Aarya - 2020

What is Aarya Web Series about?

Aarya is a crime-thriller drama streaming on Disney+Hotstar, which stars Sushmita Sen in the main role and is based on the Dutch drama series Penoza. The series is about Aarya, who is an independent woman who joins a mafia gang to protect her family and avenge her husband's murder.

There are 2 seasons of Aarya, and the 3rd season is expected for release in the year 2023. The TV series had been nominated for International Emmy Awards for Best Drama series.

Table of Contents

• Details
• Plot
• Release Date
• Casting
• Crew
• Character Analysis
• Predictions
• Seasons
• Behind the scenes
• Controversy
• Ratings
• Awards
• Interesting facts
• Conclusion

Details

Plot

Aarya's story revolves around Aarya Sareen, a doting wife, and a caring mother. However, she is very naive and knows nothing about the illegal trade her husband is involved in. Things take a turn for the worse for her family after Aarya's husband, Tej Sareen, a pharmaceutical king, is mysteriously killed.

The drug mafia is searching for his entire family, and in response, it is about Aarya protecting her children, joining another Mafia gang, and seeking vengeance for her husband’s death.

Release Date

The shooting of the series started on 9 December 2019 at Jaipur in Rajasthan. Aarya season 1 was released on Disney+ Hotstar on 19 June 2020. On 6 September 2020, the show was released in 6 different languages – Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Malayalam, Marathi, and Kannada. On 1 September 2021, the series became available to stream on Hulu as part of the migration of Hotstar content to Hulu in the US.

In July 2020, the series's second season was announced, which started filming on 1 March 2021 in Jaipur. Season 2 premiered on 10 December 2021.

• Running time - 34- 59 min
• Season 1 – 9 episodes released on 19 June 2020
• Season 2 – 8 episodes released on 10 December 2021

Casting

• Sushmita Sen as Aarya Sareen (Main Character)
• Chandrachur Singh as Tej Sareen, Aarya's husband
• Sikandar Kher as Daulat, Rathore's Loyal Hitman
• Ankur Bhatia as Sangram Singh Rathore
• Alexx ONell as Bob Wilson (Season 1)
• Namit Das as Jawahar Bishnoi (Season 1)
• Manish Choudhary as Shekhawat (Season 1)
• Akash Khurana as Udayveer Shekhawat (Season 2)
• Viren Vazirani as Veer Sareen
• Virti Vaghani as Arundhati Sareen 
• Pratyaksh Panwar as Aditya Sareen

Crew

Directed by        

Season 1:

• Ram Madhvani
• Sandeep Modi
• Vinod Rawat

Season 2:

• Ram Madhvani
• Vinod Rawat
• Kapil Sharma

Executive producers      

• Vinod Iyer
• Sia Bhuyan
• Rhea Prabhu
• Nikhil Madhok
• Ranjana Mitra
• Karn Gupta

Producers          

• Ram Madhvani
• Amita Madhvani
• Endemol Shine India

Cinematography             

• Harshvir Oberai (Season 1)
• Sudip Sengupta (Season 2)

Editors 

• Khushboo Raj
• Abhimanyu Chaudhary

Production companies  

• Ram Madhvani Films
• Endemol Shine Group

Distributor         

• Star India

Created by         

• Ram Madhvani
• Sandeep Modi

Music Composer             

• Vishal Khurana

Written by         

Season 1:

• Sandeep Shrivastava
• Anu Singh Choudhary

Season 2:

