'Pataal Lok Season 2' web-series review: Jaideep Ahlawat shines again in a gritty, gripping, grieving follow-up

Cast: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Tillotama Shome, Gul Panag, Nagesh Kukunoor, Jahnu Barua, Anurag Arora, Prashant Tamang, Merenla Imsong, LC Sekhose

Director: Avinsh Arun Dhaware

Language: Hindi

This year, Amazon has truly hit it out of the park with Paatal Lok 2, further solidifying its position as a powerhouse in the streaming industry. The series has become a phenomenal intellectual property, with each new installment building on the success of the last. As Paatal Lok continues to expand its narrative and fan base, 2025 promises to be an exciting year for Prime Video and its viewers, showcasing the platform’s unparalleled ability to create compelling, long-lasting franchises.

Now on to the show:

How does one go below and beneath the ebb? That’s precisely the first question you ask when you sit down to watch the second season of the 2020 Prime Video show Pataal Lok. But given the murkiness around, the moment you feel you’re at your absolute nadir, you realize you’re only halfway through. Starring the brooding Jaideep Ahlawat at its heartless heart, season one touched upon multiple issues like media sensationalism, personal turmoil, love for dogs, and a solid whodunit woven around the already complex narrative. So what does this world have to offer five years later apart from a fresh and just as frightening milieu?

More from Entertainment

'Jugnuma' Movie Review: Manoj Bajpayee-Deepak Dobriyal’s terrific performances stood out in this beautifully restrained way of storytelling 'Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale' Movie Review: The final goodbye of Julian Fellowes’s beloved British soap

Just like season one, season two too balances itself between the personal and political. The quaintness of Nagaland is a nice choice by the makers to craft a murder mystery in. That’s exactly what has been happening in most of the Indian thrillers ever since the pandemic crippled the nation. It gives them the opportunity to milk the ambiguity of the state and not just fetishize its expanse and grandeur. Five years later, certain dynamics have changed and some have remained constant, just like change. Ahalawat as Hathiram Choudhry is just as worn out, and his exhaustion blends nicely with the dinginess of the story. And just like season one, the makers throw in different dots and then connect them for us.

If an assassination ploy on a scheming journalist exposed the concealed identities of a bunch of unpredictable characters in 2020, the beheading of a political personality of Nagaland brings us closer to the grim realities of the heartland of India in 2025. What the makers also get right is the portrayal of one of the central characters- Nagaland itself. If Bhediya sucked us into the jungles of Arunachal Pradesh, this web series makes an attempt to infuse a potent sense of urgency through the mysterious mountains of the state.

Pataal Lok 2 isn’t just a whodunnit about finding the killer, it asks us to question the motivations of its people. Ishwak Singh is no longer a sidekick to Hathiram but an ACP. How and why? The question is the same. The answers may differ. The humor is understated but there’s a restrained sense of rage in Ahalwat’s jokes too. And his marital life is just as lifeless. His thankless job and spotless uniform could be his oxygen to his otherwise comatose being. Ahalawat and Singh share an expectedly awkward chemistry in the sequel since the power dynamics have been swapped. Ahalawat’s a shaky body language before his once protege, Singh stays as fluid, and in one scene, quite literally.

Created by Sudip Sharma and directed by Avinsh Arun Dhaware, Paatal Lok 2 throws shades of The Adventures of Tintin. An amusing scene at the Nagaland airport involves a hapless Hathiram and his bottle of whisky. Someone who was the sharp detective Tintin in season one now fills in the shoes for Captain Haddock. And why not? Just like the perpetually inebriated Captain, most of the humor here is derived from Hathiram’s miseries. And he, along with Tintin, has to solve this thorny case. But life is not the same as comic books. The grief of Pataal Lok is limitless. Loss is the bridge that connects the two seasons together.

But it’s not flawless. Season one in 2020 tackled a theme that can never go dated. Its meticulous gaze at the decaying notion of journalism is infinitely pertinent. A sense of connect is instant. Season two does make a fine attempt at the representation of a community not often portrayed with conviction, the journey to the finish line isn’t seamless. What it does get right is the aching realization how ultimately it’s every man for himself, especially for humans like Hathiram. And death is inevitable. Only if there was a dog to save the day here too!

Rating: 3 (out of 5 stars)

Paatal Lok is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video IN