Deepa Gahlot notes that despite the technique being as hokey as a comic book, Asur 2’s pace and uniqueness work in its favor.
Asur: Welcome To Your Dark Side has faded from recollection because the second season debuted more than three years after the first.
If it hadn’t been distinct from the normal criminal shows streaming at the time, it would have quickly forgotten about it.
It was a little entertaining how crime and mythology were combined. A strong cast was a bonus.
Gaurav Shukla and Oni Sen’s sequel, Asur 2, picks off where the first one left off, with the mask-wearing, ghastly serial killer escaping.
The loss of his daughter caused forensics expert Nikhil Nair (Barun Sobti) to divorce computer whiz Naina (Anupriya Goenka).
The other CBI agent, Dhananjay Rajput (Arshad Warsi), wound up in a monastery where a frighteningly knowledgeable monk named Anant (Atharva Vishwakarma) gives him motivational speeches.
The technician Rasool Shaikh (Amey Wagh), Nusrat Saeed (Riddhi Dogra), and their ineffective boss Awasthi (Pawan Chopra) are still seen wandering around the CBI offices looking frazzled.
Sadly, Lolark Dubey (Sharib Hashmi) passed away during the previous season.
Ishani, the sharp new investigator (Adithi Kalkunte Shyamaprasad), is more logical than all the others together.
The ‘Asur’ is putting the crew to the test by daring them to catch him while people continue to die in random order.
Every episode starts with a flashback featuring Shubh (Vishesh Bansal), the evil genius child who continued his serial killing habits as he grew older and became the biggest pain in the neck for the police (Abhishek Chauhan).
Asur 2 gets off to a decent enough start before veering off course.
More people are present as well since ATF’s Paul (Meiyang Chang) and his crew ineffectively crash the celebration.
While Nikhil and Nusrat are working on one probe, Dhananjay and Naina go on their own rampages while Shubh’s murders get more heinous.
While Shubh lays hints in dead bodies, breaks into any network he wants, and manages to set up an AI nest that would be the envy of Silicon Valley, there is also enough of a simple philosophical discussion.
The man harbors illusions about establishing a new world order and has no faith in morals or righteousness.
He has amassed a group of followers on the dark web who carry out his orders. The show seems to be saying that the public is like sheep that can be herded by anyone who knows how to exploit their greed or insecurity.
The pace and novelty of Asur 2 work to its advantage, despite the approach’s hokeyness and excessive demand for suspension of disbelief.
It is an entertaining watch if the viewer is prepared to do that.
It also predicts that future conflicts for global dominance would be conducted through the manipulation or abuse of information on the internet.
More exciting than criminals marching with firearms is Naina’s finger flying over the keyboard as she avoids crises with just seconds to spare.
One man is in charge of directing the players in a joyful dance, making them appear tense at all times as is expected.
Barun Sobti is so disheveled that someone should have provided him with a comb and wet wipes, and Arshad Warsi looks appropriately gloomy.
The winner of this season is the youngster with an air of absolute coolness and a mysterious smile.
A hint of something else is also present.
Watch Asur 2 on Jio Cinema.
Review Score Asur 2: 5/3