Like its title, Punjab nebulously creeps up on you in the new season of Kohrra. This is not the bhangra-dancing, balle-balle boisterousness that almost every depiction of the state has been weighed down with, but a Punjab that feels real and lived-in; where secrets lurk in the shadowy cul-de-sacs and conspiracies are hatched in dilapidated local bars. It is a Punjab where generational trauma is a byproduct of gender bias, and vice versa. A Punjab where humour resides not in the backslapping, jokey way we are accustomed to expecting, but arises out of everyday situations which may (or may not) naturally lend themselves to it.

Like in the first season, that came in three years ago and immediately distinguished itself in a cookie-cutter space as a murder mystery as well as a police procedural with a difference, Kohrra 2 starts off with a gruesome killing. However, creator Sudip Sharma, much like Season 1, doesn’t allow his narrative to be consumed by it. Placing the crime at its core, Kohrra 2 — in keeping with its DNA, established firmly in the first outing — peels back the layers, unravelling the socio-political circumstances that not only surround the murder, but are symptomatic of society at large. Murder here is a fallout of moral and social decay, with the inner lives of the characters — victims, predators, investigators, onlookers — being the focus.

Two important changes take place in the second season. First, Sharma — the man behind Paatal Lok, who, as a screenwriter, has succinctly explored the same terrain as Kohrra in Udta Punjab — turns director with this season, fellow debutant Faisal Rahman, for company.

The other is the entry of Mona Singh. The actor — on a purple patch with back-to-back eyeball grabbers like The Ba***ds of Bollywood, Happy Patel and Border 2 — plays sub-inspector Dhanwant Kaur, the cop in charge of the investigation in the murder of Preet Bajwa (Pooja Bhamrrah), a young woman found dead in the family barn. The suspects are plentiful — Preet’s misogynist brother (Anurag Arora), her estranged husband (Rannvijay Singha), an on-off boyfriend and, more tragically, a larger community that seems complicit both in terms of its silence and its untruths.

Assisting Dhanwant on the case in the fictional town of Dalerpura is ASI Amarpal Garundi (Barun Sobti), who returns from the first season. Garundi and Dhanwant’s personal lives — death, grief, secrets, frayed relationships, broken marriages — run parallely to their investigation of the case, lending layers to the narrative. A lot of Kohrra 2 may be dense in its telling, but it works in keeping the viewer invested and not alienated.

Over six episodes, Kohrra 2 — with Dhanwant and Garundi engaging in a race against time, but sticking to the show’s slow-burn format — drops a slew of red herrings. But the writing ensures that each of them is well earned and doesn’t feel exploitative at any point. The end doesn’t have the edgy feel of the first season, but Kohrra 2 ensures that its emotional wallop is more, leaving us with very little to demarcate between the victim and the perpetrator. This is a world of greys, much like the kohra that its name embodies.

Kohrra 2 is not always self serious. Humour pops up every now and then, in the most unexpected places, and then subtly pulls itself back. The Punjab we now know also makes an appearance, with Sukhbir’s ubiquitous Oh ho ho ho being used as the background beats of a chase sequence on foot. It makes you tap your feet and also brings on a smile.

The strength of Kohrra 2 — apart from its spot-on atmospherics — is in its performances. Mona Singh’s face is an effortless canvas of strength as well as pain and vulnerability, with Dhanwant easily emerging as the focal point of Season 2. Barun Sobti continues to show what a fine actor he is, inhabiting Garundi like second skin. The vast ensemble cast — some with lengthy roles, others a little brief — are essential cogs in the wheel that keeps the Kohrra 2 engine running... more furious than fast.

There is a moment in Episode 4 when a prominent actor, who has had nothing to do with the Kohrra universe so far, innocuously pops up. You watch the rest of the season thinking (and hoping) he will make an appearance again. He does not. Is this some kind of foreshadowing for Season 3? If it is, we are seated. Yet again.

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