Asur Season 2: Mythology Continuous To Seamlessly Blend Into Real-Time

Asur Season 2 Review: 3-Star Rating

Asur Season 2 Review: What’s It About:

Asur 2 continues the search for a mastermind who manipulates myths and technology to kill and brainwash people. The characters endure both physical and emotional pain as the story progresses. As time passes, the scope expands and Shubh employs technology to execute his plans, enacting the tale of Kali vs. Kalki from mythology.

The Highlights and Hits

We first list down the good. Asur as an idea is a meaty one and also risky because it blends real in mythology and serves a story that not just resembles the stories from the times of Gods and their vision, but also kind of makes the audience the judge to decide what side of the spectrum they chose. It is a lucrative story where now it is not just police officers running behind a shadow, but realizing that the shadow has created little pockets of him, and they are running the show with him. In season 2, we see the mythology of the Kali and Kalki tale, technology, and noir all coming together to give us an interesting watch. Credit where it’s due, Shukla and his team know how to introduce complexities to a story and take their time to them untangle the tangled bits. They indulge the audience so much into the happenings of the protagonists, that the audience never knows enough about the antagonist until he has killed one more victim. This helps in building the villain well. Add to it the fact that they chose an unusual actor to play the part in a way that the idea of him is supposed to be dread and not his face. His face has always been naive.

Amidst the pandemic, Voot released Asur, a show that gained popularity through word of mouth due to its brilliant writing that transcended genres and storytelling patterns. Asur Season 2, now on Jio Cinema, sees a change in writers with Suraj Gianani replacing Niren Bhatt and Pranay Patwardhan. The plot expands beyond the search for a serial killer to a mastermind threatening the entire country. The story blends mythology, technology, and noir to create an engaging watch. Shukla and his team skillfully introduce complexities and build up the villain, choosing an unusual actor to play the part. His face is naive, but his actions are dreadful.

Asur Season 2, now streaming on Jio Cinema, introduces a new writer to the mix. Suraj Gianani joins Abhijeet Khuman and Gaurav Shukla, replacing Niren Bhatt and Pranay Patwardhan. The plot thickens as the search for a serial killer evolves into a race against a mastermind threatening the entire nation. Mythology, technology, and noir intertwine to create a captivating tale. Shukla and his team masterfully weave complexities into the story and slowly unravel them. The audience is kept on the edge of their seats as the villain remains elusive until he strikes again. An unconventional actor brings the antagonist to life, his innocent face belying his malevolent actions.

Star Performance

Barun Sobti undergoes a transformation in season 2, both mentally and physically. His character becomes messier, but in a subtle and understated way. Sobti’s dedication to authenticity shines through as he effortlessly brings his character to life. It’s a wonder that his talent, along with that of the brilliant Siddhant Gupta from Jubilee, has gone unnoticed for so long.

Arshad Warsi plays a cop with a weighty role, but he doesn’t overdo it. He keeps it simple, and that’s why it works better. The script makes him do the same thing over and over until he gets his big moment in the end, but the actor never loses your attention.

Riddhi Dogra and Anupriya Goenka have solid roles that matter to the story. But the script forgets the spark that flew between Dogra’s Nushrat and Sobti’s Nikhil, and their chemistry fizzles out.

Meiyang Chang landed a role that didn’t depend on his ethnicity, color, or looks. And the actor aced it. He has more to accomplish, but we can see he has the flair to pull it off.

The Flaws and Failures

You can tell that different writers have changed the soul of Asur throughout the show. It doesn’t make it unwatchable, but the meticulousness that the first season had is thrown out of the window. Like Nikhil and Nushrat’s relationship, Season 2 completely ignores the plot about the missing fingers. We get glimpses but no one talks about it. Wasn’t it a crucial detail of the story?

There is a whole segment in Asur 2 that feels like it doesn’t belong. Victims are given remotes with red and blue buttons and asked to choose what is too hard to believe and relate to the rest of the show. It molds a character and makes him a god but he is not developed well enough for us to care about him in the next season.

Asur loses the magic that every mythological story brought with it in season 1. The Tumbbad-like narration is abandoned to embrace the technology angle but I wonder if they could have kept it with the old formula.