Second seasons of successful shows can always be tricky, but not that uncommon especially in OTT platforms. Plenty of shows continue successfully well into multiple seasons. Family Man, Succession, Stranger Things, Money Heist, etc etc. Each of these shows builds on the foundation laid in the first season and then milks it, but all the while staying quite close to the central idea of their first seasons.
However, very few shows actually get better with time and create new stories and narratives that weren’t there in the first season. That takes both bravery and imagination and equally creative cleverness to balance the familiarity of Season 1 (which is important for people to see it in the first place), with telling new stories.
Made in Heaven Season 2 does just that and that too really well. Using the main stage of rich people's weddings with dysfunctional and regressive realities, set in Delhi (obviously, eye-roll), seen through the lens of equally dysfunctional but progressive wedding planners, is quite a brilliant formula, that hits the sweet spot of showing a mirror to our society, yet evoking empathetic emotions to the multiple and varied characters in the show. Every episode with new characters deals with one dominant societal issue of our time- gay weddings, wife-beating, casteism, ageism, materialism, beauty, etc etc. While the continuing central characters build the ongoing themes of inclusion, gender equality, non-binary sexuality, women empowerment, and most importantly of course seeking and finding love.
To be honest, I didn’t really care much for Season 1. Even though the vision of the makers was clear to see and super relatable and relevant, the plot was a bit too intellectual, the stories a bit too pretentious, the characters a bit too caricaturish, and the emotions a bit too distant. As a result, I remember feeling intrigued, interested, and definitely supportive of the cause, but also feeling a little cold, superficial, and very ‘south Delhi’ and ‘Angrezi-Medium’. In fact, interestingly, it is the continuity factors from Season 1, that continue to detract even in Season 2. Tara, despite being a beautifully flawed character with multiple shades of grey, leaves us at best intellectually interested, but still emotionally distant. Karan, again a beautifully complex and layered character with so many emotions, leaves us intellectually empathetic, but emotionally blasé.
But what Zoya and Reema have really cracked in Season 2, is the many new characters in the central plot and those in the different individual stories in each episode. Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju as Meher, the trans, production manager of Made In Heaven is brilliant, as we feel her emotions through her dialogue, her baritone, her expressions, and her authenticity. Mona Singh, as Bulbul Jauhari, the Hindi-medium foil to the Angrezi set up is an absolute delight to watch with her quiet yet extremely impactful feminist actions, not least of all rescuing her son from falling prey to misogynistic patriarchial upbringing. Vijay Raaz, as the investor and more importantly supportive husband of Bulbul, is excellent in his understated role throughout the series. Other new characters like Akshay Jaiswal (Karan’s new love interest) is a likable-easy breath of fresh air to Karan’s intense-activist-self destructive gay existence, Gauri Khanna (Adil-Jim Sarbh-Khanna’s unknown half-sister revealed after his father's death) is a shot of real humanity to Adil’s fake rich life; Raghav, Tara’s new love interest as the middle-class “Gurgaon EMI” type chef-restaurateur that brings out the nice side to Tara is a pleasant break from the otherwise high life vistas of the show.
And then there are the new characters with new stories and deep human sentiments that again strike a chord with the audience. Be it Radhika Apte as the Dalit bride fighting for equality in a casteist society, Diya Mirza almost giving up on life against a patriarchal tradition of polygamy, or Sarah Jane Dias not succumbing to marriage as the only option, or Neelam Kothare deciding to finally give up on her chauvinist husband and son for her lover. Or even Mrunal Thakur, heartbreakingly giving in to marrying an abusive lover. Each of them has us rooting for them, loving them, crying for them, and cheering for them, as they find their own journeys through the dysfunctional society we live in, finding their karma and love in one form or another.
But most of all what Zoya and Reema have successfully accomplished in Season 2, which was abundantly missing in Season 1, is its positive story-telling that leaves us with a sense of affirmation. Season 1 was dystopian, but Season 2 shows us that the opposite of dystopia doesn’t have to be utopia, it can be “lets figure it out together with a spring in our step and joy in our hearts”. If Season 1 left us in despair, Season 2 leaves us with hope. If Season 1 showed us the mirror, Season 2 opens the curtain just a little bit to let the morning light in. If Season 1 celebrated cynicism, Season 2 propagates agency, agency to do something about it, god dammit. If Season 1 broke our hearts, Season 2 opens our hearts to seeing possibilities.
Not all is well with the world. We know that. But not all is wrong either. The choice is always ours. It always was, and always be. Now that’s a nice feeling to walk out with, at the end of the season. Here’s looking forward to Season 3, Zoya and Reema. More power to you.
