It’s kind of weird to review a series that has only one season with 7 episodes and got split into two parts over a span of almost 5 months. In my review for Part 1 back in February 2023, I mentioned that it felt like watching a thriller inside a theater, and the projector guy suddenly decided to pause it out of nowhere. With the last 3 episodes in Part 2, the series finally gets a structure that will engage the ones who will watch it one go.
So post his entry to the world of Shelly, Shaan Sengupta gets a new name as Captain Abhimanyu Mathur. Shelly has made him the cover for his arms deals, and Shaan is trying his best to provide info to Lipika. The new world of Shelly that Shaan discovers and how their plan to nab Shelly goes is what we see in Part 2 of The Night Manager.
Compared to Part 1, Part 2 is more gripping, mainly because the shifts are minimal. We do not see drastic jumps in the timeline, and the change in equations is happening very gradually. And unlike the first 4 episodes, the average duration of episodes in Part 2 is one hour; hence, you have many more things happening in one episode. While the plot becomes much more character-driven towards the last 3 episodes, there is a lack of excitement when we approach some twists, and the end is kind of predictable.
Like I said in my review of Part 1, the visual texture that Sandeep Modi maintains, which is similar to his other work Aarya, gives the series the visual quality one would anticipate in a creation that has the requirement of showing scale on screen. The framing is largely very tight and static, contributing to the frequently intense nature of the whole thing. The visual effects in some of the sequences are highly sloppy, while the weapons demo scene at night looks very real. The writing is a lot sharper in Part 2, and the dialogues are border-line cheesy.
Aditya Roy Kapoor has a more relaxed and focused face in Part 2, and the man has this peculiar smile that one can assign different meanings at different points. On the other hand, Anil Kapoor has that aura to be this arms dealer, Shelly. But at times, his dialogue delivery in English reminded me of Tanmay Bhatt’s imitation of Kapoor in that infamous roast. Shobita Dhulipala in those fabulous outfits looks hot for sure. But unlike part 1, which primarily used her as this object of desire, part 2 has her expressing the vulnerabilities and limitations of Kaveri. Just like in Part 1, Tillotama Shome delivered a performance that sort of stays with you. Lipika Saikia Rao is not someone who gives up on things quickly. And this time, with pregnancy and Shelly’s direct intervention, the toughness of that character is high, and Shome pulls off that stubbornness very convincingly.
If you haven’t seen The Night Manager already, you will most probably be watching the 7 episodes in one stretch. If you can binge-watch it, it will feel like a satisfactory thriller with some things working in favor of it, even though an element of genuine surprise is missing in totality.
With the last 3 episodes in Part 2, the series finally gets a structure that will engage the ones who will watch it one go.
Green: Recommended Content
Orange: The In-Between Ones
Red: Not Recommended
