Aarya is an Indian crime-thriller drama streaming television series on Disney+ Hotstar, co-created by Ram Madhvani and Sandeep Modi, who also directed the series, with Vinod Rawat, serving as the co-director. Produced by Madhvani under the banner Ram Madhvani Films, along with Endemol Shine Group, it stars Sushmita Sen in the titular role and is based on the Dutch drama series Penoza. The series is about Aarya, an independent woman who seeks to protect her family and joins a mafia gang in order to get revenge for her husband’s murder. Recently, the show has been nominated for International Emmy Awards for best Drama series.
Madhvani bought the remake rights to the series in early 2011, and planned to adapt it into a feature film in 2014. However the film was eventually shelved due to casting and budgetary issues. He decided later to direct it instead as a web series for Hotstar’s original content label Hotstar Specials. Filming for the first season began in December 2019 and ended in March 2020, with the series been filmed across Mumbai, Jaipur, Udaipur and Palgadh. The cinematography is handled by Harshvir Oberoi and editing was done by Khushboo Raj and Abhimanyu Chaudhary. Vishal Khurana composed the background score.
Aarya was initially slated to release on 29 March 2020, but was postponed due to delay in post-production work. It was released on Disney+ Hotstar on 19 June 2020. The series marked the comeback of Sushmita Sen, as well as her digital debut. It has received positive reviews with critics praising Sen’s performance. Sen received the award for Best Actress – Female, at the Filmfare OTT Awards, with the series receiving eight nominations. In July 2020, Sushmita Sen and Ram Madhvani announced the second season of the series. The second season started filming on 1 March 2021 in Jaipur, but having been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic is scheduled to wrap up in June 2021. The teaser of Aarya season 2 was released on 100 November 2021 with the show set to premiere on 10 December 2021.