Dupahiya creators were 'scared' for S2's exam leak storyline after NEET protests: 'It was written over a year ago'

One of the key storylines in Dupahiya season 2 deals with an alleged SSC exam paper leak, involving a major character.

Dupahiya came as a breath of fresh air on Indian streaming, managing to carve out its own space despite there being an abundance of rooted stories across platforms. The Prime Video show is now returning with its second season, releasing this week. And if season 1 dealt with Dhadakpur, the show’s fictional village, dealing with its first crime in years, season 2 introduces more contemporary real-world issues like installation of a mobile tower. But one subplot had the makers worried for some time.

Shivani Raghuvanshi in a still from Dupahiya season 2.

Dupahiya's exam paper leak storyline

One of the storylines in Dupahiya season 2 sees a character grappling with the temptation of getting question papers for a government exam leaked. The issue was at the epicentre of the nationwide NEET exam paper leak protests in India just a few months ago, which led to the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The show’s creator Salona Bains Joshi addressed the unexpected real-life parallel at a session at FICCI Frames on Tuesday evening. “Actually, hum log to thode se dare hue the initially ki ye kya hi ho gaya (We were a little scared initially that what has happened). It was written over a year ago. We had no idea.”

Salona participated in a session titled ‘Crafting clean, character-driven comedy for a diverse audience’ along with the show’s co-creator Shubh Shivdasani, director Sonam Nair, actors Gajraj Rao, Bhuvan Arora, and Sparsh Srivastava, along with Nikhil Madhok – Director and Head of Originals (SVOD), Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios India, and Shilangi Mukherji – Director and Head of SVOD Business, Prime Video India.

‘Messaging of the show is positive’

During the discussion, Salona added that the team began to regain faith in their show after that early shock quickly. “When we saw it all play through, we realised that the messaging of the show is very positive. We try to show it in a pure and correct manner. There is always a lesson without becoming preachy and that’s exactly how this topic has also been handled.” She added that the show’s message has always been: ‘try and be honest, try and do the right thing.’

“That’s really what we are hoping the audience will also see the larger picture and see it in totality,” she said. However, the writer added that people close to them told them that the ‘timing’ of the protests was good for them. But she dismissed them. “A lot of people close to us said, ‘Tumhare liye to achha hua (This was good for you)’. But we didn’t know. How could we. It was written long ago,” said Salona.

Dupahiya stars Gajraj Rao, Renuka Shahane, Bhuvan Arora, Sparsh Srivastava, Shivani Raghuvanshi, Komal Kushwaha, Yashpal Sharma, and Dinesh Lal Yadav. Season 2 premieres on Amazon Prime Video on October 1.