Keyur Seta
Mumbai, 28 Nov 2021 16:23 IST
Starring Neha Sharma and Piyush Mishra, the show has too many subplots which end up hindering the flow of the main plot.
Naming a legal drama Illegal is smart when your aim is to expose the wrongdoings of those who run our justice system. Like the first season of the Voot Select show, the second season aims to do the same.
Another similarity is that this season, too, keeps the viewer engaged. The multiple characters in the show differ from one another in terms of motives and behaviour patterns. But something or the other keeps happening with them, which keeps you from checking your watch while watching the show.
Illegal (Season 1) saw the young ‘mad lawyer’ Niharika Singh (Neha Sharma) join the law firm of veteran Janardhan Jaitley (Piyush Mishra) and go on to become his rival and even defeat him. The second season sees Niharika start her own law firm with Puneet (Satyadeep Mishra), who also once worked in Jaitley’s firm and had a bad experience.
Jaitley isn’t one to give up easily, however. He has now entered politics and hopes to become chief minister of Delhi after dethroning Mrinalini Singh (Achint Kaur), thereby making life tough for Niharika.
The main focus of the season is the case of giving justice to employees of the Pinnacle group of industries. The founder has fled after failing to repay a huge bank loan. The employees haven’t been paid their salaries. Niharika fights their case pro bono despite her law firm not doing too well financially. Jaitley becomes the lawyer for the defence because the case is politically significant.
This season sees Raghav (Tanuj Virwani) enter Niharika’s personal and professional lives. At the same time, Akshay (Akshay Oberoi), Jaitley's son, wants to reconcile with her. Akshay’s marriage with Devika (Parul Gulati) is going nowhere. He is also facing the wrath of his father, who insists on giving Devika a high position in their firm.
By now the reader may have guessed that the show has several subplots. What this review has listed are just a few of them. And that is the biggest problem with the second season. The narrative hops from one subplot to another abruptly, hurting the flow. In fact, there are moments when you wonder about the basic plot.
Of course, there were multiple tracks in the first season as well, but there was a difference. First, there weren’t as many. More importantly, the flow was maintained. But the screenplay here is all over the place.
This season has been shot mostly inside a studio and it becomes quite evident. You also notice the change in director — it's Ashwini Choudhary this time — when it comes to presentation. For instance, it is questionable how everything happens so conveniently for Janardhan Jaitley.
Piyush Mishra carries on his good performance from the first season and there are moments when he goes beyond as well. His character is totally negative this time and he gets the menace right.
Neha Sharma once again carries the show on her shoulders, but the energy she showed in the first season is lacking this time around.
Satyadeep Mishra is earnest once again but his character doesn’t get to do the kind of heroics he performed in the first season. Akshay Oberoi shows different shades of his character. New entrant Tanuj Virwani is likeable. Parul Gulati gets more scope and makes good use of it. As chief minister of Delhi, Achint Kaur matches Mishra’s act.
Despite these positives, the show fails to match up to its predecessor. Watch the trailer for Illegal (Season 2) here.