Kohrra 2 review: Barun Sobti and Mona Singh's web series is not just a regular mystery thriller

Writer-director Sudip Sharma had opened up a new world when he created the procedural drama Kohrra in 2023. The web series, mostly in Punjabi, unusually showcased the state of Punjab, sans all the bonhomie and colour that films often associate the state with. Much like its plot, a murder mystery, the drama had muted colours, with heavy fog shrouding the lives of those involved in the case. Sharma returns with Kohrra season 2, with a new mystery and a new set of complications, but keeps the same aesthetics and mood of the first season. Just like the first season, a heavy fog remains on the lives of the police officers investigating the case, the identity of the killer, the victim’s family and societal prejudices.

Actor Barun Sobti returns as Assistant Sub-Inspector Garundi in season 2 of Kohrra, which shifts the story to Jagrana, a small town in Punjab. Garundi has a new wife and a new boss and has to maintain a fine balance between professional and personal life. As a woman is found dead in the barn of her brother’s home, Garundi and his boss, Assistant-Inspector Dhanwant Kaur (Mona Singh), are given charge of the case. As the two officer get cracking on the case, they have to also face demons of their own past and strike a balance between personal and professional at all times.

What’s the plot of Kohrra 2

When a woman (Pooja Bhamrrah) is found dead in her brother’s (Anurag Arora) barn, everyone is a suspect. Her NRI husband (Rannvijay Singha), a new possible love interest with whom she intended to start a dance studio and the brother himself. At the onset, the case seems like an open-and-shut case, with the cops finding bloodied footprints of the murderer all over the crime scene. But as Garundi and Dhanwant start investigating, the case becomes murky, with past issues of each suspect spilling out in the open. Dhanwant, who has been reappointed to her post and given charge of the case, is battling a dark past of her own. Garundi, newly married, wants to leave his past and start afresh with his wife, but the familial burden keeps pulling him down.

While the cops investigate the case, more murders pile up. Meanwhile, a young labourer from Jharkhand comes to the same town looking for his father, who had come to Jagrana town about twenty years ago as a labourer but has been missing for over a year. Dhanwant and her team have her hands full and pressure from the top, along with domestic issues of her own; the Sub-Inspector has a lot at stake and a lot to prove her worth.

What works and what doesn’t

Director Sudip Sharma, who also serves as a co-writer with Gunjit Chopra and Diggi Sisodia, keeps the template of the first season but makes this season darker. There, love defined the lives of each of the characters; here, it is the societal structure that sets the story. Primarily in Punjabi, the fog of mystery, of guilt and of societal norms hang heavy over the plot, making Kohrra 2 more compelling. The writing is solid, and one is hooked to the story from the first frame. The compelling plot is backed by powerful performances. While Suvinder Vicky had led the series in the first season, in Kohrra 2, it's Mona Singh and Barun Sobti who steer the narrative well.

Singh plays a troubled Dhanwant Kaur, who is a diligent officer but has too much burden of the past that tends to pull her back. It's a restraint perfromance and one in which Singh shines. Pradyuman Singh plays her alcoholic husband and delivers a fine performance.

Barun Sobti, a man who has been a star on television and someone who has reinvented himself in the OTT space, plays Garundi well. The character has now evolved but is conscious of his background. Sobti brings earnestness to his performance and makes it look effortless, making Garundi a very likeable man. His scenes with a constable called Aujla stand out for their natural chemistry and humour.

There is also a young actor, Prayrak Mehta, who plays Arun, a migrant worker from Jharkhand who comes to Punjab in search of his father. Mehta, a relatively new face, steals the show in the scenes he features in. Your heart goes out to his character, a desperate man looking for his father, whom he has never met and who is constantly failed by the system. Mehta’s track is important to the story and very well written. The young actor does justice to the writing, delivering a stunning performance, one that stays with you long after the show is over.

While the series, with its layered and dark story, is engaging, it does become a tad sluggish somewhere in the middle, when Garundi and Dhanwant are unable to crack the case and get tied down due to their personal issues.

However, the show picks up pace in the fifth and sixth (final) episodes, delaying the revelation of the killer till the end. It’s not something that you expect (which is a good thing) and one that makes you ponder over power dynamics and class divides that exist in our society.

Final verdict

Kohrra 2 is equally riveting as the first season, with stunning performances from its cast. It is layered and dark, with engaging subplots that seamlessly merge with the main story. Sharma, who had also created Paatal Lok 1 and 2, manages to elevate a mystery thriller into a commentary on societal privileges and prejudices. The result is a series that is compelling and one that stays with you for a long time.

Kohrra 2 is streaming on Netflix.