The second season of the legal potboiler Illegal could never be accused of misleading its audience. Following the heroic exploits of advocate Niharika Singh (Neha Sharma), the Voot web series is filled with acknowledgements of its own love for contrivance.
Neeraj (Ankit Gupta), who was convicted of rape in the first season, warns that his story is only just beginning. Akshay (Akshay Oberoi), Niharika’s former boyfriend and now sworn enemy, taunts her: he notes that her life has been packed with happy coincidences from the start to the present.
The 2020 season saw Niharika switch sides from defence to prosecution and help convict Neeraj, even though he is her half-brother. Akshay also happened to be the son of Niharika’s sworn rival, the hotshot lawyer Janardhan Jaitley (Piyush Mishra). Delhi, where Illegal is set, appeared to be the size of the Greater Kailash I market.
The second season aims bigger but its horizons remain shrunken. A scam threatens to singe Delhi’s chief minister, a social media influencer is murdered, data mining is a concern. Except for a couple of new characters, the show tramps over old ground.
Janardhan, nicely described as a shark who spares only those who are harmless or not worthy of being devoured, has developed an obsession with ruining Niharika’s career. Akshay is forever running into Niharika (so much for Delhi’s urban sprawl).
Niharika remains an irritant in Akshay’s frosty relationship with his wife Devika (Parul Gulati), who annoys him further by joining the Jaitley family firm. Niharika’s business partner Puneet (Satyadeep Misra) is seeing Niharika’s roommate Sue (Kriti Vij) – an excuse to create scenes around Puneet, who has little to do in the second season.
The show has a new set of creators. The story is by Advaita Kala and Abhijeet Despande. Kala has written the barely legal or credible screenplay, while Ashwini Chaudhry directs eight episodes oozing with more conspiracies than a dish of pao bhaji at a roadside stall is laden with butter.
Despite the change of guard, the show continues in the same hyperbolic vein. The new season benefits from Neha Sharma’s enthusiasm, Akshay Oberoi’s bursts of self-loathing, and Satyadeep Misra’s underplayed loyalist.
Tanuj Virwani, as Niharika’s new boyfriend Raghav, provides a welcome addition of frisson. Achint Kaur, as the overdressed and overwrought Delhi Chief Minister, is memorable for reasons most likely unintended.
