Hostages 2 review: Felt like being held hostage

Hostages Season 2

Director: Sachin Mamta Krishn

Cast: Ronit Bose Roy, Divya Dutta, Shweta Basu Prasad

Streaming on: Disney + Hotstar

Hostages (based on an Israeli show of the same name) season one had a unique premise and twists and turns; and ended on a cliffhanger. Hostages season 2 is much bigger and better. But it has the same problem of inconsistency as season 1. Sure, there are enough twists and turns to trigger your curiosity. But a sloppy screenplay stretches the drama too much. In the 12-episode long duration, there’s always a scope for re-editing. These days, crime dramas and thrillers have become more realistic (for the better), hence, you don’t have to bear the passive aggressive dialoguebaazi. The dialogue here though, except for a few gems, lacks impact.

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The twists are astonishing, no doubt. But the sloppy execution takes the adrenaline out of it. If you have been binge watching crime dramas and thrillers (there’s a plethora on OTT) you can expect what could happen next. The usual camera and editing techniques used to create suspense and tension aren’t handled effectively. Every episode has a new revelation but a cumulative duration of about six hours becomes a little too long a wait to see the end.

Hostages 2 has an ensemble cast and some good performances. Ronit Bose Roy as SP Prithvi Singh leads the pack alongside Divya Dutta’s clever Ayesha Khan and Shweta Basu Prasad’s fiery Shikha Pandey. An always dependable Amit Sial does full justice to his role of a confused, agitated nurse/compounder Peter. It was good to see veteran Kanwaljit Singh as the head of the police department. Dino Morea and Shibani Dandekar have extended cameos. Their scenes together have nothing else to offer than yawns.

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There are all the mandatory characters of a crime drama/thriller. There are quarrelling intelligence officers, angry cop versus sensible cop, a confused in distress, a loyal, emotional fool who would create panic and a manipulator. The seasoned actors mentioned above and a few new (relatively) faces put on performances, but they seem staged and individualistic rather than unified and organic. The director Sachin Mamta Krishn is only executing what’s written on paper. His direction never really appears to be aspiring or controlled.

The twists are plotted in every episode with the intention of keeping you hooked. But not knowing enough till almost the eighth (of total twelve) episode tests your patience. Felt like being held hostage to watch this one.