Picking up exactly where season one left off, Season 2 of Mujhe Rang De finds Shikhar and Agastya navigating life after their mutual admission of love. After finishing all 7 episodes, which each last about 30-35 minutes, I felt this was a legitimate continuation of the previous story rather than a mere cash grab. The series provides actual insight into the reasons behind Shikhar’s cold and closed-off nature by exploring his past, while also documenting the couple’s growth together. All the characters from season one return, including their mothers and best friend Meera, but the introduction of Tarun as a major new addition pushes the narrative in a fresh direction.
A full year has passed since Shikhar and Agastya moved in together, and their lives have settled into a predictable rhythm, even including a new boyfriend for Meera. While Shikhar appears satisfied with their life, Agastya’s persistent insecurity is becoming a major source of friction, leaving Shikhar frustrated as he struggles to prove his commitment. Everything changes when Shikhar unexpectedly encounters Tarun at a shop. Through flashbacks distributed throughout every episode, we learn that Tarun was Shikhar’s first love—his university art teacher. Although Shikhar was deeply in love, Tarun’s own sexuality was uncertain; despite being somewhat of a couple, Tarun abruptly disappeared and eventually married a woman. This heartbreak is the source of Shikhar’s bitterness regarding love, explaining the cold, distant persona he has maintained since season one and his tendency to sleep around rather than allow emotional intimacy. This reunion only heightens Agastya’s insecurity, yet in a strange attempt to accept whatever fate brings, Agastya invites Tarun to use their apartment as an art studio, believing that if Shikhar and Tarun are destined to reconnect, it will happen naturally. In an unexpected twist, Tarun begins to develop feelings for Agastya, who remains totally unaware. When Shikhar travels to London for an art exhibition, a phone call leads Agastya to believe Shikhar is out with someone else, causing him immense emotional distress. Compounded by his mother’s health scare, Agastya gives in to a moment of weakness and sleeps with Tarun. After coming clean to Shikhar immediately afterward, the couple is left uncertain of how to proceed. As expected, they sit down to have a mature conversation, during which Shikhar realizes he must make a genuine effort to help Agastya feel secure. Alongside a subplot involving Meera’s lack of trust in her own boyfriend, Agastya and Shikhar work to reconcile her relationship while simultaneously finding their own way back to one another. Ultimately, Tarun realizes he must stop inserting himself into their relationship.
The writing is strong this season, offering plenty of relatable content through a high volume of activity. However, this abundance of plot leads to a very talky show, with episode after episode being dense with dialogue and conversation. While the love between Agastya and Shikhar is clear, they often read more like roommates than an actual couple; there is basically zero physical intimacy shown between them, and they barely even share a kiss until near the end. In my opinion, including a few scenes that actually depicted them as a physically intimate couple would have gone a long way. On the other hand, the show does a fantastic job of illustrating how a relationship can be quietly broken by the smallest things. It weaves together real situations like insecurity, emotional distance from a partner, life becoming a routine, feeling taken for granted, avoiding honest communication to dodge conflict, and old flames resurfacing, though this density also contributes to the show leaning more into angst than actual love. Every actor brings their A game again this season, but Tarun stands out to me through both his performance and his character. As a viewer, you are never quite sure if he is being sincere or quietly trying to manipulate things between the couple. I personally connected with his backstory involving not being able to come out openly years ago and having to marry a woman instead, which broke Shikhar’s heart in the process. He might have handled that situation better, but I get where he was coming from. Now that he is back and making moves toward Agastya, it left me feeling like there might genuinely be two sides to who he is.
I had my doubts about how they would conclude the story, given that justifying Agastya cheating on Shikhar is a difficult task. However, in a mirroring twist, Shikhar realizes that his own failure to fully connect and open up to Agastya essentially set the stage for this betrayal. He was aware of Tarun’s identity the entire time, a realization that felt entirely logical to me. Even with that logic, the execution felt somewhat staged rather than reaching the level of raw, heartfelt emotion it deserved. To make us fully believe in their love story, Agastya and Shikhar need more heat and a sense of genuine passion and chemistry. While it remains a solid show, there is definitely room to take it further. (7/10)
