‘Rise And Fall 2’ Full Contestants List: Release Date, Host, Streaming & Format

Written By: Entertainment Desk

Sep 23, 2026 16:09 IST ⓘ

Here is everything to know about ‘Rise And Fall Season 2’.

The Tower is reopening, but nobody should get too comfortable with the view. ‘Rise And Fall’ is back for a second season with a 15-member line-up drawn from television, films, politics, regional cinema, reality shows and the internet. This time, Indian cricket legend Virender Sehwag will be watching the power struggle from the host’s chair. The casting is designed for collision. There are proven reality-show tacticians, outspoken actors, political personalities, creators with enormous digital audiences and first-timers who have never had to live under round-the-clock scrutiny.

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Put them inside a format where luxury, authority and even social standing can disappear overnight, and Season 2 already has the ingredients for a very lively 42-episode run. Here is the full guide to ‘Rise And Fall Season 2’ – its premiere date, streaming platform, rules, new twists, host and every confirmed contestant.

When And Where To Watch ‘Rise And Fall Season 2’?

‘Rise And Fall Season 2’ premieres on September 26, 2026. New episodes will arrive daily, Monday through Sunday, at 12 noon IST. The season comprises 42 episodes.

The show will be available to stream free on Prime Video and through the MX Player Android app, now branded MX Player by Prime Video. In other words, viewers will not have to wait for a weekly drop to discover who has climbed into power and who has been sent downstairs – the hierarchy can change every day.

Produced by Banijay Asia, the Indian show adapts the international format created by Studio Lambert in the UK and licensed by All3Media International.

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What Is The ‘Rise And Fall’ Format?

At the centre of ‘Rise And Fall’ is one deliberately unfair building. The Rulers occupy a lavish penthouse, enjoy comfort and hold decision-making power. The Workers live in a bare-bones basement, carry out tasks and try to improve both the prize fund and their own position in the game.

That divide, however, is not permanent. Workers can rise, Rulers can fall, alliances can be redrawn and the person issuing orders today may be taking them tomorrow. The format is less about winning a single task than surviving a constantly shifting class system: players need numbers, judgment and timing as much as physical stamina.

Indian Express has also reported an opening-day golden-versus-silver briefcase choice for the contestants. Meanwhile, the pre-launch “Price For All” campaign asked viewers to value players at Rs 4 lakh, Rs 3.5 lakh or Rs 75,000, giving the audience an early say in the hierarchy before the game properly begins. The voting window ran from September 20 to September 23.

Virender Sehwag Replaces Ashneer Grover As Host

Season 1 was fronted by entrepreneur and former Shark Tank India judge Ashneer Grover. Season 2 makes a sharp change of personality by handing the show to Virender Sehwag, who is making his reality-show hosting debut.

It is an intriguing fit. Virender Sehwag built his cricketing reputation on attacking before a contest could settle into a predictable rhythm, while ‘Rise And Fall’ thrives on sudden reversals. Teasing the new season, he summed up its central danger neatly: “There are no easy wins and no fixed positions.” Expect that calm, dry wit to be useful when the penthouse begins mistaking temporary power for permanent privilege.

‘Rise And Fall 2’ Confirmed Contestants: Meet All 15 Players

1. Gautam Gulati

Gautam Gulati enters the Tower with the most intimidating reality-TV credential in the cast: he knows how to turn isolation into momentum. After becoming a household name as Vikram Rathi in ‘Diya Aur Baati Hum’, the actor won ‘Bigg Boss 8’ when its extended finale concluded in early 2015. He later appeared in films including ‘Azhar’ and ‘Radhe’ and returned to the unscripted space as a gang leader on ‘MTV Roadies’. More than a decade after his ‘Bigg Boss’ victory, ‘Rise And Fall 2’ puts him back on the contestant side of the equation – and makes him the obvious player everyone else may want to cut down early.

