Out Of Love Season 2(Disney-Hotstar, 3 Episodes)
Starring Rasika Duggal, Purab Kohli; Directed by Oni Sen
Rating: **
I waited for the third episode which was aired on Friday before penning my thoughts on Out Of Love’s second season. And I am glad I did.Episode 3 is where the juice flows , for whatever it may be worth. The plot swings away from the self-serving couple to their troubled child who has just entered adolescence and is beginning to figure out the equation with the other sex.
Let me state straightaway that the real star of this season is young Kabir Kachroo who plays the very selfish and ceaselessly selfserving Akarsh and Meera’s only son Abhi. While many of the plot points left me cold, and some of them were emphatically absurd, Abhi’s conflict of interest as the only child torn between his warring parents, is admirably delineated by the boy. Abhi’s lack of selfconfidence and his aggression are evident in the way he treats the girl Gayatri whom he tries to apparently kiss forcibly.Or so Gayatri tells Abhi’s mother Meera in what looks like a earthenware store with fancy pots serving as props for these narcissistic people who can’t think beyond their genitals.
Oh yes, Meera tries to be a good mother to Abhi, taking interest in his studies, friends,etc. At one time she even bullies her son’s best friend for information. This is not the woman I’d want as my neighbour.Her attitude is more a posture than a genuine need to protect her growing vulnerable child from harming himself.
In Episode 3 Meera invites Akarsh home for dinner .After their son excuses himself from the dinner table , the couple gets down to being lowdown and dirty . Rasika Duggal, a fine actress is rapidly acquiring the image of a libidinous woman. But the s*x should make sense on some level. In Mirzapur her character has s*x with her father-in-law and the domestic help.That sounds a bit risky for a housewife.
Here in Out Of Love , the screenwriters seem out of ideas on how to keep the warring couple interesting for the viewer. Otherwise in how many ways can Meera and Akarsh accuse each other of being a bad parent?So the s*x after dinner. Which makes as much sense as curing Covid with agro-therapy.
Oh, before I forget: Meeera has a new love interest. A sports teacher Rohan(Vishwas Kini) who visits her clinic with a tennis elbow(sports teacher, remember?) and decides to make himself comfortable in her life.
“Mom he’s my teacher! What were you thinking?” Abhi wines.
Would it have been okay for Mom to have a boyfriend if he was not the son’s teacher?
In the series’ most ridiculous interlude Meera drags Rohan to her ex-husband’s post-wedding party where Meera makes a complete fool of herself. These are characters who are not afraid to look embarrassing on screen. I am not too sure that’s a sign of bravery ,or is it just shamelessness?
Akarsh pushes it really hard this time.When his child bride Alia(Meenakshi Chowdhary) shuts the door of their home on his son , Akarsh meekly complies with the cruelty. I constantly feel Akarsh is not the villain that the narrative insists on making him out to be. But then if Purab Kohli makes the character sympathetic where is the dramatic element in the series?
On the plus side, the Conoor setting instills a welcome quietude in the plot. But that’s about it. Three episodes down I still don’t know why Season 2 of this British backfire is being drilled into our attention.