Asur Season 2 Review: Jio Cinema’s crime thriller stars Arshad Warsi as Dhananjay Rajpoot aka DJ, Barun Sobti as Nikhil Nair, Anupriya Goenka as Naina Nair, Ridhi Dogra as Nusrat Saeed, Amey Wagh as Rasool Shaikh, Vishesh Bansal as Shubh Joshi (teenage), Gaurav Arora as Kesar Bharadwaj, and Pawan Chopra as Shashank Awasthi. The new addition to the cast includes Abhishek Chauhan, Meiyang Chang and Adithi Kalkunte Shyamprasad. Directed by Oni Sen, the story is by Gaurav Shukla and Abhijeet Khuman.
The screenplay is written by Abhijeet Garg and Chirag Salian. There are a total of 8 episodes of at least an hour.
Asur Season 2 Review Contains No Spoilers
Asur Season 2 picks up where the previous season ended, where the characters are grieving and blaming themselves for the losses. DJ leaves CBI and goes to the monastery to find peace. Nikhil Nair, who sacrificed his daughter Riya to save others, is miserable. His marriage with Naina is almost over. Lolark is dead, and Rasool cooked a good story to save himself. But has the crime stopped? Sadly, no.
DJ, Nikhil and other CBI officers face more challenges. Will they find out Rasool’s truth? Is he really Shubh? Will Nikhil and DJ succeed in putting an end to Shubh’s brutalities? We get all our answers in the end.
In the new season, it is openly established that Shubh thinks he is Kali (Asur) and waiting for Kalki, for a face-off. Kalki is said to be the final avatar of the Hindi god Vishnu, who will appear to end those who sin and start a new age. The mythology highly inspires him. So he kills good people in season 1. In season 2, the serial killer doesn’t stop.
In the first few episodes, the officers deal with new cases, new external and internal threats. But the impact of season 1 is such that no officers are giving their best (initially). The first three episodes bring out the cruel side of DJ, who is desperate to find answers like us. It also represents humans who would rather dive into the dark side because being truthful doesn’t always play out well.
A few cliffhangers of season 1 are cleared in the first few episodes. But episodes 4, 5 and 6 are where the series loses its charm. Shubh’s weapon of destruction is modern-day digital technology. Showing that Shubh is tech-savvy and uses it in every way possible to commit his crimes makes sense. After all, he has been doing a great job. So his digital cleverness also becomes a big challenge for DJ and Nikhil.
Also Read: Fake Profile Review: Rollercoaster of Surprises, Steamy Twists and Plenty of Chaos!
But after a point, the series only becomes a downer. A lot of time in between is spent finding answers on the computer screens. The makers depicted how the misuse of technology can disrupt peace and cost lives. It was a point well explained. But the focus on this aspect was so much, that I missed the exhilaration of watching DJ, Nikhil and others in action. I missed seeing them solving the mysteries and challenges themselves.
The last two episodes are also heavily tech influenced, but at least it gives us answers. We see how DJ and Nikhil use their own intelligence and instincts to deal with a fatal threat. The last episode also shows the extent to which humans can go to save themselves. It highlights how easily people put a person on a pedestal, and it takes no time to push down the same person. But are the human species really as bad as Shubh claims to be? I appreciate how the makers tackled this complex question.
The new season had some new characters. Although the actors played their part well, they only added more to the crowd. With the screenplay stuck in front of the computer for hours, the old and new characters hardly had anything substantial to offer. Nusrat, who played a key role in season 1, was lost in the background (until a car scene featuring her).
The makers also played the Kali-Kalki narrative with the addition of another interesting character. That’s the show’s strength – when they tell stories through characters and not bombard us with AI and tech knowledge. I couldn’t help but compare Asur 2 with Sacred Games. Season 1 of the Netflix series was quite promising, leaving everyone curious about the big threat! But season 2 was so tedious and hardly helped us grasp anything.
Asur Season 2 also had a brilliant story in part 1, which ended on a cliffhanger, leaving us impatient for answers. But season 2 somewhat lacks the past appeal when it loses itself in the world of computer codes and AI. When hundreds of lives were at risk of death, I was waiting for someone to say, “sab marenge, bas Shubh bachega” (everyone will die, except Shubh).
Arshad Warsi and Barun Sobti do an incredible job, even though the new season wasn’t as challenging as the previous one. Actors Anupriya Goenka, Amey Wagh, Meiyang Chang and Abhishek Chauhan also do a good job.
Asur Season 2 Review: Final Thoughts
Overall, the new season of Jio Cinema’s Asur helps us with answers we have wanted to know for the past 3 years. The makers take us to the dark side (mostly of digital technology), which is partly engaging and partly dragged. The series ends on an unforeseen cliffhanger. At least we have a satisfactory end to everything that started in season 1.
The new season is now streaming on Jio Cinema.
Also Read: Dahaad Review: Sonakshi Sinha, Gulshan Devaiah, and Vijay Varma’s Series is Unsettling to Watch
