Mamla Legal Hai 2 Review: Retains The Show's Winning Streak

Mamla Legal Hai 2 draws humour from its assorted characters, crafting quirky storylines inspired by newspaper headlines, and anchored by consistently strong performances, led by an ever-reliable Ravi Kishan, applauds Sreeju Sudhakaran.

The lovably flawed habitues of Patparganj district court return in the second season of Mamla Legal Hai, and the satire remains as biting as it is affectionate. The first season earned goodwill for its bittersweet, often comical exploration of a creaky yet persistent lower judiciary, and this follow-up builds on that foundation with quirkier courtroom situations and uniformly engaging performances.

The Plot of Mamla Legal Hai Season 2

The season opens with the shrewd Visheshwar Tyagi (Ravi Kishan) finally securing his long-awaited promotion as PDJ (Primary District Judge) of the Patparganj district court. True to form, however, his ascent is immediately undercut by a bungled oath-taking ceremony, certainly not a good start.

With Tyagi moving up the ladder, Sujata Negi (Nidhi Bisht) steps into his former chamber as an associate, where she finds herself in a running (and amusing) tussle with Mintu (Anjum Batra), both over the firm's nomenclature and their slowly evolving personal dynamic.

Meanwhile, the Harvard-educated Ananya Shroff (Naila Grrewal) continues to grapple with the moral compromises of the system she operates within. Her central case, against a deodorant brand, pits her against an old adversary, Nayana Arora (Kusha Kapila). Alongside her is Vishwas Pandey (Anant V Joshi), the ever-reliable Court Manager, whose feelings for Ananya may not be entirely platonic.

Finding Its Form (Again)

Like its predecessor, Season 2 takes a couple of episodes to settle into rhythm. But once it does, the show finds a confident groove. There's a distinct Nukkad-like texture to how it presents its ensemble -- characters feel colourful yet relatable, even when the situations veer into the delightfully absurd.

In an ecosystem where several The Viral Fever-adjacent shows have been criticised for romanticising flawed institutions, Mamla Legal Hai walks a more nuanced line. It acknowledges systemic loopholes and extracts humour from them, without outright endorsing complacency. At the same time, it stops short (unfortunately) of interrogating the deeper structural causes behind those flaws.

What it does romanticise, quite openly, are its people. Almost every central character is well-meaning, even when dabbling in moral grey zones. That generosity extends to figures like Nayana, and even a well-meaning character who is later revealed to be a conman.

The Mixed Bag Nature of Show's Comedic Tone

The writing team of Kunal Aneja and Syed Shadan continue to mine real-life headlines for episodic inspiration. In a country where reality often resembles Ripley's Believe It or Not, that approach yields plenty of comic potential.

The humour derived from these familiar yet unconventional situations mostly lands, even if some gags struggle. For instance, Ananya's client Banaspati, played by Ravi Kishan's fellow Bhojpuri superstar Dinesh Lal Yadav, is presented in a cartoonish light after a deodorant spray ruins his underarms.

But once you move past the initial joke of him confusing 'sexist' with 'sexiest,' the humour around the character begins to thin, despite the actor's total commitment to the absurdity of the role.

There are also moments where the humour feels as though it is diluting the gravity of the subject matter.

In the second episode, a male character is sexually harassed by his landlady. While he is visibly disturbed, the other characters treat it lightly, claiming the laws of the land are biased toward women.

This not only undermines his genuine distress but also trivialises the reality of women seeking justice in sexual assault cases. It is a strange paradox for a show that relies so heavily on real-world headlines.

Like with the first season, the writing shines brightest when it places characters in moral conundrums, pitting what is ethically right against what is 'right' for the benefit of the system. An interesting example involves a maid wanting to donate a kidney to her ailing employer. The show opts for a logical 'win-win' solution here, even as Ananya remains conflicted over the economic desperation driving the choice.

Ravi Kishan Continues to Excel

If there is one track that consistently delivers, it is Tyagi's. As the lawyer-turned-judge navigates both trivial bureaucratic headaches (which lock goes on which gate) and weightier moral questions (merits and demerits of capital punishment), his arc emerges as the most engaging.

Ravi Kishan is in terrific form here. He not only extracts humour from Tyagi's judicial naivete but also grounds him emotionally, particularly in quieter moments like that phone conversation in the finale. His track arguably contains the season's best writing, especially an episode centred around a high-stakes inspection that threatens to derail everything.

It's tempting to wish the series had focused more exclusively on him. But then, that would mean losing out on the evolving warm camaraderie between Mintu and Sujata, or Ananya's gradual, reluctant adaptation to the system, with the sly yet slightly timid Vishwas by her side.

The performances are all around good, which is expected when even the supporting cast is filled with some very fine talent like Brijendra Kala, Rajendra Gupta and Dibyendu Bhattacharya. Guest stars like Anand Tiwari and Gautam Rode also pop up, and they complement well with the whimsicalities of the narrative.

In conclusion, Mamla Legal Hai 2 comfortably sustains the show's winning streak. It draws humour from its assorted characters, crafting quirky storylines inspired by newspaper headlines, and anchored by consistently strong performances, led by an ever-reliable Ravi Kishan.

Mamla Legal Hai 2 streams on Netflix.

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