2. Kaira Anu

Kaira Anu arrives with a very recent winning habit. The dentist-actress and digital personality won ‘MTV Splitsvilla X6’ in 2026 with Kushal Tanwar, better known as Gullu. That show rewarded chemistry, adaptability and the ability to survive shifting loyalties. This one adds money and an explicit social hierarchy to the mix. Kaira may be newer to reality television than several of her castmates, but walking into the Tower straight after a franchise win gives her confidence – and places a target on her before the first major alliance is formed.

3. Karan Patel

For television audiences, Karan Patel remains inseparable from the fiery Raman Bhalla of ‘Yeh Hai Mohabbatein’. His long small-screen career also includes ‘Kasturi’, ‘Kasautii Zindagii Kay’ and ‘Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii’. He is not, however, a reality-show newcomer: Karan has previously appeared on formats including ‘Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa’, ‘Nach Baliye’, ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi 10’ and, most recently, ‘The 50’. His famously blunt screen persona should make him a force in group confrontations, but ‘Rise And Fall’ will test whether directness can be converted into votes, influence and a secure place upstairs.

4. Priyanka Chahar Choudhary

Priyanka Chahar Choudhary became a popular television face through ‘Udaariyaan’ before emerging as one of the defining players of ‘Bigg Boss 16’. She finished ‘BB 16’ in third place – as the second runner-up – while Shiv Thakare was the runner-up and MC Stan won. Priyanka subsequently served as a gang leader on ‘Playground’ and took on the title role in ‘Naagin 7’. She already understands the pressures of a captive reality format; the question is whether her decisive style will take her to the penthouse or make her too visible a threat.

5. Shehzad Poonawalla

Shehzad Poonawalla brings a completely different kind of combat experience to the cast. The political commentator and former BJP national spokesperson announced his resignation from the party’s posts and primary membership in August 2026, citing personal and financial reasons. Accustomed to fast, adversarial television debates, he is unlikely to be short of arguments or counterarguments. But a reality show does not end when the studio lights go off: alliances must survive breakfast, tasks and nominations too. That makes his crossover from political panels to a round-the-clock social game one of the season’s most unpredictable experiments.

6. Swara Bhasker

Swara Bhasker has built a film career on characters who refuse to remain quietly in the background, from ‘Tanu Weds Manu’ and ‘Raanjhanaa’ to ‘Nil Battey Sannata’, ‘Anaarkali of Aarah’ and ‘Veere Di Wedding’. She also appeared with husband Fahad Ahmad on the 2025 celebrity-couple show ‘Pati Patni Aur Panga’. ‘Rise And Fall 2’ now places her in a solo captive contest, where her reputation for speaking plainly will be both an advantage and a vulnerability. Swara is unlikely to disappear into the furniture; whether that visibility produces authority or opposition could shape the early game.

7. Irina Rudakova

Russian-born model and actress Irina Rudakova first became widely familiar to Marathi television viewers as a contestant on ‘Bigg Boss Marathi 5’. She did not win that season – Suraj Chavan did – but she later secured a reality-show trophy by winning ‘Reality Ranis of the Jungle Season 2’ in October 2025, along with a reported Rs 15 lakh prize. Irina now enters ‘Rise And Fall 2’ as someone who has experienced both a high-pressure house and an outright win. She may not command the loudest introduction, but underestimating her resume would be a mistake.

8. Anish Bhagat

Anish Bhagat is one of the season’s clearest digital wild cards. The actor, model and creator is known for warm, candid content about family, identity, acceptance and LGBTQ+ lives, including a widely shared video featuring his father’s support after he came out. His storytelling has built a following of around one million, but an edited reel and a continuously filmed power game require very different instincts. ‘Rise And Fall 2’ marks his reality show debut, giving the audience a chance to see whether the empathy that powers his online work can also build durable alliances inside the Tower.

9. Sara Gurpal

Punjabi actor and singer Sara Gurpal has unfinished business with captive reality television. Her stay on ‘Bigg Boss 14’ in 2020 ended unusually early, but she returned to competition on ‘Reality Ranis of the Jungle Season 2’ and finished among the season’s runners-up. Sara’s work across Punjabi music videos, films and television gives her an easy camera presence. More importantly, she has now experienced both an abrupt exit and a deep run. ‘Rise And Fall 2’ offers a third test – and perhaps the cleanest opportunity yet to control her own reality show narrative.

