Abhay 2 is a definite watch if an investigative thriller is your scene, says Moumita Bhattacharjee.
For some reason, ZEE5 decided to divide the episodes of Abhay 2 into two segments.
The first part released in August while the second released the next month.
The first three episodes were quite similar to the cases Abhay deciphered in the first season. But given the way it was executed by Director Ken Ghosh and a host of writers, it left a good impression despite being a tad repetitive.
These days, OTT players are doing a far better job in integrating the present scenario prevailing in our country without being too in-your-face.
The kidnapper, played by Ram Kapoor, talks about true justice, citing the example of cops who killed the rapists and made it look like an encounter. They became an overnight sensation. Rings any bells? I am sure it did.
Abhay 2's new episodes begin from where it left off.
The kidnapper continues to challenge Abhay (Kunal Kemmu) with cases in return for releasing the kids he had taken hostage in the first episode.
But one of the kids dies in an accident and that rattles the unusually calm Abhay.
This time, the new cases include a homophobic killer, a psycho serial killer looking to be immortal, a woman on a killing spree and a few more.
While Abhay runs pillar to post to solve these crimes, the kidnapper cracks a deal with the police and escapes. That reveals a lot more than the season had earlier promised.
You aren't missing anything if you haven't watched the first season.
Even though there are some continuing plots, you will figure out the premise easily.
The writing team seems to have undergone some changes with Smita Mukherjee and Priya Saggi not being part of it.
In the first episode, Mukherjee shared the story credits with Priya Saggi and Christabelle D'souza while Saggi oversaw the screenplay. In the later episodes, Sudhanshu Sharma has been credited with story and screenplay. The writers have done a good job to piece together a taut thriller.
The acts of violence are brutal, so if you aren't up for it, please avoid.
Ghosh's direction is pacy and keeps you hooked all through even when it's highly predictable.
Now that's one issue every thriller faces these days, they just can't shock the audience with the big reveal at the end due to negligent writing.
It's nice to see the way the kidnapper makes Abhay break his steely mannerisms in one of the episodes.
He was getting a little too uptight for anybody's liking.
The kidnapper's delusional sense of justice has also been handled really well by the writers.
Quite obviously, there are flaws.
The cases are so easily solvable that you will feel disappointed.
The only time Abhay and his team had to break sweat was when they were after the homophobic killer, played by Raghav Juyal. It extended to two episodes.
Nobody pulls up the journalist played by Asha Negi when she leaks information on her news channel, something that she learned from Abhay.
They just decide to give her a silent treatment.
Kunal Kemmu has done a fab job.
His tough exterior which hides a chaotic brain gives a lot of gravity to the character.
It does get monotonous after a while, but fortunately, the kidnapper manages to break that for a tiny moment.
I was hoping there would be more to Asha Negi's character than sensational news anchoring and intimate scenes.
Ram Kapoor is excellent and has the delusional crusader of 'real justice'. He is a brilliant actor and deserves to be seen more often.
Abhay 2 is a definite watch if an investigative thriller is your thing. Still, a few scenes might disturb you.
