Breathe 2 Review (Episodes 1-4): Not breathtaking but quite gripping

Breathe Into The Shadows Episodes 14On Amazon Prime VideoDirector Mayank SharmaCast Abhishek Bachchan Nithya Menen Amit SadhRatingSpoilers AheadMore often than not films and shows on OTT platforms have asked us this question How far will you go to save someone you love The first Breathe did that and more recently Aarya And now comes Breathe Into The Shadows Its a fitting title for a show whose antagonist is defined by a frightening voice and a mask for surreptitious identityThe first season was about a helpless father and his endless attempts to save his ailing son The second season also places the central characters into an unwanted and unexpected tragedy Abhishek Bachchan and Nithya Menen who play a married couple Avinash and Abha discover their daughter Siya has gone missing Theres no call for ransom for monthsTheir first reaction over this news is panic The first time they break down over her disappearance is after three months They dont even know if she has been kidnapped or not since theres no call for ransom Avinash cries as he thinks its too late for her to be alive Abha cries as she knows shes still not dead We finally see Avinashs explosion when he says to the police how hes not allowed to speak about this at home but what if their daughter is actually deadWatch the trailer right hereBut for anyone who has seen the promos she has indeed been kidnapped and the ransom is a lot more than one can imagine Creator and director Mayank Sharma and screenplay writers Bhavani Iyer and Vikram Tuli along with Sharma throw in a reference of The Ramayana Bachchan has experienced the fictional world of the epic a decade back in Mani Ratnams Raavan But if Raavan was about the human side of the evil Breathe explores the evil side of the humanAnd the other side of the story is about Kabir Sawant an emotionally broken cop whose life seems to be more about controversies and catastrophes than cases We experienced his broken marriage in the first season and hes weighed down by guilt this time for nearly demolishing someones life albeit unintentionally Hes introduced in an action setpiece that showcases his heavily bulkedup torso but deep down this soul seems to be delicate He doesnt even speak a word for the first few scenesBut Breathe just like its title isnt all shadowy and sad Sharma cannot escape from the necessities of writing the character of a side cop whose presence is for adding humour Hrishikesh Joshi returns as Inspector Prakash Kamble but given his timing and the lines his humour strikes The show also portrays how two individuals belonging to different cities and cultures communicate Kamble is from Mumbai whos transferred to Delhi His colleague whos called Jaiprakash struggles to understand his language and lingo This is a classic case of chaotic and confusing conversations between a Mumbaikar and a DelhiiteThere are some mild moments of untimed humour too Saiyami Kher plays Shirley an escort Theres a scene where she can be seen talking to a man and says that the hotel will be of her choice and she wont allow him to kiss her on her lips The camera cuts and we see Bachchan Its a shocking moment we sense a moment of infidelity we sense hes taking this step to get over the trauma of his daughters disappearance A few seconds later we come to know shes in the wrong car You cannot help but crack a smileTheres another moment where Avinash has been asked to eliminate someone to get closer to his daughter The weapon he has been asked to use is Lust The problem is the target is turned on by women Abha says May I Its supposed to be a tense moment but again you smile Breathe Into The Shadows may not be entirely bewitching in its first four episodes but is surely gripping Good thing that this was made into a web series and not a feature filmSuspense thrillers in the form of films become all about the climactic twist the OTT platform allows you to go beyond and lace the narrative with multiple cliffhangers Just like Paatal Lok every episode of Breathe ends on a thread that will connect the dots in the next one Theres a scene in the first episode where Siya says she doesnt like being called a princess You know why Because she thinks princesses are weak they always need to be rescuedThe same analogy applies to shows and films they are just like these princesses weak and need to be rescued by engaging writing and storytelling all the time Todays children seem to be a step ahead of their parents it seemsCatch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news