Hostages (Season 2) review: An interesting premise let down by too many twists

The first season of the web-series Hostages featured the recently retired Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) officer Prithvi Singh (Ronit Roy), his brother-in-law Aman (Aashim Gulati) and two associates barging into the house of Dr Mira Anand (Tisca Chopra) and taking her family hostage.

Dr Mira is scheduled to perform a surgery on Haryana chief minister Khushwant Lal Handa (Dalip Tahil) the next day and Prithvi wants her to ensure Handa does not survive the operation. After a lot of twists, Prithvi double-crosses his bosses as he has a noble cause for the operation which involves his ailing wife Saba (Shriswara). He ensures that Handa stays alive even as the world thinks he is dead.

The second season starts with Prithvi stealthily taking his wife Saba and Handa to a place to carry out a secret surgery along with Aman, nurse Sarah (Faezeh Jalali) and ward boy Peter (Amit Sial). But as they are on their way, they are forced to take shelter in a dilapidated house after Saba’s health deteriorates. Soon, a team of cops and ATS officers surrounds the house. 

In the first season, Prithvi’s team carries out a planned hostage operation. But in season two, they are forced to hold Handa and his security in-charge Subramanian (Mohan Kapoor) hostage.

The first season had an interesting and thrilling storyline, though the performances of Dr Mira’s family were a major letdown. When the hostage takers break into their apartment, they (Chopra, Parvin Dabas and their two kids) react as if it is a daily occurrence. There is hardly any worry, let alone shock or panic. Their performances remained constant throughout the season, even when they faced more serious hurdles.

This aspect has, thankfully, been addressed in season two. Ronit Roy gets the maximum mileage and puts in a responsible, mature act. Faezeh Jalali as nurse Sarah, Amit Sial as Peter, and Shriswara provide useful support. From the other side of the law, Divya Dutta as the negotiator, Sachin Khurana as ATS officer Dutt, and Kanwailjit Singh as the ATS chief are first-rate.

There is a long list of supporting artistes who chip in with useful performances, including Gulati, Shibani Dandekar, Shweta Basu Prasad, Danish Sood, Anangsha Biswas, Rahul Bagga and Himanshi Chaudhary. Dalip Tahil has much more screen time here. He shifts between being evil and guilty with ease. At times, he makes you wonder if you should believe what his character is saying.

Hostages 2 marks the comeback of Dino Morea as the trigger-happy baddie. Although his character is a bit confusing, it is a pleasant surprise to see the actor look the same after all these years and appear confident in his part.

Despite having better performances, Hostages 2 suffers from other ailments. This story didn’t need a 12-episode season as it begins to sag after reaching the halfway mark. The twists are so many that you lose count. By the time the season reaches its finale, it is too chaotic to make any impact.

The second season surpasses the first when it comes to creative liberties. So, a group of people lives in inhumane conditions in a ruined bungalow, yet remains there for four days and is comfortable. The people neither feel hungry nor even the need to answer nature’s calls. Not just that, a couple of them also manage to perform a serious surgery in there.

While the performances are better, Hostages 2 suffers from serious flaws in the storytelling department. The end result is the same as the first season, though for a different reason. 

Disney+ Hotstar is now streaming Hostages (Season 2).