Why Sudip Sharma’s Kohrra 2 is a chilling warning about Punjab’s next generation

Ideally, one’s home should be their safe space but almost every young character in this show is struggling to survive in a house where questionable decisions made by the parents are inflicting serious scars upon the children. Much like Punjab is losing its youth as they struggle to find a future in the state, the show suggests that the next generation living here is struggling to survive even within their homes. The children here will grow up in emotionally crippled homes because their parents, who claim to care for them, are oblivious to their ill-thought out decisions.

Early on in the show, we see two little girls are trying to catch a glimpse of what’s going on around them as their bua (aunt) has been found dead in the barn of their house. A few scenes later, you watch them as they witness their father slapping his sister. And in the next few episodes, you realise that these two little girls have been living in a house where their father felt it was okay to physically chain people, whilst he had an affair; and their seemingly suffering mother, who hates her husband’s guts, has hired a killer to murder their bua. It would be near-impossible for these girls to not carry the trauma of this unkind childhood. So, if and when they grow up, would one blame the generational trauma inflicted upon them or the content they consume?

Anurag Arora plays Baljinder Atwal in Kohrra 2.

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And what of the newborn child of Amarpal Garundi (played by Barun Sobti) and his bhabhi (brother’s wife) Rajji? Amarpal is wrestling with the guilt of engaging in an immoral relationship after his pregnant bhabhi is invited into his home by his wife Silky. They once had an affair, and she carries the remnants of that memory in her. While the family seemingly tries to come together towards the end, one can only imagine how this child’s dysfunctional family dynamics will take a toll on them.

Even Preet’s (Pooja Bhamrrah) children, who will grow up without their mother, will always remember that the last time they saw her was when their father slapped her across the face. Preet also paid for the sins of her father, and these children too are set up to fail because of the cruel actions of their parents who repeatedly claim to look out for them.

Parminder Pal Kaur and Rannvijay Singha in Kohrra 2.

Sudip Sharma makes the parent-child relationship a central theme in Kohra 2 as he centers this season’s story around Mona Singh’s Dhanwant who is desperately trying to have another baby via IVF. As the episodes proceed, we find out that her teenage son Nihal (Kabir Nanda) died in a bike accident when her inebriated husband (Pradhuman Singh) decided to ride them home. Dhanwant has convinced herself that her husband is his murderer and the husband is drowning in that guilt. Like all the other parent characters on this show, it wasn’t their intention to harm their child but they ended up doing it anyway. But, unlike many other characters, these two are aware how their actions changed the course of their life but that is only because they have now incurred a loss that can never be recovered.

Preet’s husband Sam (Rannvijay Singha) understands the gravity of his misdeeds only after his wife dies, and so, he decides to prioritise his children over continuing his affair with the kids’ nanny, but his realisation comes a little too late. In the case of Preet’s mother, the idea to look within and inspect one’s actions as a parent never even strikes.

Kohrra understands the pulse of Punjab and as it ominously sets up the stories of these young characters, the show is hinting at the bleak future of the state, and its next generation.