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Shibani Dandekar thrilled to have played antagonist in Hostages 2

After the huge success of Hostages (2019), Hotstar has launched the second season of the well-received series. Amid great anticipation, the twelve-part series premiered yesterday on 9th September on Hotstar.

Hostages Season 2 has a number of new talents, including Divya Dutta, Dino Morea, Shibani Dandekar, and Shweta Basu Prasad. Actors such as Dalip Tahil, Surya Sharma, Aashim Gulati, Anangsha Biswas, and Mohan Kapur from the first season also features on the ensemble cast of the second season.


Though all actors have been praised for their performances, Shibani Dandekar’s villainous act has caught everyone’s attention in particular. “Isha Andrews was so different from anything that I have played before and I thoroughly enjoyed getting into the skin of this character,” says Dandekar about her character.

Shibani Dandekar had never played the antagonist in her career before and hence, she chose to take up the character of Isha Andrews. “She is ruthless, fierce, driven yet inexperienced and that at times can mean her insecurities can seep through. Isha is constantly trying to prove herself and for the most part, knows what she wants and what she is doing until the underlying fear that she has with Ranbir (Dino Morea) comes into play. I have never played the antagonist before and I was so excited to play a different side for a change. It was quite a challenge to balance the softness of Isha with the tough exterior and playing her was a real dream. We have many parts of our personality that are similar in terms of strengths and weaknesses,” she says.

Ask her about her experience of working with the entire cast and crew, and she says, “It was such an incredible experience on set, such a lovely cast that felt like family and the entire unit was so much fun and supportive. When you work in an environment like that, you can really thrive and bring out the best work and hopefully, that shows in what we have done with season 2”.

Helmed by Sudhir Mishra, Hostages 2 is streaming on Hotstar.

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5 mythological picks now streaming in the UK — and why they’re worth watching

Highlights:

  • Indian mythological titles are landing on global OTT services with better quality and reach.
  • Netflix leads the push with Kurukshetra and Mahavatar Narsimha.
  • UK viewers can access some titles now, though licensing varies.
  • Regional stories and folklore films are expanding the genre.
  • 2025 marks the start of long-form mythological world-building on OTT.

There’s a quiet shift happening on streaming platforms this year. Indian mythological stories, once treated as children’s animation or festival reruns, have started landing on global services with serious ambition. These titles are travelling further than they ever have, including into the UK’s busy OTT space.

It’s about scale, quality, and the strange comfort of old stories in a digital world that changes too fast. And in a UK market dealing with subscription fatigue, anything fresh, strong, and rooted in clear storytelling gets noticed.

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