When we heard that “Masaba Masaba” was coming back for a second season, our first thought was about how much entertainment has been consumed by capitalism. As in, while we remember the first season as being entertaining and easy to watch, we remembered nothing of the storyline. So, what could be the reason for bringing back such a forgettable show for a second season, if not to watch A-list celebrities from Bollywood engage in some generic struggles? And that is exactly what happened. But, what makes “Masaba Masaba” a good show is its “retainment” of its binge-able quality. We applaud any piece of content that does not have us waiting for its end. The storyline does not move the earth, but makes you smile frequently enough and reminds you of the reason you once fell in love with rom-coms. Let us see how this plays out.
Spoilers Ahead
Masaba’s Plans To Launch ‘House Of Shaadi’
“Masaba Masaba” Season 2 starts with our titular character having a dream that she is pregnant and is in the delivery room. Kartik Aryan, a famous Indian actor, is her doctor, and her mother is trying to set him up with Masaba. As she wakes up from it, we understand that Masaba is worried that she might actually be pregnant in real life. It is her fashion show that day, and everything seems to be going smoothly enough, but people start leaving. It turns out, they were going for Qayanaat’s show, an up-and-coming designer who is making waves in the industry with her designs. Excellent casting choice with Kareema Barry. Masaba is annoyed at this and thinks out loud that she would have to work ten times harder if she had to stay relevant in this new age. But she finds support in Dhairya, her investor, who tells her that she must treat herself as her competition instead of others, and that’s the only way to go forward. On the personal front, it turns out that Masaba is not pregnant after all.
She comes up with a plan to launch ‘House of Shaadi,’ a line of clothes just for weddings. Her strategy is to start with one wedding that will grab as many eyeballs as possible and use it as the basis for her collection’s launch. Her new PR manager, Nicole, finds the perfect wedding—that of influencer Aisha and her fiancé, Fateh. As Masaba gets busy with that, she is somewhat unaware of the romantic interest of her investor, Dhairya. One day, he tells her as much, making her start to see him in a new light. As the show progresses, we see that Masaba also starts to have a crush on Fateh, but keeps it under wraps. She is kind of torn about the sort of designs she must make for Aisha, because the bride rejects the first outfit she is presented with. Aisha tells her that she has not managed to capture her essence. This forces Masaba to rethink how she makes her designs and come up with a different option, more in line with Aisha’s style.
On the other hand, she slowly starts warming up to Dhairya. But a wrench is thrown into their developing story. One particular night, after Dhairya is there for Masaba, when she goes through something emotionally draining, Masaba leans in to kiss him, but he stops her. Considering this a rejection, she becomes a little brusque with him. Dhairya tells her that while he understands that she is strong enough to take care of herself, she doesn’t have to do it all alone. He later confesses that while he did want to kiss her, he stopped because she was in a vulnerable state, and he did not want them to regret it later. However, the whole thing has set their story in motion.
There is also a subplot about Masaba’s best friend, Gia, and her depression. She has not been going to work and has barely had any social life for weeks. In fact, at the 10th-anniversary party of ‘House of Masaba,’ she makes a whole scene by getting drunk. The next day, Masaba goes to meet her and comes to know what her best friend has been going through for the past few months. She encourages her to get therapy and reassures Gia that she will always be there for her.
Does Neena Gupta’s Show ‘Fursat’ Get Made?
Triggered by the comments of a few trolls, Neena Gupta states on a talk show that she is planning to bring back her hit show from the 90s, “Fursat.” But now she doesn’t know how to go about it as the channel it aired on still owns the rights. Luckily, due to the interest shown online, the channel is up for the remake. They call her and tell her they would like to pursue the project. However, they suggest some changes, which end up taking away from the essence of the storyline. This does not sit well with Neena. In addition to this problem, she is not on the best terms with her co-star, Shekhar Mirza. He had ditched their show originally, all those years back, because he was pursuing better offers. And Neena doesn’t trust him to this day. When she voices her dislike of the current script, he tries to placate her, as he is just happy that work has come his way, and he does not want to jeopardize that. When Neena finally decides to talk to other channels, Shekhar tells the channel head and signs his part of the contract. She comes to know this and tells him that it was her fault for trusting him, and now she is going to do what she wants. She refuses to sign the contract for the revival of “Fursat” and decides to follow her heart.
