Breathe: Into the Shadows review: Unflinchingly intense conflict of the good and evil

What: Abhishek Bachchan excels in a bold pulse riser that intoxicatingly infuses the viewer into a thrilling morality debate.

Breathe: Into the Shadows synopsis

A 6-year old Siya Sabharwal (Ivana Kaur) is kidnapped by a mysterious masked man, who demands an unusual ransom. To save his daughter, Dr. Avinash Sabharwal (Abhishek Bachchan) must kill someone! Meanwhile, Kabir Sawant (Amit Sadh) who is coping with his PTSD gets transferred to Delhi Crime branch. Kabir is given charge of the investigation but things are way different from what meets the naked eye.

Breathe: Into the Shadows review

The second season created and directed by Mayank Sharma on a story by him and Vikram Tuli, further steers the original concept with mythological and philosophical overtones on evil, human sins and nature. The screenplay by Bhavani Iyer, Vikram Tuli and Mayank Sharma in the second season penetrates further and explores the ‘third’ human in us.

The series in a way echoes the understanding of evil from Ramayana and Buddhism.

Chillingly dwelling deeper into the study of the good, bad and evil human nature on different people under different circumstances, the 12-episode series wastes no time and is bang on target.

With the kidnapping of the medical student Gayatri Mishra (Resham Shrivardhan) followed by the kidnapping of Siya that triggers the debate on morality, crime, humanity, the evil inside and outside.

Performances

Abhishek Bachchan’s is superbly nuanced.

Nithya Menen as Abha Sabharwal is fantastic and adds tremendous emotional value.

Ivana Kaur as Siya Sabharwal is cuteness redefined.

Amit Sadh excels as Kabir Sawant.

Hrishikesh Joshi as Prakash Kamble is there again as the trusted assistant of Kabir Sawant.

Shrikant Verma as Jaiprakash is a pleasant add on and it’s such a delight.

There is an interesting twist in the character of Saiyami Kher as Shirley.

Notable contribution comes from Plabita Borthakur as Meghna Verma who makes her presence felt.

Resham Shrivardhan as Gayatri Mishra leaves an impression.

Shradha Kaul as Zeba Rizvi is quite an interesting development and the actress gets into the skin with natural ease.

Technical

Alokananda Dasgupta and Karan Kulkarni’s music again does the required trick and it stays with you.

S. Bharathwaaj’s cinematography is exceptional. Sumeet Kotian’s editing is smooth. 

Bottomline

Breathe: Into the Shadows the second season of Amazon Prime Video thumping success Breathe gets more mass appealing in the cat and mouse format and more penetrating in its debate on good, evil, humanity, sin, crime and morality with stunning acts.