• Sanyuktha Chawla Shaikh
• Anu Singh Choudhary

Character Analysis

• Sushmita Sen plays the role of Aarya Sareen, who is a strong woman and will do anything to save and protect her family. She grows from a loving and caring mother to a powerful boss.
• In Aarya, Chandrachur Singh plays the role of Tej Sareen, Aarya's most trusted partner. His company is called Aaryasattava Pharmaceuticals, which caters to a large illegal drug shipping business. He is a loving husband and father.
• Sikander Kher plays the role of Daulat, the right-hand man of Zorawar, Aarya's father. Daulat is very protective of Aarya and is incredibly loyal to her family. He is like her family's foot soldier who tries to stay by her side and protect her from everything that comes his way. He is Aarya's good friend and ally. Aarya entrusts him with her work, and he is also her father's best friend.
• Namit Das plays the character of Jawahar which comes with a lot of complexities. Jawahar is Tej Sareen's business partner. There are so many levels in the character. Although he acts like an ally, he can prove to be very unpredictable and hence becomes difficult to trust.
• Ankur Bhatia as Sangram, the younger brother of Aarya Sareen. He is a hot-blooded man and is sometimes called Sanki. Sangram is usually in the midst of problems and troubles, making Aarya's family uncomfortable.
• Jayant Kripalani as Zorawar who is Aarya's father. He is the most powerful man in Aarya's life, the head of the household, and also the boss of the company.
• Sohaila Kapur as Rajeshwari - the role of Aarya's mother. She is known for her liberal ideas. Aarya learned to be a strong woman and to take care of her family from her mother.
• Aarya and Tej’s children: Aarya and Tej have three children, Veer, Arundhati, and Aditya. They are played by Viren Vazirani, Virti Vaghani, and Pratyaksh Panwar, respectively.

Predictions

Predictions around Aarya season 3 claim that this could be the final season of the intriguing web series. Season 3 of Aarya is expected to release on Disney+ Hotstar in June 2023. The show's third season was confirmed by Disney+Hotstar on July 4, 2022.

The next season of Aarya will continue the story with established characters and some new faces. Disney+ Hotstar plans to announce a release date for Aarya Season 3 in May 2023.

The first two seasons received a lot of love and appreciation from viewers. It sure is going to be a journey of compelling storytelling, thrills, and family love. We're sure this leaves viewers wanting more again, and the stakes only get higher from here.

Seasons

Season 1

• Release date – 19th June 2020
• Episodes – 9
• Storyline - After her husband, pharmaceutical tycoon Tej Sareen (Chandracha Singh), is murdered by a masked man, Aarya (Sushmita Sen) is determined to find out the truth and bring the perpetrators to justice. But Tej and other members of his clan had their own secrets. This slick 9-episode series showcases the story of Aarya, who turns from a doting mother into a mafia team member due to unforeseen circumstances.

Season 2

• Release date – 10th December 2021
• Episodes – 8
• Storyline - The second season of Aarya follows a mother's journey as she battles the dark world of crime to protect herself and her children from unseen harm. Aarya's season 2 focuses on her character returning to India to testify against her father and brother, but she soon returns for her family's safety realising it wasn't the right decision.

Behind the Scenes

Play

The Aarya series was mainly shot in Jaipur, Udaipur, Mumbai, and Palgad in Rajasthan, with some scenes filmed in Mumbai. Making her comeback after a decade, Sushmita Sen underwent over 30 look tests for her role in the show.

The series was shot in a 360-degree format. This format uses multiple cameras to record the scene simultaneously, freeing the actors from shot and angle limitations.

Behind the scenes, Sushmita was known for her infectious childlike enthusiasm and how well she embraced the show, the flow, and the crew. 

Controversy

There was a controversy regarding one of the dialogues in the web series Aarya. An actor in a scene refers to a physical therapist as a compounder. This, according to a few from the fraternity, was disparaging and demoralizing to the students into the profession.

A message from Dr. Malvika S Batavia’s advocate Swapana Kode demanded an unconditional public apology from the creators to the medical community and the removal of the dialogue from the series.

However, Endemol India Pvt Ltd passed a statement that the series is a work of fiction and the stories and character dialogues presented are to be understood only in the context of imagination and not as truth.

The makers said that they had done nothing wrong and the show was a pure result of creative and artistic freedom. So, the defamation claims are completely baseless and legally unsupportable.

Ratings

According to IMDb ratings, Aarya is given a rating of 7.8/10 based on 15K reviews.

Aarya obtained, by and large, a wonderful reaction from critics and the audience. With Sushmita Sen's overall performance, she maintains the rhythm with her commanding presence.

Awards

Interesting Facts

• Aarya marks the digital debut of Sushmita Sen after a 10-year-long gap.
• Director Ram Madhvani worked on the project for six years before it started.
• The series was shot with a handheld camera to give the series a natural feel.

Conclusion

Aarya remains unpredictable, pacey, and exciting. There is no denying that Aarya is created as an enigmatic series and can be touted as a mini-collection with whole justice achieved to the tale and every person involved in it.