Raktanchal
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Raktanchal is a
Hindi-language Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of the Government of India, alongside English, and is the ''lin ...
crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...
web series directed by Ritam Srivastav for
MX Player Amazon MX Player, formerly known as MX Player is an Indian video on demand and Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service, owned by Amazon (company), Amazon India. The platform currently operates on an Online a ...
original. The story of the web-series is inspired by real-life events from the 1980s of two notable mafias
Purvanchal Purvanchal () is the region of eastern Uttar Pradesh. Purvanchal is also a proposed state in India, encompassing 32 eastern districts of Uttar Pradesh.  The proposal, introduced in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 2011 by then Chief ...
, a region in east
Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...
. The series stars Kranti Prakash Jha and
Nikitin Dheer Nikitin Dheer is an Indian actor who primarily works in Hindi and Telugu films, and Hindi television. Dheer made his acting debut in 2008 with the film ''Jodhaa Akbar''. He is best known for portraying Astika in '' Naagarjuna – Ek Yoddha'' ...
along with
Chittaranjan Tripathy Chittaranjan Tripathy (born in 1971) is an Indian actor, director, writer and music director who predominantly works in Hindi and Odia films. He is best known for his role as ''Trivedi'' in the Netflix series Sacred Games. Early life and e ...
, Vikram Kochhar, Pramod Pathak,
Soundarya Sharma Soundarya Sharma (born 20 September 1994) is an Indian actress. She made her acting debut with the romantic drama ''Ranchi Diaries'' in 2017. In 2022, she participated in Colors TV's reality show ''Bigg Boss (Hindi season 16), Bigg Boss 16''. ...
,
Ronjini Chakraborty Ronjini Chakraborty (born 24 February 1992) is an Indian actress and model. She has established her career in Hindi and Bengali films. Personal life Ronjini was born in a middle-class Bengali family on 8 December 1992 in Kolkata. She has been tr ...
and
Daya Shankar Pandey Daya Shankar Pandey (born 19 November 1965) is an Indian film and television actor. He has acted in a number of Hindi movies like '' Lagaan'' (2001), '' Gangaajal'' (2003), '' Swades'' (2004) and ''Raajneeti'' (2010). He began his career with t ...
. It is written by Sarvesh Upadhyay and produced by Chitra Vakil Sharma, Chandni Soni, Pradeep Gupta, Shashank Raai, Mahima Gupta under the banner of Pinaka Studios Pvt Ltd and Mahima Productions. The series was premiered on 28 May 2020 on OTT platform
MX Player Amazon MX Player, formerly known as MX Player is an Indian video on demand and Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service, owned by Amazon (company), Amazon India. The platform currently operates on an Online a ...
. Kranti Prakash Jha has said that there will be a second season. Second season of the series was premiered on 11 February 2022 on OTT platform
MX Player Amazon MX Player, formerly known as MX Player is an Indian video on demand and Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service, owned by Amazon (company), Amazon India. The platform currently operates on an Online a ...
. Second Season is produced by Arjun Singhh Baran & Kartk D Nishandar under the banner of Gseams.


Plot

''Raktanchal'' is set in the 1980s of
Purvanchal Purvanchal () is the region of eastern Uttar Pradesh. Purvanchal is also a proposed state in India, encompassing 32 eastern districts of Uttar Pradesh.  The proposal, introduced in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 2011 by then Chief ...
and is inspired by the true events. It is the story of Waseem Khan (played by
Nikitin Dheer Nikitin Dheer is an Indian actor who primarily works in Hindi and Telugu films, and Hindi television. Dheer made his acting debut in 2008 with the film ''Jodhaa Akbar''. He is best known for portraying Astika in '' Naagarjuna – Ek Yoddha'' ...
) who rules the tender mafia in
Purvanchal Purvanchal () is the region of eastern Uttar Pradesh. Purvanchal is also a proposed state in India, encompassing 32 eastern districts of Uttar Pradesh.  The proposal, introduced in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 2011 by then Chief ...
,
Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...
, who is also involved in the smuggling of arms and ammunition. The story revolves around Vijay Singh (played by Kranti Prakash Jha) and Waseem Khan, who are constantly at loggerheads and leading to a series of bloodbaths. Khan is challenged by the antihero Vijay Singh, who held high morals and wanted to become a civil servant until Khan's gang murdered his father Virendra Singh (played by Gyan Prakash). While Vijay is determined to take revenge of his father's murder, who was killed by Waseem's company, while Waseem is determined to hold on to his power come what may.


