Kohrra Season 2: A Haunting Dive into Punjab’s Shadows

Kohrra Season 2, the sophomore installment of Netflix’s Punjabi crime thriller, builds masterfully on its predecessor’s fog-shrouded atmosphere, delivering a taut six-episode arc that intertwines a brutal murder investigation with unflinching social commentary. Directed by Sudip Sharma and Faisal Rahman, and created by Sharma alongside Gunjit Chopra and Diggi Sisodia, this season shifts to the village of Dalerpura, where the discovery of an NRI woman’s body in a barn unravels layers of familial betrayal, patriarchal entrapment, and systemic exploitation.

Clocking in at around 45 minutes per episode, it’s a crisp, slow-burn narrative that prioritizes emotional depth and moral ambiguity over procedural flash, resulting in a series that’s as poignant as it is unsettling. While it misses the mentor-protégé dynamic of Season 1’s Balbir Singh, it compensates with richer explorations of grief, inheritance, and societal rot, earning it a solid 4/5 for its bold thematic ambition and stellar ensemble.

What elevates Kohrra Season 2 beyond a standard whodunit is its courageous portrayal of bonded labor in Punjab—a rampant, under-discussed scourge where impoverished migrants from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand are lured with false promises, only to be chained, exploited, and trapped by powerful landlords who operate like untouchable goons.

The series doesn’t shy away from this grim reality; midway through, a devastating warehouse fire exposes chained workers burned alive in inhuman conditions, transforming the murder mystery into a damning indictment of industrial exploitation and class-based indifference. By weaving this into the core plot without sensationalism, the show highlights how these “invisible” laborers treated not as humans but as disposable props in Punjab‘s economic machine. They face zero recourse from a broken system that shields the elite.

It’s a brave, unflinching move that shatters the romanticized image of Punjab’s mustard fields, replacing it with the grey smoke of chimneys and rusted godowns, forcing viewers to confront the cycle of poverty and power that no one dares discuss.

The performances across the board are nothing short of amazing, with each actor infusing their role with nuanced authenticity that makes the characters feel lived-in and profoundly human.

1. Dhanwant Kaur (Mona Singh): As the grieving sub-inspector leading the investigation, Singh delivers a career-defining performance that’s quiet, restrained, and explosively vulnerable. Balancing professional stoicism with personal torment—haunted by her son’s death in a bike accident and a crumbling marriage to an alcoholic husband—she commands every scene with a mask of control that cracks in subtle, heartbreaking ways, like revisiting the accident site or recalling her son’s love for Lohri. Singh’s portrayal humanizes the archetype of the tough female cop, making Kaur’s compartmentalized pain feel raw and relatable, anchoring the series emotionally.

2. Amarpal Garundi (Barun Sobti): Returning from Season 1, Sobti evolves his impulsive ASI into a more mature, shadowed figure, transferred to Dalerpura and grappling with past baggage while navigating new family tensions. His razor-sharp wit and crooked smile provide rare comic relief, but Sobti shines in quieter moments of restraint, thinking before reacting and carrying the weight of unresolved trauma like a shadow. The chemistry with Singh’s Kaur builds organically from professional distance to tentative camaraderie, adding depth to his arc and proving Sobti’s range in outgrowing Season 1’s impulsiveness.

3. Preet Bajwa (Pooja Bhamrrah): As the murdered NRI victim, Bhamrrah brings tragic vitality to a character seen mostly in flashbacks and reels. Portraying a woman estranged from her US-based husband, seeking divorce while creating Instagram dance content with a local influencer, she embodies the clash of modern aspirations and patriarchal constraints, making Preet’s fate feel like a casualty of inherited exploitation and family secrets. Bhamrrah’s performance lingers, turning Preet into more than a plot device—a symbol of unfulfilled agency.

4. Baljinder Atwal (Anurag Arora): Preet’s indebted brother and prime suspect, Arora delivers a layered turn as a failed businessman desperate to sell ancestral land without sharing it. His portrayal captures the quiet desperation of a man entangled in debt and sibling resentment, blending vulnerability with underlying menace, making Baljinder’s motivations feel authentically rooted in Punjab’s economic pressures.

5. Preet’s Husband (Rannvijay Singha): As the threatening NRI spouse demanding the return of $600,000, Singha infuses the role with simmering rage and entitlement. His performance highlights patriarchal control across borders, turning phone threats into chilling windows into a fractured marriage, adding tension without caricature.

6. Johnny Malang (Vikhyat Gulati): Preet’s alleged boyfriend and local influencer, Gulati excels in portraying a facade of curated charm hiding deeper secrets. His dynamic with his influencer girlfriend feels real and layered, blending ambition with vulnerability, making Johnny a compelling suspect whose performance grounds the social media subplot.

7. Arun (Prayrak Mehta): The young migrant laborer searching for his long-lost father, Mehta’s heartbreakingly sincere portrayal lays bare the destitution of bonded workers. Enduring employer contempt, state indifference, and middle-class disgust, he embodies the human cost of exploitation, evoking anger and numbness in equal measure—his arc is the emotional heartbeat of the bonded labor theme.

8. Rajji (Ekta Sodhi): Garundi’s pregnant sister-in-law and former lover, Sodhi reprises her role with poignant intensity, turning family relocation into a ticking bomb of dramatic irony. Her performance explores themes of forbidden attachment and impending fatherhood, adding intimate stakes to Garundi’s world.

9. Silky (Muskan Arora): Garundi’s gentle, self-effacing new wife, Arora brings warmth and subtlety, contrasting the chaos around her and highlighting marital fragility in a patriarchal setup.

10. Dhanwant’s Husband (Pradhuman Singh): As the alcoholic spouse reeling from their son’s death, he conveys profound sadness in moments like avoiding IVF appointments or drifting through bars, making the broken marriage a standout emotional thread.

Supporting players, like Johnny’s girlfriend and the elusive house help, round out the ensemble with grounded realism, ensuring no character feels superfluous. Overall, Kohrra Season 2 is a triumph of detail-oriented storytelling, where Punjab’s fog isn’t just meteorological—it’s the haze of unchecked power and silenced suffering.