Duranga S2 review: The Korean drama Flower of Evil was deft with its twists and turns but its flaws were quite staggering to ignore. But the makers were clear, they were heavily inclined towards showing the emotional arc of a man who can't feel emotions. They just threw in some past trauma, serial killing and a deranged man in the mix. The Indian remake decided to be so loyal to the original that they overlooked the flaws to come up with an equally absurd do-over in Hindi. Duranga Review: Drashti Dhami and Gulshan Devaiah’s Remake Falls Short of Bettering Flower Of Evil Despite an Improved Finale (LatestLY Exclusive).

In the first season, Abhishek (Gulshan Deviah) is living a dual life of a doting house husband Sammit Patel to cop Ira (Drashti Dhami) and maybe a serial killer. But his identity gets compromised when Ira's cases start leading to him. This time, his peril is compounded by the emergence of the real Sammit Patel (Amit Sadh), the twisted and mentally unsound person with a violent streak. He has woken up from a coma and is out to get Abhishek.

The pluses stay the same as in the first season. Given that it's a continuation, it straightway gets to business. Ira is looking for the accomplice of serial killer Bala Banne (Zakir Hussain) and it shows her investigation well. A lot of story has unfolded in the first season, hence the twists and turns have become rare but it's pacy enough to keep you interested in the proceedings. While it adds a few new characters, none of them crowd the story with unnecessary plotlines. That keeps the individuality of the characters intact.

But Duranga stays so loyal to the original kdrama that it inherits its faults as well. A few sequences are odd and difficult to be dismissed as creative liberties. Even the writing has gone quite silly with a scene of kids shaming Anya for having a father who works from home. Today's kids understand that setup much better than anyone else having witnessed it during the pandemic.

How come a person who has been in a coma for more than 10 years is perfectly fine when he wakes up? Amit Sadh's Sammit is plotting, scheming and killing the moment he gets out of bed. He also epitomises the quintessential psychotic character tropes we see in every Hindi film - a maniacal giggle and twitchy demeanor. This clearly is an example of lazy writing. Such instances are so common in the series that you lose complete faith in this feature.

Watch the trailer of Duranga S2

Performances are equally odd. I understand Gulshan Deviah's deadpan reactions to everything here because he plays a character who takes tutorials on how to smile properly to keep his ruse intact. But it seems the same has rubbed off on Drashti Dhami too. She comes across as highly detached from everything - be it the investigation or her connection with her husband. Amit Sadh's talent tries hard to outshine a poorly written character but isn't too successful. From Drashti Dhami’s Duranga 2 on ZEE5 to Dulquer Salmaan’s King of Kotha on Disney+Hotstar, Check Out This Week’s Top OTT Streaming Picks!.

Final Thoughts

Duranga S2 needs to be watched because the first season showed good promise. Despite being a remake of a popular Kdrama on Netflix which is also available in Hindi, the predecessor manages to keep you hooked. The follow-on faithful allegiance to the Korean original Flower Of Evil leaves you disappointed. Duranga S2 streams on ZEE5.

Rating:2.0

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 26, 2023 05:11 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).