10. Niharika Tiwari

Model and creator Niharika Tiwari comes from the MTV school of high-pressure reality television. After appearing on ‘Roadies’, she competed on ‘Splitsvilla X6’, where her connection with Sorab Bedi carried them to the finale. That background should help in a format powered by partnerships that can rapidly become rivalries. Yet the Tower is not a dating villa: comfort, authority and survival are openly unequal. Niharika’s challenge will be to prove that she can separate a useful alliance from a dangerous dependency when the house begins attaching a price to loyalty.

11. Siwet Tomar

Siwet Tomar is almost purpose-built for a volatile reality-show edit. The model and actor has appeared on ‘MTV Roadies: Karm Ya Kaand’, ‘Splitsvilla X5’ and ‘The 50’, building a reputation as a forceful competitor who rarely stays far from the centre of conflict. That experience means he knows how quickly a disagreement can become a storyline – and how visibility can be converted into staying power. In ‘Rise And Fall 2’, however, aggression alone will not be enough. A player must also persuade others to preserve his status when the Rulers and Workers change places.

12. Kajal Raghwani

Kajal Raghwani brings a major regional cinema fanbase into the competition. One of Bhojpuri cinema’s most recognisable female stars, she has appeared in popular films including ‘Patna Se Pakistan’, ‘Mehandi Laga Ke Rakhna’, ‘Sangharsh’ and ‘Dulhan Ganga Paar Ke’. She also recently stepped into the reality space with ‘Bhojpuri Bawaal’. Kajal may have less captive-show experience than the ‘Bigg Boss’ and MTV veterans around her, but she enters with strong audience recognition –and in a season that gives viewers an early role in assigning value, outside loyalty could become inside leverage.

13. Raj Grover

Raj Grover has spent years turning family situations into tightly timed comedy sketches for a vast online audience. Reports around his casting place his YouTube following above 15 million, making him one of the line-up’s biggest digital names. ‘Rise And Fall 2’ is his reality TV debut, so the polished punchlines will give way to a more revealing test: how does a creator behave when he cannot control the edit, reshoot a moment or step away from the people in it? His easy-going comic image may help him build bridges, but the Tower has a habit of making even friendly players choose sides.

14. Manish Kashyap

Bihar-based digital news commentator Manish Kashyap, widely known online as the “Son of Bihar”, joins the programme from a world far removed from daily soaps and dating shows. Associated with the digital outlet Sach Tak News, he has built an audience through emphatic, personality-led videos about public issues. That direct communication style could make him a natural organiser – or an immediate source of friction – in the basement. He is one of several contestants whose existing supporters may matter before the game begins, but converting an online constituency into trust among 14 housemates is a different challenge altogether.

15. Tej Pratap Yadav

Former Bihar minister Tej Pratap Yadav, the elder son of Lalu Prasad Yadav, completes the season’s striking politics-meets-pop-culture crossover. After appearing on the 2026 unscripted series ‘Bhojpuri Bawaal’, he is returning to reality entertainment almost immediately. He has already joked about establishing a “darbaar” if he reaches the penthouse, which is exactly the kind of boast this format enjoys testing. Tej Pratap enters with public recognition, political instincts and a taste for colourful declarations; the real suspense is how he responds if the house assigns him a Worker’s uniform instead of a throne.

What Happened In ‘Rise And Fall’ Season 1?

The first Indian season premiered on September 6, 2025, and was hosted by Ashneer Grover. After 42 days of shifting alliances and power reversals, actor Arjun Bijlani won the show on October 17, defeating Aarush Bhola, who finished as the first runner-up. Arjun took home Rs 28.10 lakh.

According to Amazon’s post-season figures, the inaugural edition crossed half a billion views on Amazon MX Player, generated more than 10 billion social media views and drew nearly 11 million audience votes. These numbers explain why a second season has returned quickly – with a new host, a broader cast and audience intervention beginning before the contestants even settle into the building.