Story:
Mithya follows an intense feud between a literature professor and her student that turns out to be a revenge war between two stepsisters. The story of the sequel to the 2022 psychological thriller begins after a few years from where it left off. After the murder of her husband Neil Adhikari (Parambrata Chatterjee), Juhi Adhikari (Huma Qureshi) moves on with her life, getting busy with her son and her career as an emerging novelist. However, the storm named Rhea Rajguru (Avantika Dassani) comes back to her life making it fraught with complexities.
Review:
The idea of saturating a psychological thriller with multiple intricacies, suspense, drama, and romance is the right vision. However, mixing it all without any rhyme or reason can be a recipe for disaster. The second installment of Mithya begins by showcasing Juhi getting recognised for her first-ever novel and simultaneously bagging a reputed job at Oxford University. As soon as she starts the meet and greet with her fans, a new face emerges at the event accusing her of plagiarism.
Amit Chaudhary (Naveen Kasturia) enters the protagonist’s life as a new blitz. Meanwhile, Rhea also comes back to Juhi’s life after being released from jail in Neil’s murder case (and that too without any explanation). She starts creating challenges in the lead actor and her family’s life. The thought of giving a sneak peek at a foreseen occurrence is a smart move by director, Kapil Sharma. But the progression of the story to that scene feels completely misaligned. This makes the viewing experience dull and confusing.
Huma is one of those actors, who dives into their role so well that it’s difficult to set the real and reel apart. She is also too quick to catch any geographical lingos or tonality. However, the Maharani star doesn’t do much other than rushing from one place to another. It’s sad to see her putting up a mediocre performance even after getting the majority of screen space. The newbie Avantika, who appeared quite unripe in the first season, seems to be getting a hang of her character and improving with each episode.
Rajit Kapur, portraying Anand Tyagi (Juhi’s father), does a decent job but nothing extraordinary. Sadly, the talented and charming Indraneil Sengupta gets underutilised as Vishal (Juhi’s friend and love interest). If provided more character arch, the 1920 actor would have made a difference to the stale story. In the official trailer, Naveen’s entry into the series created quite a buzz. But, his confused and overarching character brings clutter into a disoriented chronology.
On the other hand, Gangs of Wasseypur fame Anurita Jha brings freshness to the latest part. With the undersized screen space that she has been provided, the actor showcases her best as a new police officer in the town. Meanwhile, Rushad Rana, Anindita Bose, and Avantika Akerkar play their part well but that’s just about it. The most appealing part of the ZEE5 web series is the location and picturesque views that it has been shot in. However, it doesn’t compensate for the turbulent narrative.
Verdict:
Filmmaker Kapil Sharma’s frantic approach of translating the name of the show exactly on screen backfires drastically. As the show’s title suggests, the director tries his best to create illusions (Mithya) for a thrilling experience. However, it merely turns out to be a confusing experience for the viewers. This needlessly prolonged ordeal could’ve been avoided with the conclusion in the first installment.
