The Night Manager Part 2 review: Anil Kapoor, Tillotama Shome's delicious performances elevate this middling remake

Director: Sandeep Modi

Cast: Aditya Roy Kapur, Anil Kapoor, Sobhita Dhulipala, Tillotama Shome

Where to watch: Disney+ Hotstar

Rating: 3 stars

The Night Manager has everything going for it. A great story adapted from John Le Carre’s bestseller, a precedent set by a mega successful British adaptation, a great star cast, and high production values. Yet, in the end, it ends up being less than the sum of its parts. The concluding part of Sandeep Modi’s Indian adaptation of The Night Manager released a day early on Thursday, and while the show kept me engaged, I wasn’t quite hooked. The performances saved the day though, elevating what otherwise would have been a pretty average offering.

The Night Manager Part 2 sees Shaan Sengupta (Aditya Roy Kapur) gain the confidence of arms dealer Shelly Rungta (Anil Kapoor), having infiltrated his operation in the first part. He grows closer to Shelly’s mistress Kaveri (Sobhita Dhulipala) and continues to invite suspicion from his associate Brijpal (Saswata Chatterjee). Unbeknownst to them, Shaan is working for the Indian intelligence, where Lipika Saikia (Tillotama Shome) plans to brig down Shelly’s empire. Will Shaan succeed in this cat and mouse game? That is what the three new episodes of the show follow.

The Night Manager is more gripping now that it is in its end game. The stakes are higher and the series moves quicker as compared to part 1. The three-hour-long episodes are pretty faithful to the Le Carre novel but do make deviations and changes in the plot. The good thing is that those deviations are never for the worse. Sadly, they are not really for the better either. They justexist, making the show sufficiently different from the British version, but not quite making it any better.

The performances take the cake, particularly the villainous turn of Anil Kapoor. In part 2, the veteran actor brings out Shelly’s rage and ferocity as the dangerousarms dealer finds himelf cornered. The facade of the polished family man gives way and the menacing criminal comes out. Hugh Lauriehad taken a more sedate approach in the British version but Anil Kapoor’s more direct approach pays off as well. The other noteworthy performance comes from Tillotama Shome. As a character that hardly sees much action, she emotes with her eyes beautifully and captures her character’s turbulence quite well.

Aditya Roy Kapur tries really hard but he does not have the screen presence or innate charm to pull off this role. His acting is up to the mark but he does not look believable as the charmer who can fool an international arms dealer. Comparisons with Tom Hiddleston (who played the role in the British version) are probably unfair but unavoidable. The contrast between how effortless Hiddleston was and how restrained Kapur is juts out.

Among the support cast, Sobhita Dhulipala does a fine job as well as the woman trapped in a prison partially of her own making. But the story does not give its actors much to do as it moves at a breakneck pace this time, compressing half the events of the book in three episodes.

That works well for the show because the pacing means the viewer cannot get bored. If there are loopholes and plot holes (which there are a few), you tend to forget them quickly becuase things move so quickly. The Night Manager has done a commendable job at bringing Le Carre’s world to the Indian context. Everything from the politics to the geopolitics has been localised quite well. And that is what makes the show more watchable than it ought to be.

There are enough drawbacks too, however. The show moves smoothly but nowhere does it make you feel for the characters or relate too much with what’s going on. You are a passive observer without ever caring too much for any of the protagonists. That sense of detachment means it does not click that well because the world, while recreated well, is still superficial. Perhaps that prevents it from being a truly great watch. Because like I said, the ingredients were all there. The recipe seems to have missed a few steps though.