The Season 1 of ALTBalaji series Kehne Ko Humsafar Hai was a trend-setter to how clean and content-driven concepts on the web space can be!! Though the series spoke of a man who inspite of being father to grown-up daughters, he did not shy away from deriving pleasure in the company of another woman out of his marriage. However, the essence of love that Rohit (Ronit Roy) and Ananya (Mona Singh) shared and derived from each other came across as a whiff of fresh air!!
The first season had left audience wondering whether Rohit after seeking divorce from his first wife Poonam (Gurdeep Punjj) would ever see happiness with Ananya. The complications of the second marriage literally hit through their relationship, as Ananya set out on her own journey of seeking peace and perhaps answers to the questions of whether she can be happy even after being the last person in Rohit’s priority list.
Now the second season opens up in Qatar, where Ananya has gone looking at the only brighter aspect in her life, i.e. her new professional commitment.
The series opens up on a huge male sentiment wherein while a man wants a modern woman as a partner, he is at the same time unwilling to accept that she will not play second fiddle like the typical yesteryears housewife. This is what Rohit’s mindset is. And it only makes us think about the changing gender power equations. And this aspect was so very well explained by Sheena (Suchitra Pillai) to Rohit.
So in quick time, Rohit got to face what he served Poonam with!! And the shocking reality of Ananya having left him gave Rohit a big jolt!! In this situation, Rohit also got an earful from dumped first wife, Poonam, who obviously internally felt happy that Rohit was getting a dose of his own medicine. Rohit’s mother however still harbours hope that her son and ex-daughter-in-law will eventually reconcile. She rightly states that although at 50 years he wants a new life, he will not be able to pay its price and that Ananya is far too independent to spoon-feed him.
A brooding Rohit is forced by his friend to fly to Qatar and try to mend fences with Ana.
But if he thought that it would be easy, he had it coming. She tells him frankly that if he thought that she will fall in line only because he has come to fetch her, he is wrong.
He also does not like it when Anna’s handsome boss, Harry Somani (Apoorva Agnihotri), gives her attention. To be honest, Ana too wants her marriage to work, but not at the cost of self-respect. Her friends also push her to strike a discordant tone.
Accepting that Ana will not bend, Rohit changes track on his sister-in-law’s advice (Suchitra) and tries to appear supportive of her endeavours. But till when will Rohit actually pretend to be supportive of Ana’s professional aspirations? And then he plans to get her pregnant with the hope that she will then be forced to sit at home. Again, a sentiment that Ana will certainly not accept of, given her drive to do well professionally. Will this backfire, for Ana is not ready for the responsibilities of motherhood?
On the other side, a young man (Sayush Nayyar) has come into Poonam’s life. And her sister encourages her to go with the flow as she is now single and should mingle. It won’t be easy for her though. Will her daughters accept a new man in her life?
Rohit’s daughter, Bani (Pooja Banerjee), who had a miscarriage, is unsure of her marriage, wondering whether she had erred in taking the plunge in the first place. The flashback scene, when the famous Pakistani singer (Parth Samthaan) was flirting with her in front of Rohit, was another indicator of most men who would get angered if anyone else tries to impress their wives and daughters.
The biggest difference between Season 1 and Season 2 lies in the fact that the earlier season was bundled up with huge emotions as the two women (one who lost her husband and the other who got her love) had to be shown torn between love and emotions. However, Season 2, so far seems lighter and the stark reminder of male hypocrisy is one aspect that will attract more female audiences to a male-skewed platform.
The realism also extends to limited use of swear words. They are only shown to be spouted by kids; and yes, that is how generation-next anyways talks. However, it was kind of surprising to see few double meaning dialogues being uttered by Rohit and Ananya while expressing their endearing love for each other.
Acting in a web series must have come as a relief for both Ronit Roy and Mona Singh, as there is no over-the-top loud acting; rather, it is very natural. Ronit brings out the above male dichotomy very well. For once, we saw Ronit sans suits and he looked quite nice in shorts and casuals. That is how most men appear outside of office. And he did a swell job as the desperate husband trying to buy attention of his wife, who is so very busy with her boss and team-mates discussing work.
The scene were Rohit goes and meets Harry just to ascertain that Ana is deeply in love with him, and will not give way for any aberrations in her love life was really hilarious. The character looked really silly and that is how it should have been.
Mona is dressed for work. Mona excelled in her emotions last season. And we look forward to turmoils bringing out the best in her again.
As of today morning, four episodes have been streamed and the story has provided for a new twist in the form of Ananya getting shattered upon knowing that she is pregnant. And this actually kickstarts the main story, as Rohit is desperate to have Ana pregnant so that he gets back to him, away from work and again plays the role of the woman waiting for the man when he comes home from work!! But can this happen? We need to wait and watch.
The series also has cinematic beauty, with the beauty of the Arabian Desert and the architectural wonders of its people.
Interestingly, as opposed to Puncch Beat which went live on the same day, ALTBalaji has not released all the episodes of Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain in one go. Guess the target audiences of both are different; while youth prefer binge-watching, the more mature audiences of Kehne Ko might not be in such a tearing hurry. Plus, they hope to attract more audiences by word of mouth.
Gurdeep fans will be eager to watch her here, as she is not seen as the brooding and crying mother and wife who has lost her husband to a younger woman. Poonam has certainly moved on and simply does not bother about getting back into Rohit’s life. Gurdeep looks fresh as ever and has given a new shade in playing this rather-happy-go-lucky character in Season 2 well.
The small cameo of Writer Mushtaq Sheikh was impressive. Apoorva’s track has not yet opened up. He has just come across as the boss of Ana who also likes chit-chatting with her even when she is with her husband. We are eager to know how Harry’s character gets shaped. Pooja Banerjee and Manraj Singh’s characters have not had much to do in the first four episodes. Same holds good for Rohit’s other daughter, played by Palak Jain.
Sayush Nayyar has been impressive, with his character having developed the eagerness to see Poonam again and again. Parth Samthaan in the flash back scenes of Bani did a good job. We wonder whether he will again return in the present in Bani’s life.
We really hope that after starting off with a light-hearted take, the story indeed moves into the emotional angle again. We are saying so because it is this emotional flow and complexity in relationships that made Season 1 of Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain really successful.
We at IWMBuzz.com give 3.5 out of 5 for Season 2 of Kehne Ko Humsafar Hai.