Season 1 of Paatal Lok hit us like a wrecking ball during the May 2020 epidemic. We traveled through the country’s dark heartland with the sullen Haryanvi police officer Hathi Ram Chaudhary (played by Jaideep Ahlawat) while we were confined to our homes. a society rife with class and caste disparities.
It explored the backgrounds of four murderers and the marginalization structures that gave rise to them, drawing inspiration from Tarun Tejpal’s book The Story of My Assassins. In his crude, jaat logic, Hathi Ram explained to us simply: “Sometimes these insects of paatal lok (underworld) bite the inhabitants of dharti lok (human civilisation). Then what occurs is kaand (ruckus)”. The messaging was clear, all crime is class war.
The announcement of the second season came as a lukewarm surprise. In my opinion, the creators had catered to the general consensus. The “when season 2?” demands in the comments section or, perhaps more realistically, platform pressure were the cause.
However, we have faith in Sudip Sharma. As India’s first full-fledged showrunner, the writer has yet to experience a miss. Even though Kohrra, his final murder inquiry in Punjab, was free of outside politics, it was nonetheless a profound attack on the systems of patriarchy and human connections. Though skeptical, I remained optimistic.
Outer Jamnapaar Thana is where we go back to. Hathi Ram Chaudhury appears even more defeated and cynical, if that were possible. Imran Ansari (Ishwak Singh), his first-season subordinate, is currently an IPS officer who has risen through 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, the headless body of Naga commander Jonathan Thom was discovered in a hotel room bathtub in the region of swarg lok (heavens). The deceased was involved in ongoing negotiations for a multi-crore investment in the Northeastern state between Nagaland and the Indian government.
The case has been assigned to Imran. Hathi Ram is attempting to assist a poor widow whose husband has vanished in parallel. It turns out that the primary suspect in the Jonathan murder case was with him when he was last seen. Imran and Hathi Ram reunite after a few short hierarchical snags.
They arrive in Nagaland, which is experiencing political unrest as a result of Jonathan’s murder. Everyone’s darkest secrets begin to surface as the mystery is solved. A mysterious sniper is snagging important case links, Jonathan controlled a drug empire, his wife was paying off his mistress for years, his son Reuben had left his home party and started another, and a transaction for a network of hotels in Kohima is being hurried.
Sudip and the writing team of Rahul Kanojia, Abhishek Banerjee, and Tamal Sen craft a skillful, albeit unimpressive, thriller. Paatal Lok 2 begins intriguingly and skillfully adheres to the rhythms of a well-written noir tale. However, the excitement quickly fades, and you are solely focused on locating and positioning the final jigsaw piece, not troubled by the image it produces. Nagaland is a new setting, but it doesn’t have Delhi’s gritty feel.
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: ‘bas dosti bani rahe’(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.
When the story slows down, desperation also creeps in. When Nagaland runs out of ideas, the action briefly shifts back to Delhi. Both the sniper hunt episode and the riot-rescue mission made me think of The Last of Us’s plot.
Despite being masterfully written, Paatal Lok 2’s mystery is devoid of chaos. Its satire is not very sharp. The show seems to yearn for simpler, more expressive times, as evidenced by the repeated references to the first season. There is also a lot of punching and kicking, and a heavyset Hathi Ram, wearing trainers like a physical therapy instructor, frequently gets tired of beating up the evil guys and bleeds and huffs. It’s been a long time, old man. Take a little rest.
