Old Feuds, Fortune Floor Deals and a Takhta Palat on the Cards: Aarush and Laila Turn Up the Heat on Rise and Fall Season 2!
Mumbai, India, 18th October 2026: If the Tower’s split of the Penthouse and Basement was a dhamaka, the latest episode brought a full-blown bhukamp! Just as the Rulers and Workers were settling into their new realities, two familiar faces returned to shake things up: Aarush Bhola, last season’s finalist and Ultimate Worker, and Laila, aka Varun Yadav. Their arrival brought fresh twists, old rivalries and a new opportunity to challenge the Tower’s power equation. With the Prize Pot in play and a takhta palat within reach, will these impact players help the Workers rise, or give the Rulers more reason to tighten their grip on power?
Aarush’s return quickly brought an old rivalry back into focus. When he asked Shehzad Poonawalla who his favourite contestant was, Shehzad named Swara Bhasker, giving Rishabh the perfect opening to tell him he had “no spine”. Shehzad retaliated with a dig at Rishabh’s acting career, turning a simple question into another face-off and proving that this rivalry was far from over. But amid the jabs, Aarush and Swara brought a lighter moment with some playful banter over her films. Swara cheekily retorted, “Mere apne khudke opinion kaafi hai aapki career phukne ke liye aapki help ki zarurat nahi hai”, delivering a laugh-out-loud comeback before Aarush and Laila took the drama downstairs.
In the Basement, Aarush urged the Workers to stop crying and start playing before asking whose videos they thought would receive the most dislikes. Sara Gurpal named Priyanka Chahar Choudhary, bringing the former OG Workers’ already strained equation back into the spotlight. Career digs soon escalated into threats, with Sara warning, “Yeh dono haatho mein se ek haath uth gaya, mein bata rahi hu…”. With old grievances flaring up in front of the impact players, the Basement had found its own battleground but could the Workers channel that energy into changing their fortunes?
The real power play unfolded on the Fortune Floor, where Ultimate Ruler Niharika Tiwari faced a choice that could bring the Workers closer to a takhta palat. Aarush offered to add ₹10 lakh to the Penthouse Prize Pot, but accepting meant surrendering her Ultimate Ruler position. Varun’s counteroffer allowed her to retain her crown, but ₹5 lakh would be deducted from the pot. Niharika chose power over money, keeping her position but leaving the Rulers unhappy and cracks showing in the Penthouse’s unity. The Workers’ chance to close the gap had slipped away, but another deal was about to test their willingness to put the team first.
Fresh from her own fall, Sara was offered immunity from nominations by Varun, but accepting would cost the Basement ₹2.5 lakh from its Prize Pot. Aarush presented another option: if Sara nominated herself, ₹2.5 lakh would be added to the pot, bringing the Workers closer to a potential takhta palat. After considering the possibility of saving herself, Sara chose to nominate herself for the sake of her team. It was a sacrifice that strengthened the Basement’s position financially, even as it put her own game at risk.
Meanwhile, the Rulers faced their own reckoning in the Red Room as the Lift of Judgement was here. Niharika ranked her fellow Rulers from most to least deserving of their place upstairs, placing Kajal Raghwani first, followed by Manish Kashyap, Priyanka and Gautam Gulati, while Sonam landed at the bottom and went straight into the nominations. Gautam, chosen as the operator, then nominated Priyanka from the options of Priyanka, Manish and Kajal, putting her alongside Sara. Sonam nominated Manish before becoming the operator herself. She initially picked Gautam, but after the other Rulers questioned her decision, she switched her nomination to Kajal, leaving Gautam safe for the week. With rankings, nominations and last-minute switches shaking up the Penthouse, it was clear that a place upstairs offered little guarantee of peace.
From Shehzad’s revived rivalry and Swara’s cheeky comeback to the Sara–Priyanka showdown, Niharika’s costly choice and a nomination round full of twists, Aarush and Laila’s arrival has set off a chain reaction across the Tower. The Rulers have held on to their crown, while the Workers have another reason to keep fighting. With the Prize Pot shifting and nominations locked in, will the Workers finally pull off a takhta palat, or will the Rulers manage to stay on top?
Produced by Banijay Asia, Rise and Fall Season 2 is hosted by Virender Sehwag and streams free, exclusively on Prime Video, with fresh episodes every day at 12 noon. The show is available through MX Player by Prime Video on the MX Player Android app, as well as across mobile devices, Connected TVs, the Amazon shopping app, Prime Video and Fire TV.