Definitely, Four More Shots Please!

And so is angst and heartbreak, love and loss, moments of joyous pride and extreme mortification, and all that which goes into defining and redefining a woman’s needs and wants. A bigger budget post the success of Season 1 means locations as exotic as Istanbul and Udaipur, but it’s their regular neighbourhood watering hole, Truck Bar, that is witness to the everyday highs and lows of the protagonists. Damini Rizvi Roy (Sayani Gupta), unceremoniously thrown out of the news portal she founded because of her decision to stand by the truth, is prepping to write a controversial, tell-all book; Anjana Menon (Kirti Kulhari) continues to power on in her job as a top-notch lawyer but faces sexism at work, an emptiness in her love life and an uncomfortable equation with her former husband; Umang Singh (Bani J) finds focus once more when she takes on the responsibility of physically and mentally healing her former girlfriend Samara; Siddhi Patel (Maanvi Gagroo) starts off being her usual goalless self, buried under the weight of expectation and prejudice, but comes into her own when she discovers her talent to go up on stage and make people laugh by laying bare stories from her own life. While the journeys of all the protagonists take a significant leap forward, it’s Siddhi who gets much more to play with, her transition from a babe in the woods to a woman who uses her so-called drawbacks to her advantage creating the biggest impression. Bani and Lisa Ray, who plays Samara, share great chemistry that comes through in the show’s intimate moments, acted and filmed organically. Both Sayani and Kirti, who did much of the heavy lifting in the first season, do well in bringing out the flaws in their characters, their moods and motivations driven by both head and heart, as it is for all of us. continues its refreshingly bold walk and talk, with the women conversing on everything from sexual kinks to body fluids, even as the show deep-dives into more serious issues like gender dynamics, polyamory and anti-natalism. Most of it is woven seamlessly into the show’s larger narrative, but a few instances — like a debate on nationalism vs patriotism set against the country’s current political climate — stick out like a sore thumb. No such complaints about the men though, whose screen time and presence may be driven by the actions and reactions of the women on the show, but who are integral to the plot. New entrants Prabal Punjabi as Amit and Samir Kochhar as Shashank do well in their parts, while Milind Soman as the boho-at-heart Aamir Warsi continues to be his dishy self, with or without a towel draped loosely around his waist.