MUMBAI: Saanand Verma will be seen next in Apaharan 2, releasing on March 18. The Web Series directed by Santosh Singh, created by Ekta Kapoor, featuring actors such as Arunoday Singh, Nidhi Singh and Snehil Dixit Mehra, has been one of the much-awaited projects. The actor hopes that the audience will like the second season as much as they enjoyed the first.

“I have a lot of expectations from Apaharan 2 because Apaharan 1 has been successful. In fact it became a cult show and this time everything is double, be it comedy, action, emotions or twists and turns. We have shot season two in foreign locations as well and people will get to watch a Hollywood style Hindi web series for the firs time. It’s literally Hollywood level given the feel of it. We all have worked hard for this and all the characters are unique and mind-blowing,” says the actor, who reprises the role of Dubey in the series.

“This time around you will see Dubey in a new avatar and with a much bigger problem in his life to deal with. In fact to resolve his problems he goes abroad and something happens there jisse darshako ka jabardast entertainment hoga. Dubey ki life mein jo ho raha hai woh koi soch bhi nahi sakta. He meets Rudra again by chance when he goes abroad and this time around he gets in trouble with Rudra and Ranjo. The track is fantastic and I’m super excited about my role,” he adds.

Talking more about his character Apaharan 1 and 2, he shares that the level, shades of Dubey Ji varies from in both seasons. The storyline is very different too.

“But definitely there is a connection with season 1. Dubey goes abroad for the first time from Rishikesh and what happens with him there is the actual hilarious angle in this show. In season 1 his love life angle with Ranjo was more highlighted but in season 2 you will see dubey ka tharki pan next level pe chala gaya hai aur ek alag hi problem mein yeh phas gaya hai jiska ranjo ke pyaar se koi lena dena nahi hai. There is going to be a big change in his personal life,” he says.

OTT gives a lot of satisfaction as a performer, feels the actor. Praising the space that allows narratives to thrive, Saanand adds, “On OTT, there is more freedom and more creative expressions. As you all know freedom is necessary in creativity, the basic format with OTT is that each character gets enough space to flourish. I enjoy OTT the most, though I’m doing films more these days. When it comes to films you just have to be a little more careful because of the censor board, as we at times want movies to get a U/A certificate. In that case we need to take care of a lot of things. But OTT allows much freedom even though user discretion and self-censorship are followed.”

While OTT shows can be watched anywhere, the major difference with films, according to Saanand, is that the latter is made for the big screen.

“So, films always have that larger than life feeling, the focus in all the areas is a lot, the level of attention of viewers is different, one can communicate the details better in movies because of the focus. But, in OTT people watch it anywhere, anytime, with headphones or not, while eating or drinking tea, etc. Overall the level of attention and focus for any creativity is less in OTT. If I want to prioritise then movies come first, OTT and then Television,” he explains.