Girls Hostel 2(SonyLiv, 5 Episodes)
Directed by Chaitanya Kumbhakonum
Rating: ** *
There is something valuable, something worthwhile waiting to come out of this series. That core of worthiness doesn’t quite get squeezed out of the ongoing shenanigans of the girls living together in a dental hostel which by the way looks like low-cost real hostel with real problems.
The series has teeth ,but not enough bite. But it’s fun while it lasts. The girls are all believably quirky and annoying… These are students who are at THAT age when they think they own the world.They all get to be individuals not prototypes, and that’s this series’ big strength.
The other USP is the sharp writing and the cutting dialogues which can get quite overpowering at times . Every line is a retort. Every character sounds like she has just binge-watched the entire Friends series. Admittedly the dialogues are sharp and funny at times. For example early in the series a girl while describing how long the queues are for bathroom in the morning quips, “You can watch a whole Ashutosh Gowariker film while you wait.”
The crux, if you must have one, is a students elections where the sophisticated Zahira Ali(Parul Gulati who sounds like Richa Sharma) fields the nepotist brat , Lily Singh lookalike called Ramya. Of course we know Zahira will win. But while she gets there Richa Kamat(Ahsaas Channa) falls in love with the student nextdoor, next hostel I mean. He is the only male character in this Chichhore with hardly any chorey(boys).
Serious issues such as roadside Romeo-giri and periods(not the ones that students attend, because we never see these girls in a classroom) are brought up. And the dynamics between Zahira and the campus rebel Jo(Shristi Shrivastava, interestingly unconventional) suggest more than meets the eye.
Like I said, watching Girls Hostel 2 I got the feeling that there is more happening here than what we see. It may not be the brightest of hostel sagas. But it has a nip it its air which can be quite likable.
