’s 1993 spy novel.
In thenew trailer, Shelly, described as “the most dangerous man in the world,” welcomes Shaan into his “family” after being impressed with Shaan’s track record of evading authorities. In part one, Shaan won Shelly’s trust by successfully exploiting his only vulnerability and “rescuing” his son in a staged kidnapping. Shaan, a former Navy officer who’d switched careers to the hospitality industry after witnessing the murder of a child bride, was recruited to bring Shelly to justice by his handler, played byTillotama Shome. The character was played byOlivia Colmanin the original series.
As Shaan collects intelligence on Shelly, he begins attracting suspicion. We also get a glimpse of his evolving romance with Shelly’s girlfriend, played bySobhita Dhulipala. Her personal arc was only teased in part one, and we should get a resolution in the new batch of episodes. The two-minute trailer ends with Shelly making a veiled threat to Shaan, who finds himself cornered in the arms dealer’s unfamiliar (and dangerous) world. “There’s a mole among us,” Shelly says menacingly. “Is it you, Shaan?”
RELATED:‘The Night Manager’ Clip Shows Aditya Roy Kapur and Anil Kapoor Meeting in the Indian Remake
Kapoor, one of the most well-respected Bollywood stars of his generation, was clearly having a ball playing the mostly irredeemable character in Part one. The role marks a bit of a departure for Kapoor, who is best known for playing genial heroes in Hindi movies, although Western audiences that watched him inSlumdog MillionaireandMission: Impossible — Ghost Protocolwould have a different perspective. On the heels of part one’s release, Kapoorspoke to Colliderabout finding the humanity in his character. In his own words:
“What he’s doing is not right, morally not right. And then how do I make it relatable? How do I make it engaging? How do I make it exciting, interesting for me to perform and for the people to watch it and still feel entertained? So that’s what I have tried to do in this show.”
ExpectThe Night ManagerTo Return
Roy Kapur broke out with the hit musical dramaAashiqui 2a decade ago, but hasstruggled to establish himselfas a leading man in Bollywood.The Night Managercould arguably be his most prominent project in a long time. Part one of the series premiered in February with four episodes, and a proper second season could also on the cards, as reported byDeadline. In the wake of the Indian adaptation’s debut, it was announced that the original British series would also get an off-booksecond season, with filming scheduled to start later this year. Part two of the Indian series will land on Disney+ Hotstar on June 30. The show is created and co-directed bySandeep Modi, and also starsSaswata ChatterjeeandRavi Behl. You can watch the trailer here, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
