The second season of Vikas Bahl’s black comedy, Sunflower, fronted by the forever charismatic and humourous Sunil Grover is nothing short of an insipid porridge, mired in weak writing, overused tropes and an unnecessarily loud premise, that blemishes the quirky and intriguing tone of the first season. Despite the frequent comic releases, that are mostly hit and miss, the much-awaited sequel might guarantee you inconsistent thrill, due to the addition of some new characters. Yet, the treatment is far from satisfactory and borderline indolent. The gullible but extraordinarily witty Sunil Grover as Sonu Singh carries the weak story with his acting prowess, but besides him, its disjointed treatment hampers the viewing experience to a great extent.
The first season dawned its curtains with the mysterious death of Mr Kapoor (played by Ashwin Kaushal) inside the eccentric Sunflower society in Mumbai. The conspiracy around his demise drags Sonu Singh into the radar of suspicion of S. Digendra (played by Ranvir Shorey) and Sub Inspector Tambe (played by Girish Kulkarni), who are investigating the case. The second season takes off from that point, where Sonu Singh along with Mr and Mrs Ahuja(played by Mukul Chadda & Radha Bhatt) are being interrogated by Dige and Tambe. Determined to pin down Sonu for this crime, the cops try every tactic to coerce a confession out of him. But to their sheer disappointment, the lack of evidence against him compels them to let him go, bursting the bubble of suspense that the makers weaved during the climax of the first season.
But sure, with Sonu Singh free, the plot about Mr Kapoor’s suspected murder thickens, especially when a new entrant arrives at the gates of Sunflower society, Rosie Mehta. Quirky, outspoken and charming, Rosie whips up a storm in the society managing committee meeting, when even the most orthodox individual of the Sunflower complex Mr Iyer (played by Ashish Vidyarthi) is unable to take his usual strict demeanor, visibly paralyzed by her presence. But who is Rosie Mehta?
Rosie Mehta (played by Adah Sharma), the woman who wears sarcasm on her sleeves but seems to have a kind and compassionate heart, is a name in the decreased Mr Kapoor’s will. Her entry into the equation as Mr Kapoor’s mistress adds a momentary crease in the whodunit story, since Mr Kapoor’s ex-wife Naina Kapoor (played by Shonali Nagrani) also claims ownership of the flat that was named after Rosie. This new development compels DG and Tambe to redirect their resources onto these two characters. Meanwhile, other characters in the background like Mr Iyer, a sweet-talking maid and a few other interesting characters add flavour to the mystery. Whether the cops are able to pin down a suspect, it’s for the viewers to find out.
The eight-episodes long series suffers gravely from lazy writing and incorporating age-old tropes, that are redundant to this point. A dash of toilet humour here, a mildly misogynistic joke there and one-dimensional characters with non-existent arch fundamentally cripples the impact of the story from its core. The pointless sexual innuendos that find its way quite frequently into the dialogues might elicit a laugh or two in some viewers, but more than that, it takes away the defining quality of a meticulously made dark comedy.
However, the makers need to be commended for maintaining the intrigue around Sonu Singh’s character even in this season. That being the USP of this show, adds colour to a desaturated Sunflower and makes the plot somewhat interesting. There is no way of predicting whether that character’s buffoonery emanates genuinely from within or if it’s just a front to evade his darker side. There is a lot of innocence and naivety that Sunil Grover brings with his expressions and yet an invisible streak of sinister looms around his head like a halo. The last three episodes up until the climax will certainly hook you, but the initial episodes don’t have much to offer in terms of thrill. Technically too, Sunflower doesn’t come across as atypical or extraordinary. But it’s been crafted for easy-viewing i.e it won’t burden your sensory preceptors with too much information. If you are looking for a show that you can watch, without getting engrossed into the meaning behind camera angles and shots, then this is an apt show for you.
The makers also deserve appreciation for utilising Sunil Grover’s acting prowess through a mysteriously odd character like Sonu Singh. His ability to charm you with his on-screen persona, his earnest smile and natural self-effacing persona seeps into any character he chooses, especially in the premise of Sunflower. Similarly, the chemistry between Ranvir Shorey and Girish Kulkarni is exhilarating and hilarious. While we have seen several police duos in the history of Indian cinema and the OTT, there is something refreshing and unique about Inspector S. Digendra and Chetan Tambe that will make you want to root for them. Adah Sharma has also blended seamlessly into this world and her on-screen equation with Sunil Grover is one of the best things about the season. Other actors like Ashish Vidyarthi, Shonali Nagrani, Mukul Chadda, Annapurna Soni among others has deftly shouldered this season with great performances.
In the end, Vikas Bahl’s Sunflower Season 2 is a bland recipe that could have used more salt, especially when the first season felt like a 7-course meal due to an interesting premise and quirky characters. Having said that, the new season isn’t all bad and it certainly is filled with moments throughout the course of eight episodes that will entertain you and invest you. But as a whole, it couldn’t match up to the brilliance of the first season. All eyes are on Season 3 now as the show concludes on a gripping cliffhanger.
Comments
0 comment