‘The Delhi wedding season is back on our calendars! It is time for the city to witness the grandest of weddings, planned & presented by the supremely talented and well-connected duo of Made in Heaven- Karan and Tara.
The Amazon Prime show Made in Heaven’s first season was a sensational success. Despite much enthusiasm from fans, the producers took their time and released the next season three years later, this week. The show follows ‘Made in Heaven’, a wedding planning company, run by two best friends, Karan & Tara. Made in Heaven caters almost exclusively to the elite Delhi socialites, so all the arrangements are always lavish, and grandiosity is a big part of the show’s aesthetic.
Season two starts six months from where season one ended. Made in Heaven has a new makeshift office in a less impressive part of Delhi. They operate from the former residence of
Mr. Jahauri, the loan shark-turned-new investor from last season. Dissatisfied with the turnover of the company, Mr. Jahauri brings in an auditor who is his wife, Bulbul Jahauri. Made in Heaven also hires a new production head called Meher. Throughout the season, in addition to the weddings and their inevitable disaster management, the series also follows the lives of those who work at Made in Heaven. New employees, new storylines.
No wedding ever goes smoothly. There is always something amiss. The only question each time is the reason. This is what keeps the audience guessing. Are the parents not okay with the choice of their child (too late to be fair, you already called the wedding planners)? Or are the two people getting married unsure (this is very regular now; I always half expect one of the two to run away)?
Other than the problems with Made in Heaven’s clients, most of the plot is quite predictable. A lot of things you can figure out before the character in question figures it out. Here is a minor spoiler alert. When Adil Khanna’s father passes away, a lady comes to his funeral whom Adil’s uncle & mother seem to know. Adil, on the other hand, is completely unaware of the existence of this lady until he discovers his father has left shares of Khanna Steel to her. His uncle reveals that the lady is Gauri Khanna, Adil’s stepsister. If you didn’t see this coming from miles away, I regret to inform you that you have not watched enough Indian drama yet.
However, predictability doesn’t make the series any less enjoyable for the viewers. It’s fun to watch Adil Khanna trash his father for his adultery, while running a different rendition of the same infidelity in his own marriage and his child out of wedlock with his (ex) wife’s (ex) best friend. It is also fun to watch him refuse to give the allotted 10% shares to his stepsister despite having inherited everything else his father owned. Wealthy people are petty and hypocrites. Who knew?
Watching season two of Made in Heaven made me re-realize how tough it is to do anything or be anything outside of the norm in South Asian countries. Even the slightest digression causes chaos and by any chance, if you dare to reject the norms, you will be the outcast. The tragic thing here is that it is the people who are your closest kin who turn their backs on you first.
My favorite episode from season two was the one where Radhika Apte was the bride. Not only because of Radhika Apte herself but also because the episode itself was a representation of the identity crisis of a commoner. Since the series features exclusively the filthy rich, it is difficult to relate. For example, canceling the booking of an entire spa for your friends as a wedding surprise or complaining about the repetitive menu of a five-star hotel in France are not things regular people do.
Season two is as sensational as the first season, it has everything (and much more) that made the first one a cult favorite.