The second season of Viu’s web series ‘Love, Lust and Confusion’ continues to delve deeper into the millennial’s dilemma of finding true love.
The story follows the life of upcoming author Poroma Sarkar (Tara Alisha Berry) who was seen in season taking a break from her life, shifting to Mumbai, sharing beds with the men she encountered and experimenting with her sexuality.
Kicking off a few months after the events of the first season, the second season showcases Poroma in a live-in relationship with poet Rahil Khan (Gaurav Chopra).
Poroma or Poro is haunted by strange dreams featuring drummer Johathan “Johnny” Vaz (Rajat Barmecha), after she had called off the engagement with her childhood sweetheart Rohan (Ankit Bathla).
Just as Poro plans to settle down with Rahil for good, the charming painter Abir (Shiv Pandit) enters her life, and she starts dreaming of kissing him (despite being in a relationship).
Things start going haywire, after PB (Swati Vatsa), Rahil’s gorgeous ex-wife, enters their life.
Amidst all this confusion, Poro finds support in her friend Momo (Mohini Shimpy), who continues to play a significant role in her life. Things get a little complicated between the two after Poro finds out that it was Momo who never wanted her to be with Johnny.
While coping with the insecurities of having Rahil’s ex-wife, with whom he eventually sleeps, Poro starts having feelings for Abir.
Poroma also confronts his evil exes and his former teacher while researching for the characters for her latest novel.
Just like the first season, the second season of ‘Love Lust and Confusion’ works wonders in terms of creating relatable characters that are not too over-the-top. One can often find such characters in real life.
The dialogues are natural, create a sense of situational humour, and the creators have done a good job of not adding laughter solely for the sake of it. The conversations between Poro and Momo or any other character in the series is usually a heavy mix of English and Hindi, which is how today’s urban population converses.
Meiyang Chang reprises his role of Poro’s uber-cool boss, Yudi, who lets her take a leave in the nick of time. He is in a relationship with Nikita and the duo decide to have a destination wedding.
A couple of songs playing in the background elevate the mood of this feel-good series that explores love in today’s day and age.
There is a certain level of maturity in all the performances, especially in that of the lead actress Tara, who plays a sweet yet bold character. She successfully walks a tightrope by sometimes underplaying Poro when needed, without making it seem annoying.
Gaurav Chopra never fails to impress portraying a Rumi-nated poet who continues to paint himself as the victim of the circumstances. The quarrel between him and Poro in the later episodes, stand out as examples of some good, nuanced performances.
His guilt of betraying Poro by sleeping with his ex-wife translates well on the screen where he is mostly shown acting with his eyes.
Shiv Pandit plays Abir with ease and innocence, entering Poro’s life out of nowhere and eventually turning out to be her childhood friend from school.
Mohini essays the role of Momo with much more charm as compared to the first season, continuing to give life lessons to her bestie.
Rajat Barmecha, who makes a brief appearance, plays the character of a drummer with some reservations, which could be intentional as he was dumped by Poro due to some misunderstandings.
The creators, Victor Banerjee and Neha Anand, have created a world with believable characters that are funny and emotional at the same time. Kudos to director Victor, who has managed to handle the complexity of these characters.
The setting, from Kolkata to Mumbai, doesn’t seem to change the mood of the storyline. Although, the Bengali lingos seem to seep into the characters’ dialogues as they step foot in Kolkata.
Overall, the series is fun to watch and successfully depicts the dilemma of today’s youth in finding true love. With a fresh setting, great performances, and neat writing, ‘Love, Lust and Confusion 2’ definitely deserves to be binge-watched.