Mithya Season 2 Review: Huma Qureshi's subpar psychological thriller relies too much on shock value

Mithya Season 2 will stream on Zee5 from November 1.

There is a new method of storytelling that has become common in the OTT space: shock first, explain later. Mithya: The Darker Chapter opens with Juhi Chaturvedi (Huma Qureshi) announcing—on what seems like Instagram live—that her book “Dhundh” is plagiarised from another author's work. The narrative then goes into flashback. We see the events that led to Juhi incriminating herself in a plagiarism charge.

In the second episode Juhi's father Anand Tyagi (Rajit Kapur) jumps from the terrace of a café in an apparent suicide attempt. Yet again, we go into flashback and see the events that caused him to self harm. This shock-flashback-explain method of storytelling gets stale real soon. Why go for gimmicky, attention-grabbing shock tactics when you can create intrigue and mystery in a linear, or at the very least, a semi-linear narrative?

Mithya Season 2: Plot

Rhea (played by an underwhelming Avantika Dassani) is still out to get her revenge. Having learnt that she is Anand Tyagi's daughter, she tries to gain his approval. Dassani’s dialogue delivery is completely off. It is monotonous and lacks voice modulation. Even the most intense dialogues are delivered with a straight face and a monotone.

Case in point: When Rhea meets her father, she tries to convince him that she isn't as bad as she seems and that she wasn’t kidnapping Yash, Juhi’s son but saving him from a dangerous situation. The pain of a child begging her parents for acceptance is absent.

Mithya Season 2: Performances

A new character, Amit Chaudhary (Naveen Kastura) is introduced. An IT engineer-turned-amateur writer accuses Juhi of plagiarizing his short story. He even serves her father a legal notice. Do amateur writers make enough money to sue a bestselling author with the stature of Anand Tyagi? In another scene, Tyagi offers Chaudhary hush money worth Rs 50 lakh!

Unless Tyagi has another source of income, he must prepare himself for an ED raid. Is it possible for best selling authors to make Rs 50 lakh given the current state of publishing? All this to say that for a show that is based in Darjeeling and has published authors as its protagonist, Mithya does little to offer insight into the many pitfalls of the publishing industry.

Mithya Season 2: Writing And Direction

It occurs to Juhi that Rhea, in all probability, has planted Amit to falsely accuse her of plagiarism since Juhi took Rhea to task for the same. Rhea has this knack of showing up random times. She walks in suddenly into a library inauguration. She walks into a police interrogation casually. She can give Shalini Passi a run for her money when it comes to making an entrance.

Also read: Anil Kapoor's next Prime Video release, 'Subedaar' begins filming

Mithya Season 2: What Works, What Doesn't

As for Huma Qureshi, the actress does justice to whatever little is offered to her but she cannot entirely make a bland psychological thriller interesting. The principal of the school, Mansion continues to side with Rhea, now one of the trustees after Rajguru’s death. There is also a subplot involving inspector Suman Yadav which falls entirely flat.

The psychological thriller also doubles up as a whodunit where the cops try to nab Rajguru's murderer. With underwhelming twists and turns, which are neither intriguing nor convincing, Mithya: The Darker Chapter is indeed a dark chapter in the series.
Star rating: 2 / 5 stars
Mithya season 2 is streaming now on ZEE5.