It was a lukewarm surprise when the second season was announced. Personally, it felt like the makers had given in to popular consensus. Those ‘when season 2?’demands in the comments section or maybe, more plausibly, it was platform pressure. But in Sudip Sharma we trust. The writer, who is the first fully-fledged showrunner in India, hasn’t had a miss till now. His last, Kohrraa misty, murder investigation in Punjab, might be devoid of external politics but it was still a deep incision into the structures of patriarchy and interpersonal relationships. Sceptical, I was still hopeful.
We return to Outer Jamnapaar thana. If it was possible, Hathi Ram Chaudhury seems even more cynical and defeated. His subordinate from the first season, Imran Ansari (Ishwak Singh), is now an IPS officer and has jumped the ranks to become an ACP. Hathi Ram’s wife, Renu, wants him to take up a better paying job and his brother-in-law keeps on harping about his new, AC car (It has ‘sapno ka saudagar’ (dealer of dreams) written on the rear window. The guy deals with hawala traders). Meanwhile, in the realm of heaven world (heavens), Naga leader Jonathan Thom’s headless corpse has been found in a hotel room bathtub. The deceased was a part of the ongoing talks between Nagaland and the Government of India for a multi-crore investment in the Northeastern state. Imran has been given the case. Parallelly, Hathi Ram is trying to help a destitute woman, whose husband has gone missing. Turns out, he was last seen with the main suspect of the Jonathan murder case. After brief hierarchical hiccups, Imran and Hathi Ram team up once again. They land in Nagaland, which is in the midst of political turmoil following Jonathan’s killing. As the mystery unravels, everybody’s deep, dark secrets start spilling. Jonathan ran a drug empire, his wife was paying off his mistress for years, his son Reuben had split from his home party and founded another, a deal for a chain of hotels in Kohima is being rushed and a mysterious sniper is bumping off key links to the case.
Sudip, along with team of writers Rahul Kanojia, Abhishek Banerjee and Tamal Sen, weaves a competent if not compelling thriller. Paatal Lok 2 opens with intrigue and ably follows the beats of a polished noir story. But the interest soon wanes away and you are only concerned with finding and placing the last piece of the puzzle, unbothered by the picture it creates. Although novel, Nagaland as a setting lacks the grittiness of Delhi. And it’s not the viewer’s unfamiliarity with its cultural context that lets disinterest creep in, the makers too offer only a cursory glance into the state’s milieu. The place never rises to become more than a scenic backdrop.
While the first season was filled with mythology metaphors and cultural critique that managed to offend across the political spectrum (it invited the ire of a Sikkim MP, a BJP legislator, a former Akali Dal MLA and Gorkha youth wing members), Paatal Lok 2 has been sucked dry of any direct political commentary. Politics of the makers still bleeds in the show, unable to burst. In a scene, a child reads aloud a tale of a young boy who brought a baby bear home, only to be chided by his mother. A story, similar to a certain leader’s childhood adventures featuring a baby crocodile. A bumper quote on an autorickshaw reads: ‘just keep friendship’(Hope friendship stays) and while talking about a Naga party, a character surmises how their motto overnight changed to development. These indirect potshots lack punch and are only a testimony to these desperate times.
Desperation also seeps in when the narrative starts slogging. The action briefly jumps back to Delhi when Nagaland runs out of ideas. We have a riot-rescue mission and also a sniper hunt episode, both reminded me of the mechanics of The Last of Us. Paatal Lok 2’s mystery, although well crafted, is without mayhem. Its satire lacks bite. There are frequent callbacks to the first season, as if the show is craving for simpler, more expressive times. There is also a lot of kicking and punching and often, a heavyset Hathi Ram, in trainers like a PT teacher, huffs and bleeds, frequently getting exhausted of beating up the bad guys. Rest a bit, old chap, it has been a while.
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