EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW : "Bheema Will Entertain & Surprise Audiences" - Sohum Shah On 'Maharani Season 2'

Sohum Shah is all excited about his upcoming web series Maharani Season 2, which will stream on Sony LIV from August 25th. Directed by Ravindra Gautam, Maharani 2 stars Huma Qureshi as Rani Bharti and Sohum Shah as her husband, Bheema Bharti. In an exclusive chat with Movie Talkies, Sohum spoke about the series, characters, and some other details. Have a look at them below.Sohum Shah started off with the new season's character, Bheema, saying, "Bheema Bharti's character is very close to my heart. I come from a small town, I grew up watching films of Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Salman Khan, so I have the same desire to play larger-than-life characters. So, for me, Bheema is a larger-than-life character. He has that swag and, at the same time, his writing is very contemporary. In the first season he couldn't do much, but Bheema will do many things in the second season. Bheema will entertain people and he will surprise them as well.""I think it wasn't so difficult for me because I come from a small town. I have seen how people talk in small towns and I have seen city life too. It was a plus point for me. I had to get the accent right. Bheema's character becomes very complex in the second season and I think that was the biggest challenge for me," he further added about the dialect and preps.Maharani is named after the female protagonist, and it is a new change for Indian cinema and shows. Sohum Shah agrees, "The change in female protagonists is a welcome change for me. People are getting bored of watching predictable films, and OTT series have them for surprises. The hero will only be the saviour. I mean, that's too boring. In real life, there are many different ideas, so I think the change is very pleasing. Gender equality is needed, for industry and for audiences too."Many people compared Maharani Season 1 with Rabri Devi's life. When asked if Maharani's idea was born from real-life politicians, he answered, "I don't think there are any real-life influences. You see, politics is the same everywhere in India. You are bound to find similarities and influences. The writers of the series live in India, so obviously they must have seen a lot of stuff on TV or read about it somewhere. So I think this "politics" thing is just a backdrop and the main story is something different. From day one, I had no references to my character."Sohum Shah opened up about his upcoming projects, sharing, "I have Dahaad coming up first. Sanaa is there too. I have one more film with Nushrrat Bharuccha and Nora Fatehi, and I am working on a film that I want to expand into a franchise."