Show: Breathe Into The Shadows 2
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Amit Sadh, Nithya Menen, Naveen Kasturia, Saiyami Kher, Zakir Hussain, Ivana Kaur
Director: Mayank Sharma
OTT: Amazon Prime Video
Rating: 3 Moons
Amazon Prime Video is back with the sequel of Breathe Into The Shadows starring Abhishek Bachchan, Amit Sadh, Nithya Menen, Saiyami Kher in the lead roles. Directed by Mayank Sharma, the series sees Abhishek, Amit, Nithya, Saiyami and Ivana Kaur reprise their roles from the previous season, while Naveen Kasturia and Zakir Hussain are new cast members added to the thriller.
The series starts off where the first one ended with Dr.Avinash Sabharwal (Abhishek Bachchan) aka the Ravan killer getting treatment at an asylum after he has been diagnosed with multiple personality disorder from the previous season. His alter ego, J, has been dormant for three years and the doctors treating him at the facility believe that he might have left and hence the killing would too. Alas! The game has just begun with some unnerving twists and turns and suspense.
Avinash’s alter ego takes over pretty soon and the murders begin once again. However, this time around the bait is that if J finishes his previous work of getting rid of all the supposed ten heads of Ravana that signify different negative qualities he will forever leave Avinash and let him lead a life as a wholesome person who could rejoin society and once again be with his family, wife Abha (Nithya Menen) and daughter Siya (Ivana Kaur). However, in this twisted deal Abha gets ensnared and in order to save her and Siya, Avinash/J is out on the hunt once again.
Breathe Into the Shadows 2 shows some really grim scenarios and people who inflict trauma on others. For a crime series reeling with serial killings, Breathe 2 is surprisingly docile with very less amount of blood and gore depicted on screen which makes a good respite from the other shows. Here the evil is all psychological – ego, insensitivity, pride, selfishness etc and that do keep your interest intact even though you question the logic behind the murders.
Abhishek Bachchan leads the series with his Avinash/J avatars. He shows his vulnerability and humane side as Avinash but excels when it comes to showing the evil side as J. However, his resting face devoid of many expressions gets to you after some time. Nithya, like in the previous season, holds her own in the show. She emotes well and we get to see her helplessness and vulnerability at every juncture but it is extremely agitating to see how easily she gets convinced to murder someone in cold blood after denying to join the cahoots and eventually never repents or regrets or even acknowledge the trauma such an act would have had an effect.
However, Amit Sadh and Naveen Kasturia are the highlight of the series. As the no-nonsense but extremely sharp cop Kabir Sawant, Amit is hot on tracks of Avinash, and while in the previous season he was grappling with his own issues this time around he is focused on the case with nothing to divert his attention. There is a crackling intensity when he leads his fellow officers on the case. On the other hand, Naveen Kasturia is the surprise element here and excels with his impeccable performance.
Director Mayank Sharma with his co-writers Vikram Tuli and Arshad Syed have tried to spin an interesting story this time around which is much better than the prequel. However, the story does seem improbable at some instances especially when J promises that he will leave Avinash forever once his aim of severing Ravana’s ten heads are over, the logic is a little implausible. There are a few too many subplots that need to be tied at the end and sometimes the makers’ reasons become too contrived and convoluted. Still, the creators have managed to carve a pretty interesting show.
PeepingMoon.com gives Breathe Into The Shadows Season 2, 3 Moons.
