
When I did see Paatal Lok-1, I must say I treasured it. The five years hiatus for Paatal Lok-2 resurrection has been worth it. The OTT series, streamed on Amazon Prime, begins in the backdrop of a high-profile murder of a Naga leader, Jonathan Thom , in New Delhi’s Naga Sadan, and an auto rickshaw driver Raghu Paswan gone missing who played bands in marriages. His wife gets a complaint registered, dies in an accident, which also was a murder, her orphan son is left to be guarded by the all encompassing Inspector Hathi Ram Chaudhry, a Jat, played by Jaideep Ahlawat and his wife Renu (Gul Panag). The two events are miraculously connected. The unraveling of it, makes one have a gripping drama which unfolds in eight episodes, directed by Avinash Arun Dhaware and produced by Karnesh Sharma and Babita Ashiwal.
There is never a dull moment. Chaudhry’s, who is quite capable of being the typical one-man-army, leads the investigation with his once protégé Imran Ansari (Ishwak Singh) from Kashmir, who had become an IPS and his boss. His presence, in almost all the frames, does not let the series sag and despite this typical middle-class body language, is the only pheasant to provide a baritone to the chorus. The lucrative part of the story, is that murder, its accused, its investigators, police hierarchies, investors summit , drugs business et all draw in potpourri in the very first episode, which fine tunes the viewer, with no guess work, yet be prepared for a thrilling performance of suspense, mystery, murders, extra-marital relations, even incest! Deep into the mysterious Nagaland, which refuses to leave anyone, but instead sucks everyone into? The series however, successfully have made Nagaland be ‘mainstreamed’ into India.
A better part of the right episodes revolve around Chaudhry and Ansari, who took unto the challenge to nab the murder accused; Merenla Imsong (Rose Lizo). She was Jonathan Thom’s mistress, his own illegitimate daughter, who got pregnant by her own father! Outrageous! The reality, brought out by Chaudhry, to Thom’s son, churns the audience! Chaudhry is subtle, blunt and opinionated. He discovers Ansari to be gay, but finds the typical husband-wife wrangling there too, and calls it be damned. He has a nose for everything. At one time he got chastised to ‘stop playing martyr’ by a very able local police officer Meghna (Tillotama Shome). She played-well all to the occasion. A single mother, who divided her time between her duty, son and her hand embroidery. But, feels the reluctance in her male sub-ordinates, take orders from a woman.
Chaudhry steals the show. He is impeccable when once he confers to Ansari, after uncovering a drug bust with no credits, that the horse knows that he would get only grass and the winner a medal. Both once get snapped on their faces, after Viren Burman ( Dhruv Malik), Rose Lizo’s boyfriend was rounded up, who ridicules them that the problem in democracy is that anyone can jabber anything. After Ansari was killed and the department’s cover-up on it, Chaudhry was given a lesson by his boss that they were all dogs, and dogs loyalties lie with the boss and not with each other. Chaudhry shines in his commitment to Ansari, even at his home, and shunts out his brother-in-law who belittled Ansari’s death.
A whole world of women and their sufferings in submission has also been dealt. In one scene Jonathan Thom’s wife tell the wife of Nagesh Kukunoor (Kapil Reddy) that her husband f*cuked Rose in Kukunoor hotel and Kukunoor knew it and as good Christians they were paying for their husband’s sins. Nagesh Kukunoor (Kapil Reddy) is the key figure behind everything shady. A true Machiavellian. Blackmailer and manipulator, who ultimately got the 20,000 Cr. investments done in Nagaland. Chaudhry was set into another jolt, from his another officer, after ‘file’ of Jonathan Thom was closed, that they were all gully-cricket boys, while the world-cup was underway. He lectures that system is like a boat with holes and Chaudhry is a stupid trying to save the boat, whereas he wants to save himself alone. Thom was killed by by Jahnu Barua (Ken) a Naga community elder, for his ‘land and the people’. However, it does not come as a surprise.
The script is well written, but writers are infatuated with trying to make a superhuman, an emotion less, typical terminator anime by creating Daniel, security officer of Thom, a sniper, who kills everyone, for Nagaland sake (sic), on the lines of Hathoda Tyagi ( Pataal Lok-1) as futile. He could have been shown taking early age commando training etc unlike the ‘spiritual materialism’, as was poured into? A small disjoint was also there. Why would Rose Lizo use a dingy phone? She was a club hostess and had a boyfriend who had an Audi.
Haider Abbas is a former UP State Information Commissioner and a film reviewer.