There are not many shows that make us look beyond the practicality of the shots, the lighting, the cast, the plot, and the message they portray. Yet such shows manage to make us lose ourselves in them, and when the shows end, we come out wiser. Kota Factory is one such show that follows this trend through its first season and carries it seamlessly through its second season.
‘Kota Factory’ Season 2: Plot Summary
In Season 2, we see all our main characters in the second year of their preparation for JEE Mains that will allow them to sit for the JEE advanced (IIT). The pressure is more, and it is made clearly evident. In this season, we see how the coaching institutes of our country function in order to prove their worth. More than helping a student learn, they aim towards giving the student a better rank. And shockingly, these two are shown to be very different from each other.
From episode 1 to episode 5, Kota Factory excels at pulling off its storyline, perfectly balancing the Kota equilibrium. On one scale, we have Vaibhav’s first love (finally!), coping with his health, relation with mom to Susu’s eye-opening experience, and Meena’s self-discovery with hasth-maithun (Hindi for ‘masturbation’) to the fright of inefficiency of Vartika and Meenal. On the other scale, we have demoralizing issues, competition, the inability to understand, coaching as a business, and the pain of failure, all that include the word “education” in their dictionary. So, in this way, Kota Factory successfully shows the dynamic of a student at Kota.
We also find two different teaching methods, both of which will be palpable to every student. Every student has, at least once in their life, experienced either or both of these.
On the one hand, we have the atmosphere of Maheshwari, where nothing else matters but studying. The teachers don’t even mention their names. Furthermore, on the first day of a new session of which Vaibhav was a part, Maheshwari Sir tells the students that they may or may not get to crack JEE mains. And all that adds to their chances of cracking it is to follow the Maheshwari curriculum religiously. The decorum is that of a ‘factory’ that rightfully showcases the title of the show.
Jeetu Bhaiya has up the ante of his teaching methods using his custom ways for students to buckle up for what’s to come. We, too, see him struggle to cope with his competitor Maheshwari Sir to gain more students, just like the students are struggling to cope with each other to gain more marks. So, the light in both situations is that of competition. However, the love and trust he gets from his students take him from a teacher’s position to that of “bhaiya,” just as his students address him.
The Cast
We have all the faces we had in the first season. The same group of friends trying to make it through the JEE and get into an IIT. Vaibhav, Meena, and Uday are our three musketeers. Along with them, we have Vartika, Shivangi, and Meenal. Jeetu Bhaiya is back to give them lessons of physics as well as of life. We have Maheshwari Sir (Sameer Saxena), who is all about buying students’ knowledge and earning his coaching institute fame and money. And we have a new addition to the Kota Factory family, Mr. Gagan Rastogi (new Maths teacher at Jeetu bhaiya’s Aimers coaching center), who will be played by Rajesh Kumar of Baa Bahoo Aur Baby and Sarabhai vs. Sarabhai fame.
‘Kota Factory’ Season 2: Ending Explained
The ending shows the reality of competition and the extent to which it can affect a student (which is basically the whole point of the show). While the whole of Kota is celebrating the results of JEE and Jeetu bhaiya too is celebrating the failures with his students, a sad truth hits us all. Varnali, one of Jeetu bhaiya’s students, commits suicide after being unable to make it through the mains.
While Season 2 does end on a shockingly sad yet-the-truth note, it is a reminder of the pressure students face due to this competition. Many will not say it or admit it and endure as long as they can until things get unbearable. Ultimately when everything is put on the line, and the results aren’t what one expected, there is no way out other than the only way out. So, we need to vent ourselves out, and that is precisely what the creators of Kota Factory are telling us. There will be competition, but let us not lose ourselves in trying to get ahead of others.
The Practicals
Emotions were always a priority, as clearly portrayed in Kota Factory. Be it mother’s love, a teacher’s guidance, or the first kiss. The show can remind us of all these in the sweetest manner successfully. And thanks to the background scores and songs, they nicely add to the emotions too. The cast, most of which remains the same, while having a carry-forward arc, does manage to hold on to the original vibes of the characters and does not appear cliché.
The new characters also suit their roles, e.g., Maheshwari Sir and Mr. Gagan Rastogi, although not much was explored about them. However, hopefully, we will get to know them better in Season 3. The noir nature of the show doesn’t disappoint at all but instead adds ever more to the nature of the show. All in all, Kota Factory Season 2 has successfully cracked its entrance into our hearts.
Kota Factory Season 2 is a Social Drama Television series created by Saurabh Khanna. Season 1 and 2 are streaming on Netflix.
