Mist spreads again to the stingy winters of Punjab as Netflix’s much acclaimed police procedural, Kohrra returns for its sophomore season. It is another chance for writer-director Sudip Sharma to delve into the complexities of Northern India, as he has been doing since the nerve-wracking survival thriller, NH10 (2015). There is an ease with which Sudip places his characters in the cultural milieu; his writing populates with a lived-in viscerality, whether it is the cyclical nature of violence that he explored in Paatal Lok’s first season, or the personal tragedies slipping in the investigation in Kohrra.
Primarily a screenwriter, Sudip takes on multiple responsibilities in Kohrra’s second outing as he is also the co-director, co-creator and co-producer. He carries a wave of sincerity around, listening intently as I ask him what these different roles mean to him. His response comes just as nonchalantly. “It is all an extension of the same thing,” he says, inviting a flurry of laughter across the chairs from actors Barun Sobti and Mona Singh.
Sudip Sharma talking with Barun Sobti and Mona Singh on the sets of ‘Kohrra’ Season 2
| Photo Credit:
Netflix
Sudip explains that everything begins at the writing stage for him. “Being a showrunner came as a by-product of writing, as I am already deeply involved with the story and would be the right person to execute it. Similarly, I took up directing with that aim of wanting to tell my stories my way,” he says.
This second season comes just a year after that of Paatal Lok, which is also essentially another police procedural coming from the mind of Sudip. How does he separate the two in his head without letting elements from one entering another? The writer-creator is quick to say that it has never happened. “For me, they are tonally different worlds. Paatal Lok is an investigation into the heart of a nation while Kohrra is like a character study which is a lot more personal. I see Kohrra more as a relationship drama,” says Sudip.
The last season of Paatal Lok extended the story of Hathriram Chaudhary (Jaideep Ahlawat) into a convincing arc. There was an attempt at finding novelty in the narrative while operating in a similar zone. A glimpse of that reinvention is seen even in the new season of Kohrra, as it touches familiar terrain with a renowned rigour. Sudip feels that mounting the follow-up is tougher and easier in equal measures.
“When something works, there are a dozen people telling you, ‘It worked because of this. This time around let’s do more of that’. That’s where things can go really wrong because all the reasons that they tell you why it worked are not true. One has to start working all over again, taking away all the baggage from the last season,” Sudip says.
(L to R) Mona Singh as Dhanwant Kaur, Barun Sobti as
ASI Amarpal Garundi in ‘Kohrra’ Season 2
| Photo Credit:
Netflix
A strong sense of similarity is felt amidst all the freshness in the new season, especially with the earthy presence of the beloved sub-inspector Amarpal Garundi, played with an easygoing charm by Barun Sobti. The actor feels that the authenticity in his performance comes from his belief in the writing. He recounts his surprised reaction when he was offered the role by Sudip in the first season.
“I asked him, ‘Why do you need me?’ I really loved the writing of the show. And the reason why I was not picking up much work for a long time was because there was no good writing coming my way,” he says. How did he embody the myriad layers of his character? “When the writing is good, you feel challenged and keep working on it the whole time. Discussing with the director helps and much of it is also owing to the camaraderie you share with your co-actor. So, honestly, it is not me,” Barun quips.
His co-actor, Mona Singh, plays Garundi’s new commanding officer, Dhanwant Kaur. Her bleak inner world is brought to the front with a glaring restraint by Mona. Like Barun, she also maintains, “Writing is the hero of the show.” However, what was different for Mona was the “intense workshops” that they went through before the shoot.
Mona Singh in ‘Kohrra’ Season 2
| Photo Credit:
Sourabh Paul/Netflix
“I have never experienced that before. Usually, before a show or a film, the directors just do a reading of scenes. That’s what I considered to be a workshop. I was never introduced to an acting coach before. I don’t come from any acting school. I have learnt everything on the go. So, the workshops really helped me getting into character,” she says.
Coming from a long experience of acting for television, Mona feels that working in films and OTT gives more room to explore depths of the craft. “You need to constantly reinvent with each project. There are also no pre-conceived notions of overselling an intense part, that you have to be loud in order to portray certain emotions. I understood while playing Dhanwant in Kohrra that less is more,” she says.
Less is more. That rings true even for the overall tone of the show, which doesn’t try to sensationalise its murder-mystery elements. Rather, there is an attempt to offer a nuanced exploration into the disintegration of human emotions that lead to fatal complexities. That restraint extends into the pacing, which is in no rush to reveal things — a relief in a world where declining attention spans have begun to shape storytelling choices. “If something is done well, everything else goes for a toss. If a story grabs your attention, no amount of Instagram reels or low attention spans is going to impact it,” opines Barun.
Sudip feels that the layered tone comes from his own personality and sense of aesthetics.
“It is the kind of cinema or television that I like and aspire to do. I cannot be flashy in my storytelling even if I wanted to,” he says and concludes, “It is also important to have faith in good storytelling. Even if attention spans are coming down, audiences will stick around seeing a good story. If you lose faith in that, then where do you stop?”
Korra season 2 will be released on Netflix on February 13
Published – January 29, 2026 03:45 pm IST
