Maamla Legal Hai 2 Review: Ravi Kishan Anchors A Light-Hearted Courtroom Drama With A Dhurandhar 2 Easter Egg

Maamla Legal Hai's new season is here and the show is slowly building its audience in the crowded content era. It may be a far cry from the ease of Friends, the mockery of The Office, or even the slow novelty once Panchayat enjoyed, but the show gets you to invest in itself as budding ensemble comedy.

Maamla Legal Hai, a courtroom drama set in East Delhi's Patparganj District Court, opts for a satirical approach to cases based on real-life incidents that made headlines. With satire, a gradual dosage of gravity keep things real in real India.

The show picks up from where it left off. Now, VD Tyagi, Ravi Kishan's ambitious and semi-corrupt idealist, is set to leave vakalat for the judge's chair. His troubles begin the moment he takes the oath as the principal district judge of the Patparganj District Court: there's reasonable doubt over his intent after he becomes judge. The judge is judged for smiling at his colleagues from his Bar Association president days.

Judge Ghosh, who suffers from 'Judge-itis', continues to make life difficult for Tyagi. "A judge is always on trial," one of his fellow judges with more experience cautions Tyagi.

Tyagi is now the big leagues but he misses being a lawyer. To move up in a profession, you sometimes have to lose out on things you loved and enjoyed doing the most. He wants to make a statement with a bold policy after assuming the judge's chair, but gets stuck in everyday administrational tasks. Turns out these tasks are not that trivial after all.

Pro bono champion and Harvard return Ananya Shroff (Naila Grrewal) is challenged by Naina Arora (Kusha Kapila) by her kindergarten rival. The two fight over clients, one of them is a certain Banaspati ji, played by the wacky Nirahua, who has burnt his underarms from overusing a deodorant by a certain brand.

Banaspati may be a small towner, but he is no country bumpkin. If the deoderant is failing to get him into women's good books, another reason for suing the brand, he is sure he will buy a bride from the compensation after the win. Ananya may be conflicted about representing Banaspati, who also believes "sexist" is "sexiest", but she doesn't her client midway.

We almost get a cat fight between Ananya and Naina and fortunately get a united front that knocks better sense into a 16-year-old criminal-in-the-making at a juvenile home dreaming of going to Tihar Jail and become a real mard.

"Ek ladka aur ek ladki kabhi dost nahi ho sakte" is a riddle that Ananya and Vishwas (Anant V Joshi) are trying to solve since season one. Will we get a clear answer if they come back for another season?

After Tyagi's exit as the chamber head, the race is between Mintu (Anjum Batra) and Sujata (Nidhi Bisht). One-upmanship drives their relationship until the matters of the heart are revealed.

If you keep your eyes peeled, you just might notice a Dhurandhar 2 easter egg. Hint: It is an actor in a key role.

Munshiji continues to be the conscience keeper of the chamber who guides fellow lawyers that true justice is actually "absence of injustice". Bar Association's newbie lawyers Law and Order are given more to do, both in terms of screen space and dialogues.

Besides being judged, judges also face BP issues from case stress. Cops are scammed, what qualifies as an 'act of god', can a man not be harassed, and can a judge live with the "weight" of sealing someone's fate, Maamla Legal Hai 2 keeps at it.

There is also a lovely Dibyenndu Bhattacharya who spins magic as a recurring cast member of Maamla Legal Hai 2. It's always a delight to see him play characters who have more to them than meets the eye.

Watch out for the Ajay Devgn lookalike who is an e-rickshaw driver playing his "romantic sad song collection" as DJ Diljala and that Kabir Singh/ Arjun Reddy reference.

Also Read | Maamla Legal Hai Season 2 Trailer: Ravi Kishan Promises Drama As Patparganj Court's New Judge