The Handmaid’s Tale Season 2 Releases in India in January on SonyLIV

The Handmaid's Tale season 2 will release in its entirety on January 16, 2019 on SonyLIV in India, the streaming service has announced. That's over six months since it finished airing on Hulu in the US, though admittedly that's a lot better than the time — nearly 16 months — it took for the first season to arrive on streaming in India. The second season was broadcast on AXN previously, just like with season 1.

It also means that SonyLIV has managed to defy our expectations, which is not a sentence we get to type very often. And it gives us hope that the third season of The Handmaid's Tale, which is currently in production, might arrive closer to its original premiere date in the US, though we wouldn't hold our collective breaths if we were you. It's a little bemusing that streaming platforms in India haven't actively pursued The Handmaid's Tale, given the critical and awards acclaim.

In its first season, The Handmaid's Tale was easily one of the best TV shows around. We called it “a terrific argument against orthodoxy” and placed it on our year-end list of best shows in 2017. The Handmaid's Tale was a big winner at the 2017 Emmys as well, winning eight awards including best drama series, and best lead actress for star Elisabeth Moss. It added to its haul at the 2018 Golden Globes back in January, winning in the aforementioned two categories. It also won a BAFTA and several Critics' Choice TV Awards.

The Handmaid's Tale Is an Advocate for the Power of Storytelling

The second season continued to be a tour de force with critics — we praised The Handmaid's Tale for being “blessedly unflinching in its darker” sophomore return — though the 2018 Emmys largely looked it over, except for one guest actress award for Samira Wiley alongside a couple of Creative Arts Emmys. The Handmaid's Tale season 2 has two acting nominations for Moss and Yvonne Strahovski at the 2019 Golden Globes, which take place on January 6, 2019.

SonyLIV uses a freemium model just as Hotstar, with a select offering of sports such as international test cricket and the Champions League supported by advertisements, while live TV, and most of its film and TV offerings fall under the ‘premium' umbrella. A SonyLIV subscription costs Rs. 99 per month or Rs. 499 per year, which gets you access to the premium content in addition to getting rid of advertisements.