Anil Kapoor’s 24 (Season 2) is well into its third weekend and I must confess, the silence is a little disconcerting. While reviews abound of the continuing exploits of houseflies, Indian banshees (chudails, sillies!) and transwomen, 24 has stayed a tad bit under the radar. Which is disappointing, considering that the show is to Indian TV what lemon is to a perfectly bland spritzer.
Let me explain – the show in all of 6 episodes – has already spanned the whole spectrum of a deadly virus attack, a haunted agent, a dysfunctional family, a good-looking prime minister and a wife-beater. Could you be any further from the world of used-to’s on TV?
How Last Weekend Unfolded...
This weekend was particularly enthralling. If you’ve been following the series so far – and if you haven’t, this is an opportune time to have a go – the show’s poised on an interesting precipice.
Now we were told that Anil Kapoor’s Jai Singh Rathore was in rehab for alcohol addiction, after his wife died (in the last season). If you’re on your third weekend though, you can safely throw that piece of information out the window.
Jai has never looked fitter or bounced more agilely back into the game – fighting to help terror mastermind Roshan Sherchan escape from Central Jail, Bombay (a man directly responsible for his wife’s death in Season 1) and we haven’t been told why. Yes, you can see him collaborating on calls with a mole within the Anti-Terrorism Unit (ATU) – and Roshan’s brother Haroon – which must, by needs, amount to (gasp) treason. Yet, such is the efficacious charm of Mr Anil Kapoor, that you know you must wait before you hasten to hang him by the toenails.
Sacrifices and self-exile were Jai’s lot in Season 1, and you can rest assured that that’s where he’s headed this year too.
Anyhoo, an escape that stretched over the last couple of weekends finally reached its zenith when Jai managed to break Roshan out of prison – holding the superintendent hostage for good measure.
ATU in Mumbai, meanwhile, is constantly telling the PM and whoever will listen that they have no idea why Jai appears to have gone batshit crazy – although I suspect the new ATU chief Malik (played impressively by Sakshi Tanwar) knows more than she’s letting on.
Suffice to say, Anil Kapoor = bad is not a permissible equation in the 24 universe.
The virus – which Roshan’s brother Haroon had threatened to unleash upon Mumbai if his brother wasn’t freed – has been contained though. Kush, the boy who was a primary and direct carrier of the virus was found, effectively neutralising at least a part of the threat.
A Plot Device Borrowed From the Original
Meanwhile, all of this is played out with a rather interesting sub-plot involving Jai’s daughter, Kiran. Now, if you haven’t watched the American 24 yet, I suggest you hold your horses, because Kiran’s plot borrows rather heavily from Kim’s (Jack Bauer’s daughter in the original series). Now that’s not a problem, considering that this is an adaptation, but I found myself hissing stage directions to Kiran as she dodged her way out of an all-too-familiar sticky pie.
Kiran, played by a feisty Sapna Pabbi, is seen taking care of her neighbour’s daughter Mili – when she realises she’s walked into a landmine. Mili’s father is an abusive man (and a wife beater to boot), and her mother only just about manages to escape to coax Kiran to escort Mili away immediately. Kiran flees, taking Mili with her, who then inexplicably falls unconscious in the car.
Sunday’s episode ends on a cliffhanger with Jai hunched down in the car he’d escaped with Roshan Sherchan in, while police patrollers looking for the duo inch dangerously, tantalisingly close.
Six episodes in, I do believe 24’s in with a fighting chance. Far removed from the crest of bizarre-o Indian TV’s been riding lately, I know I’d like to be able to say: damned if Anil Kapoor hasn’t pulled it off again.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)