TVF Pitchers had its much awaited season 2 out a few days back and while it wasn't as brilliant as the first season, the recent outing was a well-acted and well-narrated series that offers a keen insight into the startup culture. The series brings back Naveen Kasturia, Arunabh Kumar (also creator) and Abhay Mahajan as the leads Naveen, Yogi and Saurabh respectively, though the fourth lead, Jitu, played by Jitendra Kumar, gave the season a miss, perhaps quite busy solving problems of 'Panchayat'. TVF Pitchers Season 2 Review: Naveen Kasturia, Riddhi Dogra's Series is Well-Narrated and Acted But Doesn't Reach Heights of the First Season!
The other key actors in the new season are Ridhi Dogra, Ashish Vidyarthi, Sikandar Kher, Gopal Datt, Ronjini Chakraborty, Abhishek Banerjee, Pranav Bhasin, some returning from the previous season, and some new entrants. The new season has the three leads involved in getting investors for their startup, and facing all kinds of challenges in the process. Some of the challenges include getting a new CTO to fill Jitu's absence, do a pivot of their startup model to attract new investors, meet deadlines, stave off competitors stealing your model and so on. (SPOILER AHEAD)
In the end, after many trials and tribulations, victories and losses, tiffs and reconciliations, Pragati AI manages to snark a huge investor in KC Enterprises, the same investor they lost in the first episode, right at the time when they were about to close shop. With the new money in and new confidence, the trio manage to get their much desired office space, weed out the negative stuff and look forwards to new beginnings. However, like it has been with them all the time, the future doesn't look all bright and sparkly, as hinted in the epilogue of the last episode. The scene also hints that we might not have to wait too long for the third season to arrive, as the plot threads are already there to be worked on.
Here are five plot questions we expected the third season to answer, if and when it arrives:
Will Prabhash Mehta Be the Main Baddie of Season 3?
Even before the KC deal happened, Naveen had already dropped the idea of accepting the merger with Prabhash Mehta's (Sikandar Kher) Alpha1. By the end of the episode, Pragati AI has also taken over Alpha1's investor, KC, so naturally, Prabhash Mehta isn't very happy as shown in his last phone conversation with Naveen. So it looks like he will be Pragati AI's biggest nemesis next season, and what's more, he has a dangerous new weapon in his arsenal. Which brings us to...
How is Naveen Going to Tackle DM Jumping Ship?
Prabhash reveals to Naveen that DM (Pranav Bhasin) is now with them and he could expose their code. Which might sound ominous but hasn't Naveen already made a contingency for this when he gave DM a demotion from CTO to VP? Did he really expect DM to accept what he would see an insulting offer and not jump ship? We are curious to see if Naveen really had the foresight to see DM's treachery and whether he had already his plans in motion to tackle this breach in season 3 through their new CTO in Aparajita (Ronjini Chakraborty).
Will Maanvi Gagroo Return as Series Regular?
Pitchers 2, thankfully, avoided any distracting romantic subplot, even keeping Naveen's friendly equation with their VC Prachi (Dogra) as platonic as possible. That changes a bit in the epilogue when we think we see a sense of longing in the way Naveen gazes at Riddhi during the new office celebration party. Even more interesting in the arrival of Shreya (Maanvi Gagroo), Naveen's girlfriend in the first season, who makes a cameo in the epilogue and reignites the possibility of them coming back together. Maanvi Gagroo's return might mean a more expanded role for the actress in the next season, so will the upcoming season also get into romantic interludes that the second season avoided?
Will The Rift Increase Between the Pragati AI 'Founders'?
The penultimate episode of season 2 depicted a major showdown between Naveen and Yogi and Saurabh, and while the finale patched them up, some icy vibes and mistrust issues still remain between them. This is clearly hinted in the epilogue when Yogi and Saurabh learn that the photographer who was supposed to click a picture of all the founders of Pragati AI together, only took picture of Naveen and left. The look of concern mixed with mild annoyance the two share with each other over this shows they aren't happy with what happened. Will this come back to bite their friendship in the next season? Arunabh Kumar, TVF Founder Acquitted by Mumbai Court in 2017 Sexual Harassment Case.
Will Jitu Return?
The biggest question we have for the next season is, will the fourth musketeer of Pragati AI return? While Jitendra Kumar's absence has left a gaping hole in the show - which they also played up through an empty cubicle in Jitu's name - the new season didn't exactly suffer from his absence. Pragati AI has also now found a capable CTO in Aparajita, so Jitu's return isn't mandatory. With Jitendra Kumar already busy headlining two other popular TVF shows Panchayat and Kota Factory, it remains to be seen if they can entice him back to the role that made him a household name in the first place.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 29, 2022 01:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).