Masaba Masaba (Season 2), on Netflix
Masaba Masaba (Season 2) Review.: This is the show I woke up on a Saturday watching in my pajamas two years ago. Fashion, drama and female friendships – what was there not to like about Masaba Masaba Season 1? It seemed like someone had decided to bring the chick flick to Bollywood OTT content and I was in no mood to complain. Hence, when I started watching this season and the first person to appear on screen was Kartik Aryan playing a part-time gynecologist, I was as shocked as Masaba on screen. There was some confusion surrounding the birth of a child and everyone seemed to be fumbling, including Neena Gupta. Thanks to the writers – Sonam Nair, Nandini Gupta and Anupama Ramachandran – that this was just a bad dream. Soon Masaba, playing herself, wakes up with a start, dresses up for the day and takes us on a solid rollercoaster ride into the life of this messy fashion designer.
Masaba introduces a new collection to the world and we are immediately thrown into the hustle and bustle of the backstage before her fashion show. Unlike Masaba Masaba season 1, when we were introduced to her as an up and coming fashion designer, nervous and messy before the big event, she and her brand – House of Masaba – have grown. Everyone seems to be just as ready for the show to begin! The familiar faces from last season are here too. Dhairya Rana (played by Neil Bhoopalam), Masaba’s investor, is working up the courage to ask Masaba out on a dinner date, Gia (played by Rytasha Rathore), Masaba’s best friend, is busy scaring the sponsors off the stage, and Gehna (played by Nayan Shukla) is always at Masaba’s beck and call. Everyone loves the collection; Unfortunately, Masaba realizes that she is no longer the young and upcoming fashion designer and must make way for new age, unconventional fashion designers to take her place. It’s her time to climb the ladder of the fashion game in her industry. To do this, she must become the king of fashion and not invest her emotions in dating men. Neither of these goals are easy when she tries to curate a wedding outfit for a Masaba bride (whose groom swoons over Masaba!) and begins to fall for the support Ranaji brings with his presence in her life. Will Masaba achieve her high-end fashion goals? Also, will Masaba end up with Dhairya? The well-adjusted, dramatic finale hints at the possibility of a third season.
The most heartwarming thing about her life, albeit privileged and fancy, is that she makes mistakes, runs away from them and owns up to them at the same time. As the glitz and glamor of Masaba’s appearance and social media life take a backseat, an avocado-print nightgown-clad girl eats cake in bed with Gia on the latter’s 30th birthday. Kudos to the writers, Masaba’s character is always a stone’s throw away from a truly messy, independent woman in her thirties. One of my favorite things about Masaba’s character in this show is how in the most serious moments she turns into her younger self. Unfortunately, this switch is not consistent and I was left to wonder if it is intentional.
Neena Gupta, Masaba’s on-screen and off-screen mother, who has been looking for more work and has called Bollywood old age, gets upset during an interview and announces the revival of a groundbreaking popular TV show from her younger days, Fursat . The producers from the channel are all set to give it a go with a few new-age, regressive twists in the story. She also has to reunite with an old flame and co-star, Shekhar Mirza (played by Ram Kapoor), for this venture, but she wonders where the project is headed. Will her dream revival of Fursat ultimately be worth her time and creative capacity? This season of the show brings important conversations in its seven-episode package, from mental health and the importance of freezing one’s eggs to the lack of creative control for aging Bollywood stars and the treatment they have received.
Neena Gupta and Masaba bring back to the screen the mother-daughter dynamic that had won over the audience in the first season. Here, too, they seem to be constantly at odds with their generational ideas about sex, marriage and motherhood. In Masaba Masaba Season 2, their stories fill two different spaces within the same narrative, rarely crossing paths. While this reduces their shared screen time, it boosts the narrative and gives both characters a chance to grow in their respective lives without having to shadow each other. It’s still the small moments that count, like when Masaba comes home to her mother as she mourns the death of her mentor. Being both amazing actors, Masaba and Neena Gupta bring an openness to their respective roles that is both fresh and charming.
This season of the show was larger in scale than the previous one. There are minor cameos by industry superstars, unlike the last season which featured Farah Khan and Kiara Advani, making the show concentrate on the world-building and character sketches of each of the main characters. I am happy that Gehna is no longer a caricature and with the introduction of Kusha Kapila’s character of a heavily pregnant Nicole, an always-on-her-feet PR manager. It is towards the end of the show that I grew impatient. The Kashmir episode feels like an unplanned vacation in the middle of the narrative, and Masaba’s romantic life falls into the age-old rom-com groove. But if there is a second season of Masaba Masaba, I will again wake up on a Saturday morning and watch it. Watching this show is a fun, frivolous act of self-care, and I’m in no mood to complain about it! You can stream it now on Netflix.