TOI:Naagin Review: filmy romance kill the thrill of watching Season 2

Temple bells, lightening and filmy romance are some of the typical elements that kill the thrill of watching Naagin this season. If you have seen the first two episodes, you would know what we mean. Just in case, you haven't, here's what happened in a nutshell.

Plot: The premiere episode of Naagin begins with a flashback, which is a recap of Season 1. And it takes the viewers to the point where Shivanya (Mouni Roy) tells Ritik (Arjun Bijlani) about her pregnancy. After three months of breaking the news to him, she delivers a baby girl (Shivangi) and since it's born in just three months, Shivanya doubts if her daughter is a naagin.

The plot then shifts to Songarh and there is a time leap of 24 years and 11 months. It begins with the day of Maha Shiv Kaal Ratri, a couple from naaglok spots Shivangi (Mouni Roy) in a market place and mistakes her for Shivanya. They come to meet her but soon enough Shivanya handles the situation. It's also discovered that Shivanya hasn't told her daughter Shivangi about her identity.

In the next scene, Shivanya goes to the temple and asks the priest about the fate of her daughter. He tells her that in order to stop her from becoming an ichchadhari naagin, she needs to get Shivangi married before she turns 25. Back home, Shivanya asks her relatives, with whom she lives, to suggest a match.

Meanwhile, Shivangi meets Rocky (Karanvir Bohra) at a car repair factory where she goes to deliver the cake. Later, he comes to the bakery to see her. This is followed by a scene in which the two are caught in a storm, and end up together in a jungle till the police arrives

It also turns out that Rocky's 'badi mummy' is none other than Sudha Chandran, who wishes to get him married to Ruchika (Adaa Khan). While Rocky has fallen in love with Shivangi and refuses to spend his life with the woman chosen by his grandmother, Shivangi meets Aditya and agrees to get married to him (for her mother's happiness).

Characters: Mouni Roy is excellent in her dual role of a mother and a daughter. She does justice to both the parts and gets the nuances right. Even though the justification of her not looking old as a mother is quite lame (she is a naagin after all), but that doesn't come as a distraction. Arjun Bijlani is seen briefly in the first episode and surely missed in this season as he is shown dead now. Karanvir Bohra plays the typical lover, and while we appreciate his perfect abs and looks, his character needs to be given more depth. Sudha Chandran and Adaa Khan, yet again, manage to impress with their witchy act. When mean looks good, there's hardly anything you mind.

Script and direction: The plot is unoriginal, and told interestingly only in bit and parts. What is majorly distracting is that Songarh doesn't look like a real place. The VFX effects, which were much appreciated in the first season, are a tad too much in this one, specially the fake snowflakes when Mouni and Karanvir are doing their little jig.

What fails to impress: A naagin delivering in three months without making headlines, constant interruption of the temple bells and lightening to add intensity, and filmy romance between Mouni Roy and Karanvir Bohra (they even break into a song every now and then). With quick leaps, the story in the first episode was gripping but the second episode was snail-paced. Also, we need to do something about the naagin track that plays constantly in the background. It is annoying to no end.

What could potentially work: If the plot picks up, and the pace of narration is consistent, the show might work again like it did in the first season