'Aarya' Season 2 is character driven and still has the slow burn treatment

The image which stuck with me hours after finishing Aarya season 2 is that of a secondary character Sampat (Vishwajeet Pradhan) – subordinate and right hand to Udayveer Shekhawat, and one of the principal antagonists of the season.

So far we have seen Sampat be charismatic but also a brute, a man who is no stranger to threatening men and women to get what he needs. But in Episode 6, when he arrives with his goons at an empty bar and finds Aru (Virti Vaghani), lying on the floor unconscious due to drug overdose – the drugs being given by Sampat himself as payment to the proprietor of the same bar.

The expected reaction from the audience would be to see Sampat calling all of his helps and jeering at the girl, or something far more over the top. But Sampat looks shocked, tries waking Aru up, carries her body and brings her to the hospital himself, threatening the doctor that he would kill them if proper care wasn’t given to the girl. Subversion might be expected, and me as a seasoned viewer of so many stories, this moment had no right to strike me as much as it did. But it did strike me.

Aarya as a show is very character driven, instead of plot driven. And while the first season was Aarya (Sushmita Sen), reacting to the tragedy that befell her husband, and the troubles that befell the drug empire of the Rathore and brought their downfall, the second season is more intent on bringing Aarya back – a mother who is intent on protecting her children and herself, and content with running away.

But like the first episode where Aarya is seen jogging and is suddenly shot on the shoulder by a sniper, the time to run has ended.

The show’s focus on characters keeps it far more grounded than you would expect, even as the events occurring are far more pulpy and of course downright campy if showcased through other lenses.

Ram Madhavani and team are more focused on the family aspects and Aarya’s battles to be a better mother even when faced with the world she has fought so hard to escape.

Family forces her to return to this world, and even while trying to run away, getting caught and escaping, all of the different machinations and manipulations she tries to do or is done to her, it is done at the expense of keeping her family safe.

Unlike a show like Breaking Bad where Walt’s reasoning of doing all of the heinous stuff to keep his family secure becomes more and more hollow as the show progresses, Aarya at Season 2 still manages to keep the reasoning true and believable. Even though the plot backing Aarya to a corner, then her getting rescued or escaping, then getting caught again, ultimately becomes repetitive in the first half of the season.

That’s not to say there aren’t well done moments. Far from it.

Madhavani’s effort to keep the show looking and feeling serious and giving it an almost prestige TV treatment definitely works in that respect.

The plot threads aren’t milked to drive the tension up the wall but are resolved far more quicker. However, in lieu of the show’s treatment, the quicker resolutions feel part of this world than lazy script-writing. Lazier though are the court-room scenes which feel almost cursory in their showcase and dialogues between the lawyers and judges.

There are moments where characters like the Defense Attorney who is against Aarya because she refused to testify against her family, almost forces ACP Khan (Vikas Kumar) to plant false evidence, anything to nail Aarya. Those moments feel out of left field in a show which prides on restraint.

Khan’s character on the other hand definitely undergoes an interesting character arc, losing his humanity in his single handed nature to nab Aarya.

But it’s the last 3 episodes where the series finally rises above the repetitive plottings and slowly starts to unfurl, where Season 2’s thesis statement of showcasing what happens when a woman is finally pushed to her breaking point comes to fruition.

Maybe its because of Madhvani’s restrained direction, the muted cinematography, or the ominous background score, but the slow buildup and turn of Aarya’s character feels less cathartic and more ominous, but no less compelling to watch. It washes away the nagging feelings of the subplot about her daughter’s depression.

It’s not that the subplot is bad, on the contrary its far better and much more nuanced than her subplot in the first season, and it does have one of the best moments which I talked about at the beginning. It’s simply that Aru’s character is slowly resembling that of Kim Bauer’s character in 24, where the writers did not know what to do with her character from Season 2 itself, and that is really not a good sign.

The one thing the show is above reproach on is its acting. Sushmita Sen is sublime here, an absolute joy to watch, both when she is extremely vulnerable as well as the powerful and angry woman who signifies “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”.

Other than the actors playing the Russian gangsters, every other actor in the supporting cast plays their role brilliantly, with clear standouts being Vikas Kumar, Vishwajeet Pradhan, Sikander Kher, Ankur Bhatia and a host of others.

Aarya Season 2 still has the slow burn treatment, but its character driven method of storytelling instead of the plot driven mechanics still manages to make it stand above the pack.