Cast

*
Nikitin Dheer Nikitin Dheer is an Indian actor who primarily works in Hindi and Telugu films, and Hindi television. Dheer made his acting debut in 2008 with the film ''Jodhaa Akbar''. He is best known for portraying Astika in '' Naagarjuna – Ek Yoddha'' ...
as Waseem Khan * Kranti Prakash Jha as Vijay Singh *
Soundarya Sharma Soundarya Sharma (born 20 September 1994) is an Indian actress. She made her acting debut with the romantic drama ''Ranchi Diaries'' in 2017. In 2022, she participated in Colors TV's reality show ''Bigg Boss (Hindi season 16), Bigg Boss 16''. ...
as Roli *
Ronjini Chakraborty Ronjini Chakraborty (born 24 February 1992) is an Indian actress and model. She has established her career in Hindi and Bengali films. Personal life Ronjini was born in a middle-class Bengali family on 8 December 1992 in Kolkata. She has been tr ...
as Seema *
Chittaranjan Tripathy Chittaranjan Tripathy (born in 1971) is an Indian actor, director, writer and music director who predominantly works in Hindi and Odia films. He is best known for his role as ''Trivedi'' in the Netflix series Sacred Games. Early life and e ...
as Bechan *
Ashish Vidyarthi Ashish Vidyarthi (born 19 June 1965) is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, English, Odia, Marathi and Bengali films. He is noted for his antagonist and character roles. In 1995, he receive ...
as Ramanand Rai * Pramod Pathak as Tripurari * Vikram Kochhar as Sanki Pandey * Krishna Bisht as Katta * Basu Soni as Chhunnu * Rajesh Dubey as Sadhu Maharaj * Kenisha Awasthi as Bindu * Shashi Chaturvedi as Bilal * Pravina Bhagwat Deshpande as Sudha (Vijay's mother) * Ravi Khanvilkar as Pujari Singh * Prachi Prakash Kurne as Badki * Farah Malik as Fazila *
Daya Shankar Pandey Daya Shankar Pandey (born 19 November 1965) is an Indian film and television actor. He has acted in a number of Hindi movies like '' Lagaan'' (2001), '' Gangaajal'' (2003), '' Swades'' (2004) and ''Raajneeti'' (2010). He began his career with t ...
as Sahib Singh * Bhupesh Singh as Irshad * Sushil Kr. Srivastav as Hifazat * Gyan Prakash as Virendra Singh (Vijay's father) * Gurpreet Bedi as Fazila Khan


Marketing and release

The web series's official trailer was launched on 24 May 2020 by
MX Player Amazon MX Player, formerly known as MX Player is an Indian video on demand and Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service, owned by Amazon (company), Amazon India. The platform currently operates on an Online a ...
on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
.


Reception

The series received positive reviews from critics, who praised its performances. Ronak Kotecha, editor-in-chief of ''
The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
'' gave three-and-a-half of five stating, "With powerful performances and bloody face-offs, ''Raktanchal'' has enough ammo to keep you engaged through all nine episodes." Ruchi Kaushal of ''
Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...
'' said, "In this world where an eye for an eye has been making the whole world blind, stirring performances are the key. Kranti Prakash Jha plays his part well as a lanky gang leader and carries ''Raktanchal'' on his shoulder. His character reminded me of
Jimmy Sheirgill Jimmy Sheirgill (born Jasjit Singh Gill; 3 December 1970), also known as Jimmy Shergill, is an Indian actor and producer who primarily works in Hindi and Punjabi language, Punjabi films. Sheirgill began his film career with the 1996 thriller ...
's '' Rangbaaz Phirse'' for its IAS-aspirant- turned gangster story. While
Jimmy Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma * ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...
's charm worked wonders in that show, Kranti also does justice to his role. Besides him, Vikram Kocchhar is one actor who brings a smile with his twisted portrayal of coal mafia."
Scroll.in Scroll.in, simply referred to as Scroll, is an Indian digital news publication. Founded in 2014, it is owned by SCSN Pvt Ltd. History Background Samir Patil, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumnus and McKinsey & Company associate wa ...
's chief editor Nandini Ramanath reviewed "The leads are well cast, with each playing to their strengths.". Prathyush Parasuraman writing for ''
Film Companion Anupama Vinod Chopra () is an Indian author, journalist and film critic who served as the festival director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival from 2015 to 2023. She is also the founder and editor of the now-defunct digital platform Film Compani ...
'' gave a mixed review and said "there is a lot of violence. And to be honest, I am quite tired of it." In August 2020, ''Raktanchal'' crossed 100 million views on
MX Player Amazon MX Player, formerly known as MX Player is an Indian video on demand and Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service, owned by Amazon (company), Amazon India. The platform currently operates on an Online a ...
. In October 2020, ''Raktanchal'' was included in the list of ''Best series on MX Player'', released by ''
Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language India, Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the Indian Express Limited, ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnat ...
''.


References


External links

* {{IMDb title, 12347286 2020 Indian television series debuts MX Player original programming Hindi-language web series Indian web series Indian action television series Television shows set in Uttar Pradesh Indian crime television series Television series about organized crime Works about organised crime in India