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In Netflix’s Jamtara Series scams and dramatic twists.
Released on September 23, 2022 at 5:29 PM IST.
The second instalment of Netflix’s criminal thriller Jamtara pushes deeper into the world of phishing and fraud with greater frauds, but ultimately fails to deliver as a satisfying viewing experience due to its many flaws.
The cybercrime show Jamtara 2 is reviewed, noting its larger and more creative frauds as well as various flaws.
There is a Sabka Number for Jamtara. When the pilot episode of Aayega aired, it stood out from the crowd. There wasn’t a polished web series about the phishing empire in India that was being run out of this obscure part of Jharkhand. Inevitably, it piqued the interest of the public. For the second season, the challenge was to keep viewers interested and present something fresh. The show lived up to expectations by introducing fresh ideas and layers to the narrative. However, the show still falls short of greatness, mostly due to sloppy writing and an audience-pleasing bias. Jamtara is the new Chambal for cybercriminals; for more on this, check out the season two trailer for Jamtara.
Remember that boys who seem like complete amateurs but can clear out your bank account with just a phone call run the show in Jamtara, the phishing and credit card fraud capital of India. Season 2 picks up directly after the conclusion of Season 1. In the next Assembly elections, Gudiya (Monika Pawar) is running against her abuser Brajesh Bhaan (Amit Sial). The boys of Jamtara are taking their “phishing business” to new heights while Sunny (Sparsh Srivastava) mends from his wounds.
Season 2 takes place in the midst of the demonetisation period, showcasing the ‘issues’ faced by scammers as a result of the unexpected step. As a result, the scammers start the second season behind the law and need to catch up and innovate, which sets up the season wonderfully. There are fresh characters and new, creative cons to fall for. Scammers frequently come up against people who are too knowledgeable for them to deceive, and this is something that the show underlines.
The terrain has shifted, and with it comes great opportunity. Jamtara’s worst flaw is that it tries too hard to be intelligent and comes out as pretentious. It’s lacking in nuance, much like most modern online series. The audience must have every point rammed into their throats. Having such little faith in the audience is, well, insulting. And then there’s the reiteration. One can only witness the same fundamental event so many times before realising that the scammers are only trying to trick their victims in a slightly different way, using a different pretext. After a while, it can become tedious.
That the show features more recent scams, with which most of us will be familiar via media coverage, is a plus. The use of the voice of a well-known game show presenter as a hook (hey, KBC!), the use of emotional blackmail with exam fees and an incorrect number (very creative), and so on. These are fun additions to the plot, but they don’t drive it.
Acting-wise, the show is mostly saved. The talent of Amit Sial seems to come easily to him. The actor is finding his footing in the streaming industry and improving with each new episode. Here, he follows up his previous hit, Maharani 2, with yet another successful effort. There are moments when Sparsh Srivastava’s performance seems restrained because of the difficulty of his character’s situation, but he pulls it off successfully. For a good portion of the show, Monika Pawar carries the load and excels. Like clockwork, Dibyendu Bhattacharya consistently delivers some of the show’s most memorable lines. Seema Pahwa, though, is the real show stopper. She’s a heavyweight politician, and she’s proven that she can make people laugh and scare them with equal ease.
The approach to demonetization and the new methods scammers develop to circumvent it presented in Jamtara 2 is intriguing. There are a few unexpected twists in that part of the show, but there are also some problems. It’s interesting and keeps you interested throughout, and there’s even a small payoff at the end, but it never rises above being a good movie.
Second instalment of the Jamtara series
Soumendra Padhi, the director
Involved actors include Sparsh Srivastava, Amit Sial, Monika Pawar, Anshumaan Pushkar, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Aksha Pardasany, and Seema Pahwa.