Made In Heaven S2: All That Glitters Is Not Gold But Dramatic

After a long wait, the second season of Made In Heaven is out on Amazon Prime. Created by Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti, the series features Sobhita Dhulipala and Arjun Mathur in leading roles as Tara Khanna and Karan Mehra, the co-founders of the titular wedding planning company. 

With Jim Sarbh, Kalki Koechlin, Shashank Arora and Shivani Raghuvanshi in supporting roles, the show brilliantly uses weddings (and all the events included within it) to paint a poignant picture of Delhi society today. In many episodes, the show exposes the pervasive nature of the patriarchy, documenting how the patriarchy in Indian weddings operates. However, the show isn't perfect, with its one characteristic flaw having continued from season 1. This review does have spoilers so, beware!

Made in Heaven: Season 2 vs. Season 1

In many ways, the second season lives up to the first. It picks up six months after season 1 has ended, and answers any questions we may have had about the ending of season 1 within the first episode of season 2 itself.

The cinematography is beautiful, with the extravagance of the weddings this season (and the drama) outdoing that of season 1. It’s clear that Made in Heaven (MIH) has star power- Arjun Mathur was nominated for an International Emmy- but the cast (both new and returning) take their performance to another level in season 2.

Made In Heaven’s second season drives home the point that ‘all that glitters is not gold’ through its exciting new storylines for both the main characters and the wedding party in each episode. However, it’s here that season 2 exposes its main flaw- like season 1, its attention on the weddings being planned by Tara and Karan dwindles. 

What About The Weddings? 

One of the more interesting things the show does is balance the drama of the wedding being planned with the drama of the main characters. In the first episode of the first season of the show, we see the chaos that the love marriage of an industrial heir to a journalist causes within their family and friends, nicely balanced with snippets from Tara and Karan’s personal lives. This happy balance slowly begins to dwindle by the end of the season, where in the last episode of season 1, Nutan Matthew’s story doesn’t get enough screen time as the earlier weddings would. Season 2 has the same problem but with an answer to it. 

Season 2 decreasing attention on the weddings being planned can be attributed to the fact that the company itself is divided when planning them. After Tara and Karan have a major falling out, the pair decide to work individually on weddings, as opposed to working together like they used to.

This leads to us seeing 2 weddings per episode, which meant that, more often than not, the wedding being planned would take a backseat to the drama taking place in the main characters' lives, and not vice versa. When it was the other way round was when Made In Heaven was at its best- and the finale of season 2 sees a return to a focus on the wedding being planned.

The second season of Made In Heaven is a delightful, binge-worthy watch. It’s filled with intriguing new characters and storylines and focuses on a different culture in each episode through its weddings. Through each new wedding planning, we, as the audience, get a glimpse at the diversity that exists within India, and, closer to home, the different family dynamics during a wedding. All in all, Made In Heaven season 2 is a must-watch.

Views expressed by the author are entirely their own.

Suggested Reading: Secrets, Love, Deceit: Made In Heaven 2 Hits Bullseye Again