The concept of the season in a TV show is inharently american. The british shows had a similar concept called series but was not all Always Timely. American Shows’ Seasons Followed a Pattern Like Clockwork. Indian shows released on continuity. Seasonal Breaks Were Unheard of. Then Ott Arrived in the Late 2010s and Changed the Game. ,Also read: Kiran Rao Says Indian Ott Has Seen ‘a Bubble Burst’: There was a golden age, but I am not sure where it goes from here,
As Years Passed, The First Prestige Shows Returned with Season 2, and the house of cards collapsed (no pun intended). Indian Streaming Had a Season 2 Problem (Remember Sacred Games?) Year after Year, TentPole Shows Lost their way as the subsequent seasons failed to match the Quality of the time. But now, post-pandemic, a time have come when Indian storytellers are finalized getting the hang of this format, perfecting the second season. Well, almost!
The Season 2 Problem
Sacred Games was one of the first big web series from India. Starring saif ali khan and nawazuddin siddiqui, it was netflix’s first India original. The first series – Helmed by Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane – was labelled the best Indian tv show evr. In 2019, the second season Arrived, and the critics were aghast. Most agreed that the show wasn Bollywood but was far from the lofty standards set by the first season.
Vikramaditya Motwane, One of the Directors, Said, “I would have liked to have a full closure Around the entrener thing, a little bit more. I think season 2 was a bit rushed in terms of things from all sides. Thos are the teeiling pains that you have been we have to have a second season within 12 months of the first season. That is the format. I know where they do it even if i am not complete in agreement with the entrere process. “
Time, Everyone Felt, was the Factor that played against Sacred Games, as it Did Against a Few Other Early Web Series. In Trying to Replicate America’s Annual Release Formula, Things Were Getting Rushed, and Hence, The Quality Was Being Compromised.
How the Pandemic Saved Indian Ott
Indian streaming was providing quality content even before the Pandemic, but few shows ware calling people back. The covid-19 pandemic solved that problem inadvertent. As Shoots Stopped and the World Stood Still, Writers did what they knew best – Write. Scripts were fin-tied and rewritten to perfection. Streaming Platforms Gave Creators More Time, and the Makers used that time to ensure quality.
The second season of mirzapur was seen as an aberration. It Arrived Two Years after Season 1 and, in many ways, was an improvement. But Soon, it is a pattern. Panchayat, The Family Man, Delhi Crime, Rockt Boys, and Gullak, All Managed to Give Better Second SEASONS. Almost all took their sweet time to Arrive. The creators now knew that time was their ally, so season breaks became longer.
The road ahead
No show Perhaps Examplifies The Second Season Reversal on Indian Ott Quite Like Paatal Lok. The first season was a self-contained story, Regarded as one of India’s finest passes of long-form storytelling. The second season surpassed it somehow. Was the era of prestige franchises final here? It is perhaps too song to say, but one thing should be noted: some platforms have begun to get it right. Prime Video has LED this with successful second seasons of not just Paatal Lok but also mirzapur, Hostel Daze, Bandish Bandits, The Family Man, And Mumbai Diaries. Sonyliv has followed Suit with Rockt Boys and Gullak, Among others.
There are still times when second seasons do not match up to the fines of season 1, with made in heaven and scam being good examples. But that can always be excised for an individual show straying than a larger pattern.
Filmmmakers Say that Since Streaming Content is Still new to Indian Storylling, it is all a trial -and-earrr method involving a certain amount of unlearning. Pushkar, who has created the critically acclaimed suzhal with wife gayatri, say, “long-form storylling is something is something new to all of us. We are still trying to get the cadence of everything Are used to a certain structure in cinema, and now we have to unlearn that and learn a new way of everything. “