At Masaba’s end, she is on her way to Kashmir with the bridal party for the wedding. But at the last minute, Fateh gets cold feet, and he misses his flight on purpose. Masaba misses her flight as well, and they both hire a taxi to get to their destination. As they are making their way to the place, Fateh confesses that if he had met Masaba before, he would not be marrying Aisha. He kisses her, but Masaba rejects his advances. Once they reach the wedding venue, at the sangeet, it is rather awkward. Masaba makes her way back to her room, only to find a heartfelt message from Dhairya, telling her that he wants their first kiss to be perfect. Masaba smiles, and now she knows what she truly wants. She calls Dhairya when suddenly she hears a knock on her door. It is Fateh, and he tells her that he wants to spend the night with her. Masaba puts him in his place and tells him that she and Aisha both deserve better. Unfortunately, Dhairya has heard their conversation, but only in the first part of it, where Fateh talks about their kiss earlier in the day. He is heartbroken and is thinking about what to do next.
On the wedding day, Masaba and Aisha have a heartfelt talk, where she asks the bride about her plans for her life. Aisha tells her that while she realizes that everything doesn’t go according to plan, having them in the first place provides a purpose and a goal to work towards. Masaba realizes that Aisha will be alright and wishes her the best in her life. She leaves for Mumbai soon after.
‘Masaba Masaba’ Season 2: Ending Explained – Do Dhairya And Masaba Get Together? Does She Launch ‘House Of Shaadi’?
The first thing Masaba does is go to meet Dhairya to tell him that she wants to take things forward with him. But to her surprise, he tells her that he is pulling out of his investment in her brand. He believes that she neither wants him nor needs him and must move on. Masaba is confused, and when she comes to know the reason for it, she tells him that she will find her own investors without his help. As she makes her way back to her office, she gets the news that she has been chosen for the grand finale of Flair fashion week. But Masaba has something else up her sleeve. She realizes that she had been the happiest when at the wedding, Mehek had worn her clothes. She had been hesitant to try on a lehenga until that point. But when she finally did, she was happy since she felt beautiful. Masaba realizes that she wants to make a line of clothes for teenagers of different styles and body types. Her show is an instant success and catapults her to higher fame and stardom. Things are looking good for Neena as well. She gets her own talk show on Netflix, and this is work that actually excites her.
On the day of her show, Dhairya shows up, and Masaba talks to him. She tells him that she pushes people away because she is not used to them staying for a long time, and that messes with her. She tells him that she genuinely likes him and would have liked him to stay. At this moment, Dhairya shows us the most romantic thing a guy can do for a girl—fish out his phone and cancel his flight ticket. He tells Masaba that he is going to stay, and they end up kissing. Finally, the moment we have been waiting for since last season. But just then, Masaba gets a call—it’s from her dad. Is this what we will be seeing in “Masaba Masaba” Season 3? Things are going to get more exciting.
Final Thoughts: What Works For ‘Masaba Masaba’ Season 2?
Honestly, it’s the pacing and the characters. “Masaba Masaba” Season 2 really does not believe in indulging itself. It’s made for the audience and respects their time. In 7 episodes, it has proved to be the most entertaining thing to come from Netflix in probably the whole month. And then there is the cast. They do such a good job with their roles. Perks of playing themselves, probably. The show does a great job with cultural references—be it when Neena Gupta discusses the falling quality of serials, or when Masaba’s pointed remarks on a reality show are turned into a song, it is all proof of great writing. What is not great writing is when they use Instagram captions for dialogue in a few scenes, like when Masaba talks about the struggle of balancing her personal and professional life or when she discusses the need for more inclusive clothing. Our favorite characters were Dhairya and Neena Gupta, and Masaba Gupta herself, who was a greater delight to watch than her performance last season. We would definitely recommend this to our friends and are eagerly waiting for Season 3.
“Masaba Masaba” is a 2020 Drama Comedy Indian series streaming on Netflix.
