Avrodh 2 review: All actors in Abir Chatterjee's series are a spectacle, story not so much

3/5

Story:

Pradeep Bhattacharya, who is an IT official as well as an army captain, has figured out that an organisation is working towards terrorism as well as a huge economic scam, which will affect the Indian economy. His only mission now is to get everyone imprisoned.

Review:

Avrodh 2 commences in a wild night of Guwahati, Assam. Abir Chatterjee (Pradeep Bhattacharya) appears almost instantly in a no heroic tale whatsoever. This already sets his world apart from Amit Sadh from the original series.

He is impressive as an actor but Abir struggles to keep the story together. The music in this series creates more hype than the scenes themselves. His intensity, which the character requires, helps the story but since the screenplay is already at a snail's pace, it tends to grab your interest only once a while.

Anant Mahadevan is back as Defense Minister, Satish Mahadevan. So is Neeraj Kabi as National Secretary Advisor, Shailesh Malviya. Looking at them, you feel that you never left the world of Avrodh.

Rajesh Khattar as General Aziz introduces Sanjay Suri's character Ehsaan and why he is who he is. He is a gentle antagonist. It is a role only someone like him could pull off because of the contrast required in the character.

Meanwhile, Sanjay does the mean walk. He builds his character through his dialogues. Rajesh also helps him do that through his confused-yet-intrigued face (which probably would be us the viewers if the makers hadn't revealed the plot in the trailer or at the beginning of the series). This character is something that you will want to see on the screen time and again and no doubt, he is a delight to watch every single time. The story creates panic early on. However, this time, there is very little reaction to every action. While in the original series, every step had to be carefully planned, here, everything just appears to be served on the platter without having to go the extra mile.

Madhurima Tuli as reporter Namrata Joshi is back but not as one of the leads. She has a very brief appearance and her story does not continue. On the other hand, Aahana Kumra finally appears in the series and you know her character has a huge twist. However, when introduced, she is happy-go-lucky. She has some pretty powerful scenes, especially with the pauses and camera angles. Her breakdown scene is a good watch too.

While two stories run parallelly in Avrodh 2, they slowly start to connect. As we mentioned previously, it is the slow pace only that works against the series. Avrodh season 1 constantly sent some emotions with every episode which is, in a way, missing in this season.

Halfway through the series, your interest builds up again. The show still goes on at a slow pace but at least, something intense happened and that raises the hope and expectations for what is to come.

At one point, you would feel that the makers wanted to bank on Scam 1992 success, which is why the finance angle was forced into the series. There is just no wrapping your head around it or justifying how an army officer is also an IT officer, that too the most senior at both the places, fighting the battle on the war field.

The execution of the scenes is unreal. The army reaches the antagonist's place within seconds and were already in the area before they even got intel on the person. The makers have taken too much liberty in this episode, which is what makes it less believable, especially when compared to season 1.

Verdict:

Avrodh 2 tries to be a mix of many things. The original show became popular because of the many factors, all of which were intriguing - right from the characters to the storyline of exacting revenge, about how a certain character puts hindrance to what could otherwise be achieved a little more easily. However, Season 2 is nothing like that. Here, you can watch the show for only the actors.

The story is too complex and not justified in the correct manner. The makers have taken many liberties and so, this series is full of loopholes. However, if it is the performances that you are looking for, then Avrodh 2 could be your one-time watch.