Femme Fatales, with their long legs and slinky dresses, mostly arrive like bad news in the hero's life. She unleashes her seductive powers on the protagonist with such feverish energy that he gets sucked into the world of crime and deceit and ends up ruining his life. As Purva Awasthi, daughter of a powerful politician named Akheraj Awasthi (Saurabh Shukla), Anchal Singh struts across the screen as if she owns it. Her catlike face exudes a sense of mischief when she smiles. When she becomes alert, you get the sensation that her ears have perked up, and her whiskers have stiffened. Purva's obsession with Vikrant (Tahir Raj Bhasin) is almost animalistic. She doesn't want to share him with anybody. When she wraps her arms around him, she, in a way, marks her territory - she puts him within a boundary. But the first season of Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein also eventually made it clear that Purva's love for Vikrant, no matter how problematic, stems from a place of sincerity. As the season progressed, we understood that there were no good/bad characters in this story. The gray shades combined with pulp and dark comedy gave rise to an addictive, nail-biting series.
In my review of the first season, I compared the show to a "page-turner." I can extend this compliment to Season 2 as well. I just couldn't stop myself from binge-watching. I never clicked the pause button; I never felt the need to take a break from the onscreen events. Director, writer, and showrunner Sidharth Sengupta keeps you on the edge of your seat from the beginning. He displays that rare talent of blending his good taste with his bad taste to create a brew that's incredibly intoxicating. He gives you complex characters that make you think about what is wrong and what is right, and he also offers trashy pleasures through scenes like the one where Purva accidentally falls into the arms of the love of her life. Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein Season 2 keeps you giddy. Looking back at it, you realize it seems thin in terms of its story. Season 1 concluded with Purva getting kidnapped by a contract killer (Arunoday Singh). This means Season 2 mainly dedicates itself to actions taken to rescue Purva from the clutches of bad men. However, as mentioned earlier, there are no good or bad characters in this series. The contract killer and his team are bad only when you see them from Akheraj's and his men's perspectives. Singh's character kidnaps Purva for money but is now stuck with her due to an issue in his personal life. Sengupta constantly shines the spotlight on the motivations of his characters to free them from binary (hero/villain) confines.
If this makes the show appear tasteful or deep, don't worry. Sengupta isn't interested in creating "Prestige TV." He complicates the situation, but he also remembers to have fun at the same time. Season 2, after all, opens with a Shakespeare quote, which is followed by a generic chase scene. I say "generic" to provide you with an idea regarding the tone Sengupta goes for with this series. He wants to capture the drama of a Shakespeare novel and the thrill of a summer blockbuster movie. Still, the action sequences lack vigor, excitement, and intensity (except for the one that occurs during a puja in Episode 6). The one that unfolds on a snowy mountain could have been suspenseful and whistle-worthy, considering the angry form in which that character appears in front of everybody. Since Purva is held captive for most of the time, the "female obsession/seduction" duties are briefly assigned to other women like Golden's (Anant V Joshi) girlfriend and a member of Guru's (Gurmeet Choudhary) team. The former forces herself on Golden when he is caught admiring another woman. The latter, on the other hand, emerges from a swimming pool in Golden's (wet) dream.
In Vikrant and Shikha (Shweta Tripathi), we find characters who choose to reject the happiness available to them in order to pursue their own version of paradise together. Shikha gets what Vikrant once promised to give her: A small house, a small dog, etc. And Vikrant's father (a superb Brijendra Kala) tries to sell a perfect life to Vikrant that he can get with Purva. Still, the two of them refuse to stay in their comfort zone and generate more trouble for themselves. Any other show might have invoked sympathy or encouraged viewers to care about the characters. Sengupta, thankfully, mines as much humor as possible from all the troubles, all the complications. Some of the jokes are so "quiet" that you respond to them after a few seconds, like the one where a woman attempts to go inside a room in a hospital, is denied access, and returns to her original position. Sengupta's main aim here seems to be to come up with as many dark comedy scenes as possible. Notice how a man sent to kill someone is handled through a pot or how a bag is casually held by a police officer. My favorite bit involves a speech about emotional vulnerability because it's delivered during such, let's say, an interesting moment, which further proves that Sengupta has a wicked sense of humor.
Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein Season 2 moves along the lines of a spy thriller. Gadgets and code words are used to complete missions. In this world, crime serves as both a source of pain and entertainment. A woman's statement, "No one is born a demon," effectively captures the series' core message. Did I like Season 2 more than Season 1? I don't think so. You feel as if something is missing. I cannot put my finger on it, but the reason could be the underutilization of a character like Akhil (Nikhil Pandey), a police officer. He looks like something that's being "saved" for the future. Golden's controlling girlfriend disappears after a while, which seems strange given her urge to always have a leash on her boyfriend. But these are all minor inconveniences. Sengupta succeeds in so many places that you don't feel like complaining too much. After that final cliffhanger, all I want to know is, "How many years, months, weeks, and days will we have to wait for the next season?"
Final Score- [8/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times