- Date of Release: 24 July 2025
- Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
- Language: Hindi
- Watch On: Amazon MX Player
Hunter (Season 2)
Introduction
In an early scene in the second season of the new Hindi show Hunter, you witness Vikram (Suniel Shetty) stopping a Nano car in the middle of a road, only to get it and trigger an elaborate car chase sequence. That little sequence told me everything about the job – it is a low budget show because why else would you use a Nano car in a chase sequence that operates slower than an autorickshaw. Secondly, the drama is heavily 90s coded wherein an action star randomly hops into the first available vehicle to trigger a chase sequence. And lastly, the makers are not entitled to stick to the grammer of the show by literally popping in humour in the middle of a tense car chase (that too with a character that is supposed to make you laugh with his ‘Arre Maari Anniversary Chhe’ Gujarati). I mean imagine Liam Neeson in the Taken (2008) randomly interacting with a quirky local who has no business in the main plot, just because the makers think it is appropriate for viewers to laugh also in an action thriller. Tch tch….such run of the mill stuff, I tell you!
Story & Screenplay
One of the reason why the first season of Hunter had (partly) worked was the unpredictable path that it wished to take. There were double-faced characters that didn’t allow predictability to set in even with a largely predictable plot, and whilst the first season wasn’t a knockout, it did provide some interesting moments that played out against recreated vintage ol’ songs. But the biggest letdown of the second season is the predictability its writing. The lines of morality are drawn even as you are introduced to the ‘Bhidu’-coded Salesman (You guessed it…Jackie Shroff) who kidnaps Pooja (Mazel Vyas), Vikram’s daughter. And it is basically upto Vikram to fulfill the tasks laid out by the Salesman before he could get to his daughter. And the tasks here also are immensely sketchy, that Vikram has to fulfill with the help of his guide (Anusha Dandekar).
The issue lies with the treatment of the drama wherein the writing never goes beyond the ordinary, often being a checklist of sorts, and playing out in isolation. Therefore when you witness Vikram and his Guide raiding a Government building, it is unintentionally laughable given how Vikram first distracts the guard with a tennis ball. There is a 90s coded reference to the drama here that the writing is unable to shake-off, almost resulting in a parody of sorts. But the worst bit remains on how the makers refuse to place their bets on this parody, whilst taking the drama far too seriously. So even as Vikram and his co-partner is caught, there always remains a ‘cool’ trick up his skeeve to escape, that almost felt repetitive and nauseating after a point. I mean even creativity felt bankrupt and on a notice period.
The brief moments of stability in the drama is in the form of the emotional core that the writers strive to achieve. A redemption arc for the protagonist who is on the quest for his daughter might be dated, but it still briefly binds the narrative together to an extent. Yet what lowers the impact of the narrative remains the characterization. At some point, you do expect the character of Anusha Dandekar to flip, but such remains the predictability of the drama in broad strokes, that the twist never arrives. Elsewhere, even the character of the antagonist remains a huge question. There is a revelation about his past that automatically pits him in a game of revenge with the protagonist, but when a ‘task’ is completed, he inexplicably bumps him off as opposed to starting his new journey.
There were several pointers wherein you did get a feeling that the drama could end right there, and that further damage could be salvaged. But the absurdity in the drama lies in the fillers that play a key role in extending the drama beyond its ‘intended’ runtime. It is almost as if this absurdity is sandwiched between the modes of predictability that the drama caters to, otherwise how else would you explain this 90s coded twist in the narrative – in a scene, you see Vikram rescuing his former ‘cop’ boss and replacing him with his ‘first copy’, a ridiculous plot point straight out of the Hindi film Animal (2023). It is literally laughable how the drama wishes to head towards the final act that is nothing short of a ‘hard landing’ (literally speaking).
There are scenes which will make you scratch your head – if the Salesman wanted Vikram dead or behind bars, why didn’t he do so in several chances that he did get? He could have alternately trapped Vikram and his former boss in isolation. In all of it, it also appeared like a second thought to get Swati (Barkha Bisht), Vikram’s wife in the mix through another kidnapping activity that also felt like it existed in isolation to the main plot. Hence, the two finales play out in tandem with a heavy dose of patchy action set-pieces that further expose the VFX quality of the show (which was abysmal).
<span;>And while one partly worked with our Anna (chaubees ghante chaukanna; hell I just realised a meta reference of this line on the show even as Vikram was an insomniac) donning a sledge hammer that was fun to witness but the immediately next set-piece involving much of the action taking place in mid-air, was a travesty. I mean when you have witnessed mid-air action set-pieces in films of the MI franchise or even The Heads Of State (2025), you can’t overlook the tackiness of the choregraphy in general (and I am not even getting at the patchy VFX here). A late subplot doubles up as a sneak peek into the third season, but if this is the standard of the writing and filmmaking then the third season mustn’t be greenlit at all. I am done with mediocrity!
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are in the commercial space and so you do know that you have signed up for atleast a couple of corny one-liners. The lines often threaten to lose out on the intended tone but they are controlled well by the actors (wherein the performances I shall get to in a minute). You remember how well the yesteryear’s numbers were recreated and fitted into the narrative of the first season? That magic is missing in the second season, wherein all the recreated numbers feel misplaced with the emotions. It doesn’t quite elevate the drama even as the BGM feels very generic at so many instances in the narrative. The cinematography is a mixed bag here. Some frames hold your attention well but the frames capturing the ‘standard’ action set-pieces are lacklustre and never give you that high, apart from that sledge hammer sequence which also was impacted by some poor editing.
The editing is choppy and never really presents the action set-pieces like a single take. I am still fine with that but when the cuts are made at the count of every ‘blow’ then it drastically would bring the impact of the scene down, which is the case here. Directors Prince Dhiman and Alok Batra keep things simple but that is the biggest drawback here. There is zero innovation that further fuels the predictability of the drama. The hold in a scene is wandering and the drama typically comes across as a regular run of the mill stuff because neither the situations nor the characters are quite interesting. In other words, the direction is also mid and it never elevates the written material at any instance (remember the opposite was true in Saiyaara (2025) wherein the direction elevated the otherwise standard written material).
Performances
The performances range from decent to good here and one of the reasons why the show remains watchable despite a few lags along the way. Barkha Bisht as Swati and Mazel Vyas as Pooja manage to hit all the right notes while conveying the emotional core of their respective characters. Anant Nag as Tomar and Pramod Pathak as Pathak have their moments to shine. Anusha Dandekar as the Guide is decent with her acting chops but she excels in a handful of combat sequences. Jackie Shroff as the Salesman is well within himself and it was a sight to witness simply because the character could so easily have been a caricature of sorts, but his understated approach adds some sort of control even as he mildly comes across as intimidating. Suniel Shetty as Vikram has literally turned the clock while refusing to age here. The man is almost 64 years old but still super fit, and bouncing like a man in his forties. It reminded me of his own film Phir Hera Pheri (2006) wherein the character of Akshay Kumar tells Rajpal Yadav on how he had Suniel Shetty undergo ‘plastic surgery’ and that his actual age (then) was 60 years old. Who would have thought that this notion would come true (no, not with plastic surgery but with pure fitness levels) wherein Suniel Shetty brings some much needed intensity and physicality to his character (and in some style).
Conclusion
Despite decent performances, the second season of Hunter is a campy run-of-the-mill thriller that suffers from a hard-landing (literally speaking too). It is a 90s coded actioner that is so generic that it doesn’t leave any impact, thereby adding the drama to the long list of mediocrity that I have been consuming lately. Available on Amazon MX Player.
