Rahul Desai
The big-picture energy of The Broken News 2 is striking. Its cultural gaze and politics feel more pointed than the first season. The framework of two warring Hindi-language news channels and its journalists remains the same
An electoral bonds scam is ignored by the mainstream channels. Tech billionaires buy news corporations to fuel their nexus with ruling and opposition parties. Ethical editor-in-chiefs struggle to rein in proteges who fight state-sponsored lies with trigger-happy digital truths.
I like that a portrait of new-age journalism isn’t coy about its awareness. It has opinions, even if it softens them by scolding both sides – liberal and conservative media, citizens and the leaders they elect – and amplifying the failing health of the fourth estate.
In its pursuit to examine the TV medium, the series ends up replicating its excesses. A little attention to detail might have gone a long way, but instead it chooses to inherit the stylistic aesthetics of 24-hour news channels.
The production value is almost the same: Some of the staging – particularly the rare outdoor scenes in cars or on penthouse balconies – is replete with green-screen backgrounds and tacky effects. A prison sequence looks like a crime reconstruction episode.
It’s like watching Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma playing T20 cricket in one-day internationals and ODI innings in T20 games. We know the consequences: No meaningful titles – streaming or otherwise. But the internet will keep breaking.