Director duo Raj & DK have caused havoc with their shows on the OTT platforms Amazon Prime and Netflix.
Raj Nidimoru known as Raj was born in Tirupathi while Krishna D.K known as DK was born and brought up in Chittoor. They both went to the same engineering college where they met. The duo emigrated to the USA to pursue engineering but ended up in the film business.
Raj and DK worked on a short film before making their full-fledged debut. Their debut film was an English film titled Flavours released in 2003. Their second film and their first Hindi film was titled ‘99’ that released in 2009. 99 starred an ensemble cast of Kunal Khemu, Boman Irani, Mahesh Manjrekar, Soha Ali Khan, Cyrus Broacha, Vinod Khanna, and Amit Mistry among others. The film was a moderate success at the box office.
Raj and DK received widespread recognition and greater success with their 2013 directional Go Goa Gone, a zombie action comedy film. It was the first-ever Hindi film on zombies. The film starred an ensemble cast of Saif Ali Khan, Kunal Khemu, Vir Das, Anand Tiwari, and Puja Gupta among others. Though the film was a decent success at the box office. But it became a cult classic film. A sequel titled Go Goa Gone 2 is currently under production.
Post Go Goa Gone, Raj And DK directed and wrote a few films. Unfortunately, none of their films saw big victory bearing Stree (2018). They together wrote the horror comedy film Stree starring Rajkumar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, Abhishek Banerjee, Aparshakti Khurrana, and Shraddha Kapoor in leads. The film was a major commercial success. Post Stree, the director duo moved to OTT to direct and produce web shows.
With over six shows they are truly the king of OTT platforms.
In 2019, Raj and DK presented the first season of The Family Man for Amazon Prime India. The Family Man is a spy thriller series starring an ensemble cast of Manoj Bajpayee, Sharib Hashmi, Priyamani, Ashlesha Thakur, Vedant Sinha, Neeraj Madhav, Sharad Khelkar, Sunny Hinduja, Dalip Tahil and Shreya Dhanwanthary among others. The first season was released with ten episodes shot in Mumbai, Delhi, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, and Leh, Ladakh. The show stars Manoj Bajpayee as a Spy with Priyamani as his wife and Sharib Hashmi as his partner.
The first season of The Family Man met a positive response and received critical acclaim for its story, script, direction, and performance of its cast members. The Family Man became one of the most-watched shows in just a few weeks. It received widespread and global popularity. The show was immediately renewed for a second season.
The second season of The Family Man was released in 2021 with its lead cast reprising their roles. Popular Indian Telugu Actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu made her digital debut as the female lead in the second season of The Family Man. Like its first season, The Family Man 2 became a major hit on Amazon Prime and is one of the most-watched shows ever.
The third season of The Family Man is set to release in 2025. The third season follows the COVID pandemic and an attack on the North Eastern States of India by China.
Besides, The Family Man, Raj, and DK also directed Guns & Gulaabs for Netflix India. Guns & Gulaabs is a black comedy action series set in the 90’s. The show stars an ensemble cast of Rajkumar Rao, Dulquer Salman, Adarsh Gaurav, Gulshan Devaiah, Vipin Sharma, and Satish Kaushik among others. The show received a positive response and became one of the most-watched Indian shows ever. Guns & Gulaabs is renewed for a second season.
In 2023, Raj and DK released their third show and another show for Amazon Prime India. They directed ‘Farzi’ a comedy action crime series starring an ensemble cast of Shahid Kapoor, Vijay Sethupathi, Kay Kay Menon, Raashi Khanna, Amol Palekar, Zakir Hussain, and Bhuvan Arora. Farzi was released in 2023 and instantly became the most-watched show in India. The story revolves around two friends who decide to make counterfeit money. The show is renewed for a second season. Farzi was the digital debut of Shahid Kapoor and Vijay Sethupathi.
After The Family Man Season 1 and 2, Guns & Gulaabs and Farzi, Raj & DK are all set to release another action drama series in 2024.
Their next show is titled Citadel: Honey Bunny and it is an official adaption of the American TV Series Citadel starring Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra with the Russo Brothers as executive producers. The Hindi version of Citadel: Honey Bunny stars Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Sikander Kher, Kay Kay Menon, Saqib Saleem, and Soham Majumdar among others. The show was announced in January 2023 and the filming was wrapped up in July 2023. Citadel: Honey Bunny is set to release by the end of 2024 or early 2025. The show was released on Amazon Prime.
Post Citadel: Honey Bunny, Raj & DK will move to Gulkanda Tales which is another show for Amazon Prime. Gulkanda Tales is a comedy fantasy thriller series. The show stars an ensemble cast of Kunal Khemu, Pankaj Tripathi, Abhishek Banerjee, Mantra Mugudh, and Patrelekhaa Paul among others. The show is set to release in 2025.
Raj & DK recently announced another show. the show is titled Rakht Brahmand and is all set to premiere on Netflix. Rakht Brahmand is a fantasy drama show starring Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Ali Fazal among others. Ali Fazal is popularly known for playing Guddu Bhaiya in Amazon Prime’s blockbuster show Mirzapur. Rakht Brahmand is the third collaboration between Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Raj & DK after The Family Man Season 2 and Citadel: Honey Bunny. Rakht Brahmand is said to be a marvelous dream project for Raj & DK. The show is currently under production.
As of now, Raj & DK have two shows set to release soon, Citadel: Honey Bunny and The Family Man Season 3. Both shows will release on Amazon Prime.
