The second season of Nagesh Kukunoor's City of Dreams will feature Four More Shots Please! star Ankur Rathee and Vashu Bhagnani's niece and Baaghi 2 actor Shriyam Bhagnani. The political drama series, scheduled to premiere on Disney+ Hotstar, explores a power struggle between a father and daughter. Rathee who has also been part of projects like Taish, Undekhi and Thappad recently opened up on his experience of being a part of Kukunoor's project.
"I am yet to discover a more symbiotic relationship with a director. There were many instances where I would finish a take and suddenly be struck with an idea. No sooner I would notice Nagesh sir walking over who had already picked up on my creative impulse. A mind-reader! I would begin explaining an idea and he would finish it. Sometimes he would utter only a few words and I knew immediately his train of thought. He didn’t want to complicate the emotional space with an elaborate conversation. He’d give just direction so that I could run with the idea and make it my own. I felt like clay," Rathee says about Kukunoor.
The first season of the show was a political drama unravelling the dynamic within the Gaikwad family and followed the aftermath of an assassination attempt on a polarising political figure. Kukunoor wrote the first season with Rohit Banawlikar, and the show starred names like Atul Kulkarni, Eijaz Khan, Priya Bapat.
Bhagnani who plays the role of Tanya Mehta on the show also opened up about her experience of working with Kukunoor. "Working with Nagesh sir has to be one of the best professional experiences I’ve had so far. There is so much to learn and absorb on his sets - from an amazing crew to the set design, to the script, everything manifests his passion for filmmaking. He has this undying focus and clarity of thought while working which I find extremely inspiring. He knows exactly what he wants from a scene, making the actor’s job very easy. People call directors the captain of the ship, and he truly was in every sense, the best captain one could start off on this journey with," she said.
City of Dreams season 2 is available for streaming now.