Stylish, chic, slick, good looking, alluring… That was The Night Manager in a nutshell. Its thrill quotient might not have been its strongest point but the web series managed to become a part of pop culture conversations (those thirst trap posts featuring Aditya Roy Kapur and the anticipation of what would transpire between Shaan and Kaveri). And why not? After all, we had the chiselled Aditya looking like a true-blue hunk with his effortless charm, Sobhita Dhulipala’s Kaveri making some solid style statements that can give Made In Heaven’s Tara Khanna a run for her money, and the debonair and timeless Anil Kapoor redefining grey with his compelling and magnetic portrayal of an antagonist.
With The Night Manager: Part 2, directors Sandeep Modi and Priyanka Ghose take the panache and the pizzazz several notches higher. Again, the narrative might not necessarily keep you hooked throughout, but who doesn’t want to indulge in some fine sartorial sensibilities, gorgeous locations and a sizzling chemistry every now and then? The Night Manager: Part 2 picks up from where its first part ended. The chase and double-crossing to nab Shelly Rungta, an arms dealer under the garb of an obnoxiously rich business tycoon, continues in this part. And while the makers try their level best to keep you guessing whether Shaan Sengupta is siding with Shelly by double-dealing with the Indian intelligence agency, you know what’s going to happen. And it is this element of predictability that robs the show of its thrill and adventure.
The first part had Kaveri only contributing to upping the sensual expression of the story. While she looked every bit ravishing, her character was reduced to a mere titillating factor, who time and again, only wanted to dunk herself either in the pool or the sea. Here too, Kaveri doesn’t have much to do. If you remember, we were given a glimpse into Kaveri’s secret life that added a layer of vulnerability to her character. The makers, in this part, unfortunately, don’t dive too deep into it. Her track with Shaan isn’t too fleshed out either. By the end of it, an actor of Sobhita’s calibre is left with no meat to chew and despite several attempts by the writers, your heart never really goes out to her and her sorry story.
Shaan and Shelly continue riding on their wavering moral compass. Aditya and Anil locking horns and constantly trying to double-cross each other remains the highlight of this part. Despite being the anti-hero, you often find yourself rooting for Shelly. As for Shaan, you will be left swooning over his charisma and earnestness. But unlike part one, Shaan’s dilemma as he fights Shelly and his inner demons that makes him human is missing in this one.
But the one character that has a rather cinematic graph is that of Lipika Saikia Rao played by the inimitable Tillotama Shome. The effortlessness and cataclysmic humour that she brings to the table grabs your attention and how! She makes for the most human agent, a template that is a rarity for Bollywood. We, once again, get a sneak peek into the grime and red-tapism that exists in the world of agents. And, what a breather it is to see a spy, who isn’t clad in shiny latex suits and isn’t the most physically flexible and fit person trying to defy gravity and death!
Acclaimed Bangla actor Saswata Chatterjee, who played BJ, Shelly’s friend and ally in the first part, has virtually nothing to do in this one. His character woke up to an epiphany followed by a simmering tension between him and Shelly. But none of that is explored in this part. A sub-track encapsulating their animosity would have surely rendered some nuance to the plot. This dodge can be attributed to the writing and it goes on to reiterate that the series was not penned with a two-part approach. The slow-poison treatment and style misfires eventually.
However, there’s one thing that stays back with you. In one scene, Shaan tells Shelly, ‘Main tumhaari Lanka ko jalte huye dekhna chahta hoon.’ To this, the audience bursts into peals of laughter, ‘Kapda tere baap ka, tel tere baap ka, jalegi bhi tere baap ki.’ Shelly’s drug empire is compared to the colossal and unscrupulous Lanka and Shaan intends on burning down Raavan’s land. Even through just one scene where Shelly is seen revelling as some arms are made to set a catastrophic fire in the middle of a desert, The Night Manager makes a very subtle reference to Ramayana, and that proves to be more effective than a certain film which is still fresh in our memories, thanks to the meme fest.
On a side note, when the makers of The Night Manager had decided to release its second part following a four-month gap, many questioned their rationality. Was the wait worth it? Maybe not. But there are fat chances that there might just be a sequel to the show. We don’t know if that would prove to be a good idea but if there’s one, we would love to see Kaveri getting the opportunity to play around with a solid arc. What we would also love is a crossover of sorts between Aditya’s Shaan Sengupta and Tom Hiddleston’s Jonathan Pine but more interestingly, Tillotama’s Lipika Saikia Rao and Olivia Colman’s Angela Burr getting down and dirty together.
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