Hostages Season 2 Review: Ronit Bose Roy And Divya Dutta's Thriller Sequel Gets Tiresome With Too Many Twists

Hostages 2 review: The biggest issue with the first season of the Indian adaptation of the Israeli show by the same name was its convenient plotlines.  In season 2 of Hostages, inane sequences continue unabated and this time they were far too many. The first season had Sudhir Mishra as the director but this time, he has moved to someone who oversees the saga. The episodes have been directed by Sachin Mamta Krishn. The usual suspects return for the second season with Ronit Bose Roy, Ashim Gulati, Suraj Sharma, Anangasha Biswas, Mohan Kapur. The new additions are Divya Dutta, Dino Morea, Shibani Dandekar, Rahul Bagga and Shweta Basu Prasad. OTT Releases Of The Week: Disney+ Hotstar’s Hostages Season 2, ZEE5’s Tiki Taka, Netflix’s The Duchess and More to Watch in Second Week of September 2020

Hostages season 2 begins from where it ended in the previous season. After two of their accomplices Prince (Surya Sharma) and Hyma (Anangsha Biswas) go astray, Prithvi (Rohit Bose Roy) is left with his steadfast and loyal brother-in-law Aman (Ashim Gulati), his ailing wife Saba (Shriswara), Sara (Faezeh Jalali) and her reluctant husband Peter (Amit Sial). They plan to leave the country with the captured CM Handa (Dalip Tahhil) while the country mourns the death of the latter. Saba is his illegitimate child, an outcome of rape committed by him. Now she needs a portion of his bone marrow to survive. But their plan goes horribly wrong when Handa tries to escape on their way to the airport and Saba's condition deteriorates. They take shelter in a derelict bungalow but a few gunshots alert the Police. It is now a hostage situation where the OG kidnappers are trapped inside.

Nisarg Mehta, Suraj Gianani and the Cine Raas writing team deserve credit for sprucing up the intrigue factor. By introducing so many new characters, they got ample scope to build on the mystery. Each one of them got a purpose behind their actions. So there's an astute journalist smelling a rat in the death of Prithvi's father-in-law and pursues it, a cold-blooded killer on the loose, an assassin ready to bump off a VVIP member of a neighbouring country and a sensible negotiator. That also justifies why there are too many episodes in this season. They are also introduced at an opportune time as after the first couple of episodes, the hostage situation gets boring as nothing much moves there.

These character introductions also become the reason behind the show getting exhausting. Initially, they run like detached story pieces which eventually start connecting with each other. But the whole process takes a lot of time to pan out. Shibani Dandekar who plays Isha Andrews, the representative of a rich conglomerate, in the first scene seems pretty rattled in the head. But the writers never explore that bit about her character. Dino Morea is suddenly added to the milieu without any preamble. You will have to make the connection all by yourself. Hostages Season 2: Dino Morea Opens Up About His Negative Role in Tisca Chopra’s Disney+ Hotstar Show

What gets to you more is that the writers continue to have questionable sequences in this season too. Shweta Basu Prasad plays a brave journalist but she doesn't really need to face the villain alone, right? She isn't a cop! Handa's escape is laughable as he just slips out of the car because he is left alone by his kidnappers.  We agree Indians love commotion on the road because we don't have a life but for Prithvi & Co. it's not just another day. Handa has been captured. How can you fail to keep an eye on him? Beats us! Shilpa Shukla's character is completely avoidable as it doesn't lend much to the story.

Watch Hostages 2 Trailer:

If we talk about direction, it's not as smooth as you would hope from a thriller. The series stops being thrilling when the extra plotlines and new characters start emerging. It gets so sloppy and slow at one point that it threatens to put you to sleep. When you wake up from the slumber, you haven't missed much. This is supposed to be a thriller!

Ronit Bose Roy obviously does a really good job of being a calm mastermind who knows his job well. He is smart enough to figure a way out of sticky situations. Much attention has been paid to his character in the story in this season as well. Ashim Gulati stays honest as Aman and you will empathise with his inside struggle a lot. Surya Sharma and Anangsha Biswas get a shorter time here and they are usual. The biggest asset to the cast this time round was Divya Dutta. She is composed and alert about what is happening. But she never stops to see the humane side of the kidnappers. Dino Morea's dashing persona adds to his menacing side making him quite deadly but it doesn't stay with you.

Yay!

• Divya Dutta
• Some good twists
• Cast

Nay!

• Inane plot points continue in this season as well
• Too many twists making it jarring
• Sluggish pace bores you

Final Thoughts

The infusion of a lot of twists and characters could have added a new dimension to the sequel of Hostages but that exactly becomes its undoing. Anybody who has watched the first season however, this is a must!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 09, 2020 02:39 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).