Kohrra 2 review: As the kohrra slowly lifts in season 2, the paatal lok we inhabit becomes all the more visible!

Kohrra in its second season chooses to deepen the show’s legacy while expanding further into its dark and gritty world, instead of merely chasing its past success!

Sudip Sharma has emerged as one of streaming’s most defining creators, known for crime thrillers that go beyond just solving mysteries. His stories explore the social and political realities of the country, looking closely at how crime is often shaped by deep-rooted societal divisions. Through his dark and layered storytelling, he highlights the fault lines we continue to live with, ones we often ignore or pretend not to see, even when they exist right around us. With shows like Paatal Lok and Kohrra, Sharma reflects on a society that may have moved past colonial rule but still functions through similar patterns of divide and rule. His work examines how personal and collective trauma shapes people and their choices. With Kohrra Season 2, Sharma appears to be expanding further on these ideas, continuing his exploration of identity, trauma, and the realities we often overlook.

As we leave behind the intense, brute force of Balbir Singh (Suvinder Vicky) in Jagrana and move to Delarpura with the seemingly happy-go-lucky Amarpal Singh Garundi (Barun Sobti) who wants to leave his past behind for good, we find ourselves back in the same cop universe. This time, Garundi’s effortless charm attempts to find balance with the no-nonsense Dhanwant Kaur (Mona Singh) as the two investigate the mysterious murder of a woman whose body is discovered in a stable shed meant for keeping animals chained up.

There is always a certain anxiety when a series that has achieved critical and cultural success returns with a new season. The looming question remains of whether it can carry forward the legacy, or will the weight of expectations drag it down? Kohrra Season 2 proves there is little to worry about! On the surface, it retains the familiar structure with two cops in a small corner of Punjab unraveling patriarchy, regressive mindsets, and the darkness lurking beneath everyday lives. As always, the investigation forces the officers to confront fractures in their own personal lives, suggesting an overarching thematic thread that runs through each episode, hinted by the titles. Yet, it does so with a renewed sharpness.

The fact that this season centers on the murder of a woman and entry of a female cop as a commanding figure allows the narrative to engage more perceptively on the invisible lines of gender dynamics. While Garundi and Balbir in Season 1 shared an unspoken understanding almost like a brocode, here Garundi is paired with Dhanwant, someone he barely knows, and crucially, someone of the opposite gender. Their exchange opens up space to explore the inherent sexism that surfaces every now and then. 

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Dhanwant is fashioned in a similar mould to Balbir - guarded, emotionally restrained, and hardened by experience. Yet, as a woman, her attempt to operate within a system built for men lands differently. Her emotional suppression carries another layer, reflecting the double-edged reality faced by many women in the show that fight for their rights and authority while navigating a deeply patriarchal world. And Mona Singh never lets you miss Suvinder Vicky; instead, she creates a relatable connection with a character who consciously keeps everyone at arm’s length. In contrast stands Garundi - the easygoing charmer who, last season, unburdened himself from his family baggage but still hasn’t fully reckoned with the consequences of his actions. Like many of the men in the series, he assumes to exist in a world shaped by women yet continues to perform progressiveness without fully confronting its implications. As he is the kind of man who will always lend a woman a helping hand by offering water to a woman vomiting yet in the same breath claim that he is a man stuck in a world where women are his bosses, whether at home or in the office. And Barun Sobti leans into his effortless charm, making Garundi so inherently likeable that you find yourself wanting to forgive him, even when he is clearly in the wrong. 

Sharma, along with his long-time creative collaborators Gunjit Chopra, Diggi Sisodia, and Faizal Rehman, digs deeper into their pursuit of making the invisible visible. Venturing further into Punjab with yet another NRI murder at the centre, the season reveals how we continue to be shaped by invisible dividing lines. It lies in the story of Arun Kumar (Prayrak Mehta) from Jharkhand, who arrives in Dalerpura searching for his long-lost father, Rakesh Kumar - a bonded labourer who came there years ago or in that of the victim, Preet (Pooja Bamrrah), a woman who dared to speak her mind and stand up for what she deserves against her misogynistic husband and brother. Both narratives underline the cost of existing as minorities, becoming footnotes in their own stories and suffering the harshest consequences at the hands of society, much like Dhanwant’s husband Jagdish (Pradhuman Singh Mall), neglected and left alone to wither away.

By rooting these personal tragedies in a state still haunted by the trauma of Partition, the series expands its lens into a broader socio-political commentary on the country itself, reminding us that the fault lines of the past continue to define the present. As Dhanwant and Garundi chase the most obvious suspects of the case acting from their own blindsidedness and negligence is they highlight our comfort in running away from things than sitting down with the uncomfortable. So imagine if Season 1 was about confronting one’s truth and the ghosts of the past, Season 2 is about dealing with the consequences of that confrontation. It quietly reminds us that accountability and life eventually catches up with everyone. No one gets to walk away untouched, not even Garundi.

Yet, despite its new emotional direction, the season remains rooted in what it does best by being a dense psychological thriller that becomes accessible through its lively and lived-in humour. Sharma continues to prove that no matter how prepared we think we are for his brand of storytelling, the whydunnit behind the whodunnit will always land like a gut punch we never saw coming. And if that’s not innovation in a well-established universe without compromising on storytelling or commentary, then what is? If I’m to spend my time on a weekly investigative crime drama, I’d rather it be one that also dissects the soul of a nation. Something like Kohrra Season 2 - where Garundi and Aujla’s sharp-funny banter thrives, Jaideep Ahlawat’s blink-and-miss cameo lingers, an ensemble cast brings alive the lived-in reality of a place, and the crime thriller itself focuses more on what happens before and after the crime than on the crime, forcing me to sit uncomfortably with my own realizations.

Kohrra Season 2 is currently streaming on Netflix!

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