Sattamum Needhiyum 2 Series Review:
Truth. Throughout our lives, well-meaning people tell us to stick to the truth and stand by what is right. But that pursuit is rarely pure and never simple. It gets even more complicated in legal cases, where the lines between objective and subjective truth blur. Probably why director Balaji Selvaraj’s ZEE5 series, Sattamum Needhiyum, is titled so. Between what is legal and what is just, many stories reside, and the second season tells the story of dirty cops, not-so-dirty lawyers, and what happens when the two worlds collide.
Director: Balaji Selvaraj
Cast: Saravanan, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Kalloori Vinoth, Shivin, Kavitha Bharathy, Aaru Bala, Peter J Chandran
Like the first season, which I didn’t quite enjoy, Sattamum Needhiyum feels like a 2-hour film cut into six episodes. But this time around, the proceedings have much more finesse, and the engagement factor is on a much higher plane. Director Balaji Selvaraj and writer Pradeep Mariyan waste no time pulling us into the second season. A senior advocate walks into the court and proclaims no one should appear for the four cops accused of killing a fellow officer (Prem Kumar), who is the husband of Bar Council president Chandra (Varalaxmi Sarathkumar). The stakes are clear, and they are high. The legal system is already against the accused. But one of them has to stand up for the accused simply because they are bound to get a defence lawyer and, of course, the age-old diktat of ‘innocent until proven guilty.’ And that’s where our Sundaramoorthy (Saravanan) enters the fray.
What the makers of Sattamum Needhiyum 2 do really well is how they mount the legal portions of this investigative drama. The series avoids grandstanding throughout, which is a refreshing change of pace. Even though Chandra had every right to go bombastic with her arguments, the makers show immense restraint, giving us a solid procedural without bells and whistles. The series also understands the trickiness of the situation where the police find themselves torn between standing up for the accused cops and the dead cop.
It is a neat little conundrum, and they find a way out by having a Special Investigation Team, lead by officer Vidya (Shivin). These portions give us an impressive but simplistic insight into how such investigations are conducted. The edit patterns and narrative choices are engaging, as the crisscrossing between the police investigation and courtroom drama is finely staged. But the resolutions in this portion of the series are a downer, especially because they feel rushed. It doesn’t help that it paints the investigators as clueless amateurs. A little more thought in these portions would have made Sattamum Needhiyum 2 much more gripping. However, a couple of scenes are terrific, especially when Vidya tells an accused cop he knows better than anyone how the police wring out the truth. It is a telling statement on police brutality and how even the most hardened cops are afraid of being at the receiving end of what they have been dishing out in the name of policing.
Also, points to Balaji and team Sattamum Needhiyum for their inclusivity. They cast Shivin as Vidya, a conscientious cop, and never once allude to her real-life identity. They don’t bother explaining because… that’s how it should be. The series also doesn’t ask too much from its actors. Whether it's Saravanan and Varalaxmi, the five cops—Kavitha Bharathy, Kalloori Vinoth, Prem Kumar, Aaru Bala, Peter J Chandran—or even Shivin herself, they have very little to do. They do what they're asked, and they can’t be faulted for not being asked enough. A couple of narrative knots are also conveniently forgotten, or hidden under the guise of ‘We will explore it in Season 3.’
Nevertheless, the sequel is a marked improvement from the first season. The case is straightforward, there are no unnecessary twists and turns, and the short runtime helps the proceedings. The biggest grouse against the series is that it is too simple, too straightforward, and too serendipitous. But this series is like that random page-turner one buys before boarding a train. We might not think much about it, and the book isn’t designed to be groundbreaking or leave a lasting impact. If it surprises us here and there, the ride is worth it. Sattamum Needhiyum 2 is very much like that. It stays true to what it wants to be, and sometimes, that’s more than what we can hope for.