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After a glorious first season on YouTube, Kota Factory is back with its second season on Netflix. The show set in the student town of Kota follows the life of Vaibhav, a 17-year old, who wants to excel in his studies, and believes that this is the most crucial period of his life. He is accompanied by his support system – his friends, Uday, Meena, and Shivangi, his first girlfriend Vartika, but his mentor and guiding light in this phase of his life are Jeetu Bhaiya.
Over the past 10 years, or so, our media & pop culture has started celebrating those who go against the typical doctor or engineer streams in India, those who choose their passion over the traditional career path that society has laid out for them.
However, when it comes to real-life things have unfortunately not changed as much, impressionable teenagers have been told by parents, teachers & 4 random people alike, that their entire worth depends upon their stream & college.
The younger generations appearing for JEE and such exams are struggling to cope.
The Netflix series, ” Kota Factory’s ” 2nd season sheds light on this in a pretty detailed matter.
While also brushing on students’ struggles, it also tends to glorify it tremendously, so much so that it is a little problematic.
However, if you are indeed preparing for JEE or some other entrances, 10/10 watch, the plotline is extremely relatable as a 17/18-year-old, while also being motivational.
SEASON 1 RECAP
The first episode titled Inventory starts with Vaibhav, a 16-year-old who moves to Kota in the middle of an academic year to join Prodigy coaching classes. He is allotted the last batch of the center, A10. He meets Meena, another student at Prodigy who befriends Vaibhav.
He meets Jeetu bhaiya, a physics lecturer who gives him a 50-question paper and asks him to solve all it by the next day to get promoted to a better batch. Jeetu bhaiya points that Vaibhav had cheated but commends his hard work and promotes him to A5.
The second episode is titled Assembly line and shows Vaibhav struggling to adjust to his new life in Kota. He faces problems like constipation, insomnia, low attention span and drowsiness in class. He doesn’t enjoy the food and water served in the canteen either. Jeetu bhaiya helps him overcome these problems.
The third episode is titled Optimisation where Vaibhav is unable to understand organic chemistry. The teachers at Prodigy are unable to help him cope with the subject and he shares his frustration with his friend Meena.
The fourth episode is titled Shutdown and the students are given a break from Prodigy classes for practical examinations in schools. Vaibhav starts developing feelings for Vartika while Meena’s romantic interest Meenal announces that she will be moving to the United States.
In the season finale titled Overhaul, Vaibhav is offered a seat in the famed Maheshwari classes and is forced to leave behind everything he had found in his first six months in Kota which includes his friends, Jeetu bhaiya and his crush Vartika.
*SPOILER WARNING*
The Second Season opens where the first season ends, with our protagonist Vaibhav, being extremely thrilled & hopeful with the series gaining color (almost all of the 1st season was black & white), however, his hopes are soon crushed, & his world goes black & white again.
Jitendra Kumar’s Jeetu Bhaiya has wisdom dripping out of every dialogue and while it does get borderline preachy at times, you know that a young adult listening to him would be left in awe. “Peer pressure is a good thing, but make sure that your peers aren’t stupid,” says Jeetu Bhaiya at one point and the kids listen with wide eyes. A lost soul ends up at his doorstep and is enlightened when Jeetu Bhaiya explains why they should not be dreaming, but aiming for their goals.
The background music of Kota Factory is another highlight.
The melancholic charm of classical piano adds to the depth of its characters and their life-defining moments. Even though as an adult viewer you know better, but you also realize that for a 17-year-old, nothing matters more than what they are living through.
Kota Factory excelled with its casting, and the second season continues to bring the best out of its cast members.
Jitendra Kumar and Mayur More ace at their characters. Sameer Saxena, Ranjan Raj, Ahsaas Channa, Alam Khan, and Vaibhav Thakkar are perfectly cast and there is even a special surprise for Aspirants fans.
The show examines young minds as they navigate hope and expectation – their own and those of others – in a manner that is gentle and grounded. Kota Factory Season 2, like the inaugural season, is an easy watch. The young cast is as terrific as it was the first time around. Every key actor does her/his bit to show’s believable tone and tenor.
The various components – the drama, the emotions, youthful romance, and the workings of Kota’s high-pressure coaching centers – coalesce neatly thanks to the sharp writing that never strays from methods rooted in the real world even as it seeks to create flashpoints where matters come to a head and trigger alarm as much as they encourage introspection.
Watch Kota Factory Season 2 in one go. All you need to get through it is 12.5 percent of a day.
Watch here
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