What Is the Story About?
Pitchers Season 2, on ZEE5, is the much-delayed sequel to the insanely popular TVF show, ‘Pitchers’. The story of the series picks up effortlessly from where it left off in the first season, seven years ago. Naveen (Naveen Kasturia), Mandal (Abhay Mahajan) and Yogi (Arunabh Kumar) are now running their own company, ‘Pragati AI’, and are waiting for Series A funding to scale up their fledging start-up. Jitu (Jitendra Kumar) is noticeably missing in action, support comes in from new quarters, and competitive new players are on the prowl to rain on their parade. Will they overcome the odds this time too?
Pitchers Season 2 is created by Arunabh Kumar, and directed by Arunabh Kumar and Vaibhav Bundhoo.
Performances?
Naveen Kasturia, Arunabh Kumar and Abhay Mahajan are all equally good in their respective roles. Abhishek Banerjee‘s fleeting appearances are always a welcome addition. Pranav Bhasin as Dungeon Master is a riot, just like the first season. New entrants Sikander Kher, Ronjini Chakraborty, Vipul Goyal, Riddhi Dogra, Ashish Vidyarthi, Luv Vispute, add commendable support and heft to the storytelling. Cameos by Ashneer Grover and Vineeta Singh are fun to watch.
Analysis
Pitchers is such a well-loved show for the Indian millennial, that venturing into sequel territory, that too a good seven years later, was always going to be an endeavor frought with risk. But Pitchers Season 2 manages to make it worthwhile. The new season of the show has all the elements that made the debut season such a darling for youngsters — highs, lows, feel-good moments, down-in-the-dumps times.
But most importantly, it brims with moments that kindle the exact same sentiments of hope, conviction, bullishness, joy of achievement, the hustle mentality and more, that every budding young entrepreneur aspires for in real life. In that sense, Pitchers Season 2 is eminently relatable and relevant for its target audience, as most The Viral Fever shows do.
On the flipside, Pitchers Season 2 is way too long for a slice-of-life drama. With each episode around 50-60 minutes long, it becomes quite a tedious task to sit through the five episodes of the show. It gets repetitive and boring after a while, more so with all the over-long monologues, speeches and pep talk stuffed into the episodes.
The new entrants in the cast are good, though they get very little screen space. It would have been great to get more of, and more powerful roles for, artists such as Ashish Vidyarthi and Sikander Kher. The story is kind of predictable — you know for sure that the protagonists will face one hurdle after another in their race to the finish line; and that they will breast the tape with flying colors. But even with all the predictability, the twist at the end of the tale is satisfying, in a good kind of way.
To sum it up, Pitchers Season 2 is one of the better sequels, at a time when most Indian shows are churning out crappy new seasons of popular shows. Watch it, but with a firm finger on the fast-forward button, to skip all the tedious bits.
Music and Other Departments?
Vaibhav Bundhoo’s musical score for Pitchers Season 2 is really good. The songs hit the sweet spot with the viewer, while the background music moulds itself to the proceedings on screen – poignant, in moments of despair; and peppy in the boisterous moments. Arjun Kukreti’s cinematography is efficient, nothing great but not bad either. Akash Bandhoo’s editing needed to be sharper, for a crisper, tauter end product.
Highlights?
Relatability
Relevance
Performances
Drawbacks?
Too Long and Tedious
Predictable
Repetitive
Did I Enjoy It?
Yes, Mostly
Will You Recommend It?
Yes, but Don’t Forget the Convenience of the Fast-Forward Button to Skip the Tedious Parts
Pitchers Season 2 Series Review by Binged Bureau
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