Skip to main content

Mobile Ads

City of Dreams season 2 review: Director Nagesh Kukunoor amps up the drama, politicking, corruption in new instalment

If the battle lines were drawn in the first season of City of Dreams (Disney+ Hotstar, 2019), in the second season, the political drama within and around the Gaekwad family expands from being just a battle of the sexes to a battle of the exes as well.

After eliminating her brother from her path and her father recovering from an assassination attempt, Poornima Gaekwad (Priya Bapat) is now the interim Chief Minister of Maharashtra. She’s troubled by visions of her murdered brother Ashish and occupied the chair for three months. With elections imminent, it’s time for her father Ameya Rao Gaekwad (Atul Kulkarni) to pull out every dirty trick he has up his sleeve. This includes releasing ghosts of Poornima’s past romantic affairs.

Another power broker, the ‘ruthless' Ramnik bhai (Shishir Sharma) is ready to use Poornima’s bisexuality to land the lucrative Mumbai Metro railway contract. Some of the old players return – such as the loyal accountant Purushottam (Sandeep Kulkarni), the honeytrap Asha (Flora Saini), the brutalising Karnataka based don Jagan (Sushant Singh) and of course erstwhile chief minister Jagdish Gurav (Sachin Pilgaonkar) and policeman turned politician Wasim Khan (Eijaz Khan) who have joined forces with Poornima to form their own formidable troika.

Among the new characters are an idealist youth leader turned aspiring politician Mahesh (Adinath Kothare), Arvind (Ankur Rathee), the arrogant heir to a construction company and his fiancée Tanya (Shriyam Bhagnani), who proves the old adage that you should never judge a book by its cover.

Director Nagesh Kukunoor and co-writer Rohit Banawlikar amp up the drama, politicking and corruption, overloading the season with sub-plots and a detailed contest between the wounded former party chief now baying for payback, and a comeback, his upright but inexperienced cub whose guile and smarts cannot always smooth over the cracks in her armour. The chess metaphor is used literally – there are pawns, a king, queen, knights and rooks. Some are dispensable, while others will be victims.

The scaled-up second season continues to be set mainly in boardrooms, warehouses and living rooms. The locations might be intimate but the story falls prey to excess as it consciously strides towards 10 episodes of 40 minutes each. The writers lob in crisis after scandal after trouble which the actors have a good whack at with fine performances that evoke compassion. Leading from the front are Priya Bapat and Atul Kulkarni, followed by Sandeep Kulkarni’s Purushottam, Bhagnani’s Tanya, Kothare’s Mahesh, Khan’s Wasim and Pilgaonkar’s Gurav – each one caught in the high stakes game of power between a warring man and his daughter who will always be second best in her father’s eyes.

City of Dreams season 2 streams on Disney+ Hotstar.

Rating: **1/2


by Udita Jhunjhunwala
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Oscars 2021 adds in-person UK hub for international nominees amid travel concerns during pandemic

With less than a month until showtime, the 93rd Oscars are taking another pass at the script. Show producers Steven Soderbergh, Jesse Collins and Stacey Sher remain determined to have an i n-person ceremony on 25 April in Los Angeles but told nominees on Tuesday in a virtual meeting that they’ve added a British hub after some backlash from nominees about international travel restrictions. The main event will still take place at Los Angeles’ Union station which will include a red carpet component but they are planning something special for the UK location. The show is also working with local broadcast affiliates around the world to provide satellite links for other international nominees. They said they are not totally ruling out Zoom but are hoping it doesn’t come to that. Although plans and requirements remain fluid, attendees have been told they’re expected to quarantine for 10 days prior to the show. And everyone is being told to bring a mask, even if the show is being designed...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan to marry on 9 June; here's all you need to know

Filmmaker Vignesh Shivan and Nayanthara are all set to get married tomorrow, 9 June. Shivan made an announcement about the same on Tuesday, 7 June in an interaction with the media. Talking about their wedding venue, Shivan informed that the wedding will take place at a private resort in Mahabalipuram . Shivan also spoke about the change in the wedding venue from Tirupati to Mahabalipuram. The filmmaker said that the couple wanted to get married in a temple but due to issues in logistics, it was difficult to bring their families to Tirupati. So, they decided to change the wedding venue to Mahabalipuram. He added that the wedding will be attended by close friends and family members. The rumours regarding their wedding began after the duo was clicked with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and reports claimed that the couple had gone to invite the Chief Minister for their special day. Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan had met each other in 2015 for the first time during the nar...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dreams, desires and aspirations: Udan Patolas cast on why the show is a must-watch

The Bold Type , Four More Shots and now Udan Patolas , stories reflecting sisterhood and female bonding seems like the flavour of the season. Udan Patolas , the Indian adaptation of the Israeli TV show Honey Badgers, depicts the voice of today’s generation of Indian women who are fiercely independent and are not afraid to speak their minds. Produced by Applause Entertainment – the makers of the successful series ‘Scam 1992’ in association with Sol Productions and directed by Shakti Sagar Chopra, from the Hatim and Ramayan fame, the web series features actors Apoorva Arora, Aastha Sidana, Poppy Jabbal, and Sukhmani Sadana in the lead roles. It also features Rajveer Singh, Mayank Arora, Taniya Kalrra, Vaibhav Talwar, Rakesh Bedi, and Manik Singh in prominent roles. In an interview with Firstpost during the press meeting in Delhi, Aastha, Poppy, and Sukhmani (who is also the writer of the show) spoke about how the series will remind every girl about their close group of friends. They a...
Post a Comment
Read more