Paatal Lok 2 rambles despite good storyline, should have been crisp

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The series has a fresh core plot: Nagaland needs progress and there are Summit Talks with the Indian government that can lead to an investment of Rs. 24000 crore into the state, lots of facilities and progress and eventually the start of prosperity for that North-Eastern province. But there are obstacles.

At the very beginning of this story, the decapitated body of Jonathan Thom, a Naga leader, is found in a Delhi hotel, the city wher the talks are going to be held. IPS Ansari (Ishwak Singh) is handed the case. Meanwhile, caught in a routine drudgery of work as usual, inspector Hathiram Chaudhary (Jaideep Ahlawat) is investigating simple, routine cases, like the disappearance of Raghu Paswan (Shailesh Kumar), a migrant laborer.  Hathiram has trained Ansari, who is now his superior.

As Ansari begins to go deep into the murder, and several suspects seem to be emerging, Hathiram in turn finds that the Raghu Paswan case has deeper ramifications too, and there are some common threads. Hathiram considers himself phlegmatically as a permanent member of the netherworld (Paatal Lok) / underworld and is soon saddled with Raghu’s child when the latter’s wife, who has lodged his missing complaint, is also murdered.

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The general boredom and insecurity of his life makes Hathiram’s well-meaning brother-in-law offer him a lucrative job in a firm that indulges in hawala (illegal money transactions) but the passionate officer resists. And soon comes a time when Ansari asks for Hathiram’s assistance in investigating the main case.

Thom’s integrity comes under suspicion despite his rabid supporters, as does that of Nagaland’s prime business tycoon, Kapil Reddy (Nagesh Kukunoor), and also of Thom’s wife Asenla (Rozelle Mero) and son Reuben (LC Sekhose), Kapil’s wife Grace (Theyie Keditsu) and a mysterious sniper (Prashant Tamang).

The Naga cops also come in as the game gets deeper, comprising SP Meghna Barua (Tilottama Shome) and her deputy, Isaac (Bendang Walling). And yes, three more characters play key roles: Roze Lizo (Merenla Imsong), a drug addict, her libidinous bar-owner paramour, Dhruv Malik (Viren Burman) and the aging Naga leader and benefactor Ken (Jahnu Barua).

Gul Panag is, as usual, Hathiram’s long-suffering wife, while Anurag Arora  plays his wry superior. An interesting actress is his pregnant and always supportive deputy, whose name is not known. The small boy playing Raghu’s son is also quite a find. Prateek Pachauri is good as the informer Bittu.

The series is technically upscale, and as I said, has a good and original storyline, but director Avinash Arun Dhaware and writers Sudip Mehra, Tamal Sen and Abhishek Banerjee have reveled indulgently in their script: at 8 episodes of around 50 minutes each, the pace frequently drags despite the abundance of twists and turns. This is a story, with all its political colors, that could have scored best with a crisp runtime of 300 minutes.

Jaideep Ahlawat is outstanding yet again as the determined yet tired Hathiram. As Ansari, Ishwak Singh gives him decent company. Tilottama Shome is alright. Among the rest, Anurag Arora, the pregnant constable, and the far-Eastern artistes portraying their respective roles score high. Nagesh Kukunoor is correctly slimy as a character.

Finally, Paatal Lok 1 had a transgender angle, but Paatal Lok 2 takes us to the further done-to-death zone of a homosexual character without any justification or link to the plot whatsoever. When will this insanity cease, I wonder?

As a whole, the show works, but it could have gone much higher.

Rating: ***

Amazon Prime Video presents Clean Slate Filmz’ Paatal Lok 2  Crearted by: Sudip Sharma Produced by: Karnesh Sharma  Directed by: Avinsha Arun Dhaware  Written by: Sudip Sharma, Tamal Sen & Abhishek Banerjee  Music: Naren Chandavarkar & Benedict Taylor  Starring: Jaideep Ahlawat, Gul Panag, Tilottama Shome, Ishwak Singh, Nagesh Kukunoor, Anurag Arora, Jahni Barua, Prashant Tamang, Prateek Pachauri, Bendang Walling,LC Sekhose, Kaguirong Gonmei,Shailesh Kumar,Rozelle Mero, Theyie Keditsu, Viren Burman

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