Inside Edge 2: There’s many a snick between the bat and slip

Inside Edge, the first original foray on to the digital platform in India by Amazon Prime, returns tomorrow with its Season 2. Based on cricket and the wheels within wheels of its glamorous, short, fast 20-20 overs or T-20 version, its first season brought in an international Emmy nomination. Now, with Season 2 out on December 06, 12 am Indian Standard Time, the makers, Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar of Excel Entertainment, hope to not only replicate but surpass the success of the prime edition. As they say, this time it is not about ‘behind the game’ but ‘beyond the game’.

In the second edition of the Power Play League (PPL, thinly veiled derivative of the money-spinning Indian Premier League, IPL) cricket tournament, a volatile Vayu Raghavan leads the Mumbai Mavericks to face their biggest adversary yet, the Arvind Vashisht-led Haryana Hurricanes. But they must also counter colossal scandals that’ll rock the world of cricket. In the sport’s upper echelons, Zarina Malik allies with ‘Bhaisaab’, but those in the shadows threaten to destroy the very game they seek to control. In cricket parlance, batsmen often get out when they snick a swinging ball and the fielder at slip position, behind the stumps, near the wicket-keeper, takes the catch.

The Cast and the Roles

Starring Richa Chadha, Vivek Anand Oberoi, Angad Bedi, Aamir Bashir, Tanuj Virwani, Sapna Pabbi, Amit Sial, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Sayani Gupta, Manu Rishi Chadha, Elli Avrram and Jitin Gulati, it is directed by creator Karan Anshuman, ad-film maker Aakash Bhatia and Mirzapur (another Amazon Studios’ original) director Gurmmeet Singh.

Vivek Anand Oberoi plays sports management company owner, Vikrant Dhawan,

Richa Chadha as Mumbai Mavericks’ co-owner, Zarina Malik,

Tanuj Virwani as Mavericks’ captain, Vayu Raghavan,

(Tanuj says he felt flattered when he saw that a woman had tattooed the name of M.S. Dhoni on one arm and Vayu on the other)

Siddhant Chaturvedi as rookie bowler, Prashant Kanaujia,

Angad Bedi (son of cricket legend Bishen Singh Bedi; played some real cricket at the under 16 level but plays much better now, after doing Inside Edge, and is offering himself for auction to the IPL!) as former Mavericks’ captain and now Hurricanes’ captain Arvind Vashishth,

and Sayani (pronounced Shayoni) Gupta as Mavericks’ chief psycho-analyst and Vayu's sister, Rohini Raghavan.

Amit Sial is Mavericks’ spinner, Devender Mishra,

Manu Rishi Chadha is Haryana Hurricanes’ owner, Manohar Lal Handa,

Flora Saini is a power-broker and Handa's partner, Ayesha Dewan,

Sarah-Jane Dias as a journalist and Vayu's on-off love interest, Meera Nagpal,

Jitin Gulati as Dhawan's right-hand man, Pritish,

Akashdeep Arora as a tech expert and Rohini's assistant, Tanay,

and Karan Oberoi as actor and Zarina's ex-boyfriend, Imtiaz Khan.

Aamir Bashir (of Sacred Games) is cast as Yashwardhan ‘Bhaisaab’ Patil,

Sapna Pabbi and Elli Avrram as Mantra Patil and Sandy,

Vikram Kochhar as Lambodar,

Makrand Deshpande as Mukund Pansare,

and Luke Kenny as Wolfgang Hummels, a high-ranking, no nonsense member of the anti-doping cricket body.

At a press conference held at the J.W. Marriott Hotel, Juhu, Mumbai, on the afternoon of December 04, it was officially announced that a professional team, with loads of experience in covering cricket, was hired to shoot the match scenes of Inside Edge 2, and all the action you will see on screen is real. In other words, if a batsman hits a 4 or a 6, he really executes the stroke. Likewise, if a bowler bowls out a batsman, it is his bowling skill or the batsman’s mistake that gets the wicket, not some fake editing or special effects. Of course, that meant being really patient, till the desired result was obtained. At the same event, Sayani Gupta revealed that after doing the role of a psycho-analyst, she could really analyse her fellow cast members, and proceeded to do demonstrate her skills, apparently in jest.

Trailer: https://youtu.be/es_cjyjeYbc