Raanbaazaar part 2 review: Tejaswini Pandit's web series heads towards a cat-and-mouse chase

3/5

Story:

Aayesha (Tejaswini Pandit) finds a place to hide after she is convicted of Sayajirao's murder. She is with Ratna (Prajakta Mali) and has no idea what her intentions are. Meanwhile, Charu Mokashi (Abhijit Panse) gets closer to the clues regarding the murder and the honey trap (videos of the girl who was with Sayajirao the night of his murder).

Review:

Raanbaazaar begins on a new note this time around with season 2. We see Madhuri Pawar as Taisaheb aka Prerna Patil Sane once again and her look is sure to still leave you stunned.

Even though the plot is slow, your interest in Raanbaazar's story is sure to unwaver. In fact, things get even more interesting this time around.

Prajakta Mali is back as her quirky character, Ratna and she is instantly impressive. Of course, there isn't just quirk to her and so, Ratna's sly side is also visible in this part too, quite often at that.

Tejaswini Pandit as Aayesha is not mysterious but sad this time around. Her sensuous side is completely gone. However, we aren't complaining since she nails the naive role too.

What's confusing is though Ayesha was skeptical the last time around, she has completely settled in and trusted a completely untrustworthy Ratna. It is very confusing to see the switch.

The series goes a little bizarre and out-of-flow this time around. That makes it very dificult to connect the dots, especially to what we have seen in part one of Raanbaazaar.

Surekha Kudchi would have captured your attention the last time around as Akka and she is back this time too. This one has very brief but impactful appearances, to the extent that she is one of the more impressive characters in the series, even if her character isn't intriguing and is rather straightforward in her thinking.

Abhijit Panse as Charu Mokashi tries to be scary but even he lacks somewhere this time around. However, by the end of the show, this actor-director gets back into character and in fact, is entertaining as ever.

Urmila Kanetkar finally makes her entry as Nisha Jain. This time, it is with Yusuf Patel (Sachin Khedekar). Yusuf makes the switch from respectful to filled with lust with the two parts and his brief roles are enough to understand that he is one dangerous character on the show too.

Appa Divekar (Makrand Anaspure) is also here. He has a different and friendly character this time.

One more death in the series changes the whole scenario. This person was controlling many and now that he is out of the picture, it remains to be seen what happens to the helpless ones.

Dr. Mohan Agashe is back as Satish Naik too but he is the stereotypical politician this time around. He has a very small role this time, unlike the last part.

The scenes with Tejaswini in it are pretty powerful this time around. At first, she is seen bathing away and something unusual happens. The scene that follows right after is one that could shake you from the core. A girl child pretends to sell two girls to two boys and she doesn't even know for what. The way the girls and boys dance after that proves exactly that none of them know what they are doing but that selling girls has become very normal for them, almost like a lifestyle, which is a dangerous thought when it comes to the children, the future of a nation.

Anant Jog also appears as Bantya/Raosaheb but almost at the end of part 2. His role this time is very brief and you might almost miss seeing him from behind a car window.

Raanbaazaar progresses and you keep waiting for a clue without realizing that it was right in front of your eyes. Director-actor Abhijit finally explains what the visuals in the theme song for this show mean and now, the cat-and-mouse chase will finally begin.

Verdict:

Raanbaazaar is still setting in the characters in part 2. Newer characters emerge and the older ones show different colours.

The story progresses but at a slow speed. That is till the last scene. Abhijit Panse, who plays Charu Mokashi, introduces a new angle on the show and it is one you cannot look away from.

Wait for the cat-and-mouse chase and possibly, if you want to catch up on Raanbaazaar, do so next week when things are expected to get pretty interesting. However, if you are among those who needs to watch a show as soon as it release, go ahead by all means. It will give you some more context on what is to come. However, don't expect to be too mesmerized already, even if this one has its moments too.