City Of Dreams Season 2 Review – Convincing Performances Elevate The Story

What Is the Story About?

Disney Plus Hotstar’s City Of Dreams is one of its flagship shows under its Hotstar Specials brand. Season 2 of the show picks up from the explosive finale episode of Season 1, and takes the story forward. Amey Rao Gaikwad (Atul Kulkarni), CM of Maharashtra, is confined to his wheelchair after an attack on his life. His daughter Poornima Rao Gaikwad (Priya Bapat) becomes CM with the support of cop-turned-politician Wasim Khan (Eijaz Khan), and ex-Home Minister Jagdish Gurav (Sachin Pilgaonkar), after eliminating her junkie brother, Ashish (Siddharth Chandekar). Season 2 sees the father-daughter duo go head to head against each other to wrest power in Mumbai, the city of dreams.

City Of Dreams Season 2 is written by Nagesh Kukunoor and Rohit Banawlikar, directed by Nagesh Kukunoor, and produced by Applause Entertainment and Elahe Hiptoola. 

Performances?

Priya Bapat‘s is easily the pick of the performances in City Of Dreams Season 2, like it was in Season 1. Her fiery eyes convey a wealth of emotions. Her serene, beatific smile lights up her eyes, her face, and the screen, in that order. Hers is the most fascinating character arc in City Of Dreams S2, and Priya Bapat elevates it to a crisp, bracing performance. Atul Kulkarni‘s wounded-lion act is equally impressive. One can never guess what’s ticking in his shrewd Gaikwad brain behind the benign facade.  

Eijaz Khan is very good as Wasim Khan. He delivers an understated performance peppered with enough swagger to convey his character’s panache, hound-like investigative skills and political naivete deftly. Sachin Pilgaonkar has gained in confidence this season, and is in fine form as wily politician, Jagdish Gurav. Shriyam Bhagnani, as Tanya, and Addinath Kothare, as Mahesh, are worthy additions to the cast this season. Shriyam, especially, is spunky and sharp as a crime-busting youngster. Shishir Sharma, Sushant Singh, Flora Saini, Sandeep Kulkarni, Divya Seth, Ankur Rathee, among others, prop up the narrative nicely.

Analysis

City Of Dreams Season 2 promises a lot, but fails to deliver on those promises. While City Of Dreams Season 1 had incorporated the edge-of-the-seat thrill perfectly, with well-timed twists and turns, Season 2 is all about more bark and less bite. Most of the time, the plot builds up to tense moments, only to have them fizzle out into nothing. Numerous meaningless subplots add to the feeling that City Of Dreams Season 2 is, essentially, much ado about nothing. 

New characters Jagan Anna (Sushant Singh) and Arvind Mehta (Ankur Rathee) are caricaturish and totally inconsequential to the narrative. Similarly, Tanya Mehta, though an intriguing character, doesn’t bring much value to the basic storyline of the series. All these exist in the City Of Dreams Season 2 universe just to extend the runtime of the show to the mandated ten episodes of 40-45 minutes. Mahesh Aravle’s character is the only addition of any real consequence to the plot. 

Viewers who expected an explosive showdown between the shrewd Amey Rao Gaikwad and his intelligent, articulate daughter Poornima are in for a disappointment. No showdown happening folks—neither now, nor later, as is apparent from the attention-grabbing climax of Season 2. Yes, the events of the climax are stunning and heart-rending in equal measure. The ‘Collateral Damage’, as the finale episode is titled, knocks the wind out of our lungs. That is all we will say, for fear of giving out spoilers.

Another thing worth noting about City Of Dreams Season 2 is the abundance of time-worn clichés in the plot. Stirring up Hindu-Muslim passions to trigger riots and score political points; a secret marriage in a temple; hunky stud with raging hormones, Arvind, being coerced into an arranged marriage to cement business concerns; and obviously the girl he agrees to marry is plump and not-so-good-looking – all of it seems so last century. Thankfully, Tanya’s character is imbued with ample substance, to beautifully offset the emptiness of Arvind’s character.

To sum it up, City Of Dreams Season 2 has its share of high and low moments. The performances make it a slightly better than average watch.

Music and Other Departments?

Director of Photography Sangram Giri does a good job with the camera. He captures the sights and sounds of Mumbai well, both, the sweeping, larger-than-life shots of Maximum City, as well as the realism-infused shots of its underbelly. Farooq Hundekar’s editing is average. Tapas Relia’s background score does its work of enhancing the storytelling elements. 

Highlights?

Performances

Well-paced narrative

Drawbacks?

Inconsequential subplots 

Ridden with clichés 

Did I Enjoy It?

Yes, somewhat

Will You Recommend It?

Yes, as a one-time watch 

City Of Dreams Season 2 Review by Binged Bureau