Planning and producing a sequel is relatively simple, but matching the audience's expectations, as the previous installment did, is a difficult task, and here is where most of the sequels fail. After making an impressive OTT debut in 2020 with 'Breathe: Into the Shadow,' actor Abhishek Bachchan is back with the second season.
The second part is said to be more intense, dark, and engaging than the first, but is it able to live up to the hype? Or it's just merely another series with a chaotic plot? Let's find out.
What's the story?
The story picks up where it left off in the first season: Abhishek's character, Avinash Sabharwal, is in an asylum and getting treatment for his split personality disorder. The sensational Ravana case is closed, and everyone is very sure that Avinash's alter ego, J, is gone forever now, but the truth is that J still controls Avinash, and he's still planning to take revenge on all the people who have given trauma in his life in the past.
While everyone is in a state of relief that Avinash is behind bars, one day he successfully escapes with the help of his asylum mate, Victor, who is also dealing with childhood trauma. And together, they resume the killings and take revenge on behalf J. Crime branch inspector Kabir Sawant is calledback and takes on the charge to catch J, again. But will Kabir manage to save the people from getting killed, or will J and Victor walk out free, taking Avinash forever with them, away from his family, makes up the rest of the show.
More complex, less understandable
In comparison to the previous installment, which had the audience glued to the screen with multiple intriguing story twists, the second part fails to live up to those expectations. The eight-episode series is written in a highly complicated manner, with many unnecessary elements and twists added to the storyline, and that's what makes the show a tedious watch.
Despite sticking to the one plot, writers have tried to explore everything that they can in an eight-episode series but left everything unfinished.
In hope of making a show a gripping watch, makers have added unnecessary things that only exaggerate the show. The majority of the episodes are between 30 and 40 minutes lengthy, making it difficult to stay focused on the screen for so long.
Among the actors, Abhishek Bachchan's performance as Avinash and J is quite impressive. In the past two years, Bachchan has made a special place in the hearts of OTT viewers with his commendable performance in 'The Big Bull', 'Ludo', 'Bob Biswas' and 'Dasvi', and this one is just another addition to his list of good performances.
Amit Sadh as a cop, and Nithya Menen as Abha, have done a decent job but their character deserved more screen time. This season's new treat is Naveen Kasturia as Victor, who stands out with his performance.
Saiyami Kher's character and her connection to the main story are the most perplexing aspects of the series.
With all the new additions, little plot details of killings, and cleverly commenting on the shadow personality that everyone hides within themselves- the story might look fascinating and captivating on paper but appears chaotic at the execution level.
Directed by Mayank Sharma, the eight-episode series is full of emotions, drama, and killing, but all in all, this is not the edge-of-your-seat thriller that most of us were expecting, especially after watching the first two parts of the franchise.
'Breathe: Into The Shadows' is streaming on Prime Video.