Blame it on a conservative conditioning, but Indian cinema or alternative mediums of entertainment have seldom captured the aspirations, conflicts or desires of women in totality. Quite often, the term chick-flick is loosely used to dismiss the credibility of such stories. Barring a few exceptions such as 'Angry Indian Goddesses', 'Lipstick Under My Burkha' and 'Veere De Wedding', there hasn't been a narrative that offered a descriptive, layered, fly-on-the-wall account into the minds of today's women. Until Amazon Prime Video's Four More Shots Please arrived last winter with its first season to change that.

Featuring a solid line-up of dependable actors namely, Sayani Gupta, Kirti Kulhari, Bani J and Maanvi Gagroo, 'FMSP' spoke about the lives of four flawed women based in Mumbai, whose life choices are unapologetic, both professionally and personally. Irrespective of their routes or approaches, they discover what makes them tick and they care little about your judgement. Infact, 'FMSP' served a gentle reminder to the audience that your judgements can take a hike because nothing can dictate the lives of the women you see on the show.

With season 2 streaming on Amazon Prime Video from April 17, 2020 onwards, the stakes are higher. The new season returns with newer challenges and conflicts, older issues that need to be resolved and past demons that must be confronted while uncertainty looms over at large

Season 2 pretty much picks up from where we left off in season 1. The four ladies haven't spoken to each other in months until a frantic phone call by Siddhi (Maanvi) from Istanbul to Umang (Bani) in Mumbai gets the foursome together and the story continues to present more challenges, both on the personal and professional front.

Siddhi tries to discover her calling in stand-up comedy and make amends with her upset father, owing to her stripping encounters while embracing her individuality and body type.

Umang gets back with Samara (Lisa Ray) and takes the plunge to be by her side as her celebrated Bollywood partner is trying to come out of the closet.
Damini (Sayani), now as an independent journalist/author, is looking to publish her book based on the life of an assassinated judge. But becoming the voice of the truth given the present political scenario and social media scrutiny is not going to be an easy path to tread.

Anjana (Kirti) has a misogynist boss to deal with at work, who is stopping at nothing to undermine her credentials. While also dealing with the desires of the body against the expectations laid by the society.

Within the realm of these plots, 'FMSP' Season 2 retains much of the supporting cast including Pratiek Babbar and Milind Soman as Jeh and Dr. Warsi, the men in Damini's track, Neil Bhoopalam as Anjana's ex-husband Varun and Amrita Puri as Kavya, now married to Varun. Simone Singh and Fahad Samar as Siddhi's parents and Rajeev Siddhartha and Ankur Rathee as Mihir and Arjun, the two men pinning for love from Siddhi and Anjana respectively. The fresh additions to the cast include Samir Kochchar as Shashank Bose, Anjana's arch rival who has a soft corner for her, Shibani Dandekar as Sushmita Mukherjee, a power broker and Prabal Punjabi as Amit Mishra, an aspiring stand-up comic who befriends Siddhi.

Series creator Rangita Pritish Nandy, writer Devika Bhagat, dialogue writer Ishita Moitra and director Nupur Asthana put a dream team together to drive the point with further gusto that these women know what they want and will chase it, no matter what comes in between while having each other's backs. There is no pretense or solemnizing happening in this season, although you're likely to feel the change in tonality given the change of director. Certain portions do test your patience, but there is little to no likeliness of you losing your interest from the show. The writing and screenplay does falter in the second half but unlike the last season, the new season adds more layers to the roles of the men. We get to delve within the layers of the straight-jacketed Jeh, the brooding sex symbol that Dr. Warsi was made to be and the shortcomings of Varun, who isn't quite the douchebag he came across as.
Eventually, 'FMSP' season 2 qualifies as the best comfort bingefest you must indulge in, this weekend. It surely made me miss my girlfriends and I'm quite certain about what I would like to do first, once the lockdown is over.