By Troy Ribeiro
Series: ‘Apharan 2 – Sabka Katega Dobara’ (Streaming on Voot Select)
Duration: About 22 minutes per episode (Total 11 episodes); Director: Santosh Singh
Cast: Arunoday Singh, Nidhi Singh, Sannand Verma, Ujjawal Chopra, Pankaj Bhatia, Snehil Dixit Mehra, Sukhmani Sadana, Aditya Lal
Rating: ***
Designed on the lines of director Manmohan Desai’s films, ‘Apharan 2 – Sabka Katega Dobara,’ is a frothy potboiler that keeps you glued to the screen.
This eleven-episode series takes off from where it left in the previous season. In this season, we have Rudra (Arunodaya Singh), the six feet five inches tall rustic cop, who is sent on a mission to Serbia to eliminate Bikram Bahadur Shah aka BBS (also essayed by Arunodaya Singh), a dreaded criminal who, over one month, killed nine agents of RAW – India’s external intelligence agency.
How Rudra, who is besotted with his wife Ranjana (Nidhi Singh), is forced into this assignment, sent to Serbia along with Gillauri (Snehil Dixit Mehra), as his ‘pretend wife,’ where tables turn and he is abducted by the criminals only to return to India to finish what he was assigned for, forms the crux of this narrative.
Bikram Bahadur Shah’s motive is to lay his hand on ‘Code-X,’ which will help him destroy the country.
In this series, you get a double dose of Arunodaya Singh who plays the protagonist as well as the antagonist. And as Rudra, when he is in a confused state of mind, is told, “You are a small pawn in the big game, understanding it is beyond your comprehension. I have just one word for you, die.”
But dying is not on Rudra’s agenda.
Setting the logic aside, the plot manoeuvres effortlessly with all the strappings of racy masala films which include songs woven into the narrative, sequences in sleazy clubs with high octane music, and action-packed sequences. The dialogues too replete with cuss words make for an amusing watch.
Arunodaya is charming and sincere in his delivery, your heart bleeds for him as Rudra, and at the same time, you cringe when he is on screen as BBS. But the series is supercharged with live-wire performances from Nidhi Singh, Snehil Dixit Mehra, and Sannand Verma as Ranjana’s ex-boyfriend Dubey. The trio stays in your memory space much after you binge-watched the series.
Of the remaining supporting cast, Sukhmani Sadana as BBS’s moll Nafisa, Aditya Lal as BBS’s right-hand man Surajbhan, Ujjawal Chopra as Rudra’s handler Bandari, Palash Mech as Rudra’s contact in Serbia, and Pankaj Bhatia as RAW officer Jagtap Singh, they are all sincere but stereotypical in their approach. Nevertheless, they do have their moments of on-screen glory.
Jeetendra appears in a cameo, a McGuffin role that has been directly lifted, from earlier films.
Overall, if you are looking for some meaningless and convoluted drama, ‘Apharan 2 – Sabka Katega Dobara’ is for you. Moreover, the soundtrack that accompanies the end credits is infectious and entertaining. (Agency)
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