The real fayda (gain) from Fauda (the famous Israeli espionage drama on which Tandav is based) can be seen in Tandav 2’s second volume. I have yet to catch up with the originals, though I intend to, so I cannot compare or confirm how faithfully the story is adapted! So I thank the filmmakers for completing the story, but if another mission calls, we know from the last scene here that the hero, Kabir (Manav Vij) will be summoned anyway—for a new saga.

Yes, Kabir is very much on espionage duty, battling subversion as well as personal demons and angst. If he has now harmonized relations with his ex-wife (Sukhmani Sadana) and children and her new husband, as well as with Dr. Farah (Ekta Kaul) whom he had actually used emotionally for getting at a terrorist, he sees new pain here with the loss of two people extremely dear to him. The mission continues from Tanaav 2 early episodes (reviewed in September) and there is nothing new in the revelation of characters. It’s just that the villainy becomes more intense, and so does the anger and motivation of our agents.

An interesting character is of Pakistani anti-terrorist (!!) chief Shabbir Malik (Danish Hussain)’s misguided son, Zafar (Adil Zubair), who in the earlier volume, had aligned with mastermind Fareed Mir (Gaurav Chopra) also known as Al-Damishq. He now works for him clandestinely, even betraying his father and their organization.

The repercussions on our agents’ personal and family lives have been shown enough in Tanaav and Tanaav 2 Volume 1. This time too, we also sense them, along with the way Fareed’s family suffers terribly. Again, we get to see the horrendous side of misguided Kashmiris as they beat up and wreak havoc on our forces, almost stripping dedicated female agent Toshi (Sahiba Bali).

What makes this segment (of six episodes) compelling and superior to the earlier ones is the increasing potency of the emotional voltage besides just the action. We have the normal trope—a peace conference between India and Pakistan organized  in our country—where an explosion is going to vitiate the process, and how only the last minute sees the villains’ intentions nullified. But thankfully, the suspense leading up to the expected end isn’t stretched as there is greater focus on how Fareed is finally caught and annihilated.

Manav Vij continues in top fettle, and so does Gaurav Arora as his arch enemy, as well as that of India. Ekta Kaul is fantastic, and so is Junaid Khan as Faheed’s good brother Rajit Kapur, Shashank Arora, Swati Kapoor, Soni Razdan, Arslan Goni, Sukhmani Sadana, Danish Hussain, Sahiba Bali, Adil Zubair, Mir Sarwar, Satyadeep Misra and Kabir Bedi and all others shine in their respective roles.

Technically, the series has always been upscale and the direction, script and dialogues are taken a notch higher this time. Maybe that is why, unlike Season 1, Season 2 was split into two volumes.

Rating: ****

SonyLIV presents Applause Entertainment’s Tanaav 2  Produced by: Sameer Nair Created by: Avi Issacharoff & Lior Raz (the Israeli series Fauda),  Directed by: Sudhir Mishra & E. Niwas  Written by: Adhir Bhatt & Sudhir Mishra Music: Karel Antonin  Starring: Rajat Kapoor, Manav Vij, Kabir Bedi, Ekta Kaul, Sukhmani Sadana, Danish Husain, Mir Sarwar, Gaurav Arora, Shashank Arora, Satyadeep Mishra, Soni Razdan, Sahiba Bali, Udit Arora, Arslan Goni, Mikail Gandhi, Swati Kapoor, Junaid Khan & others

(Used with permission)