'Mithya – The Darker Chapter' review: A forced, underwhelming sequel

In the first season of , Hindi professor Juhi Adhikari (Huma Qureshi) was locked in a dangerous battle with student Rhea Rajguru (Avantika Dassani) after she failed her the young woman for plagiarism and branded her a cheat. The entitled daughter of a tea estate owner and college trustee, Rhea became obsessed with seeking vengeance, sometimes with violent results.

It emerged in season one that Juhi and Rhea were half-sisters. Rhea’s vendetta has now become as much about getting back at Juhi as it is about gaining the acceptance of her father, the author Anand Tyagi (Rajit Kapur).

Season one, which came out in 2022, was an adaptation of the British mini-series Cheat (2019). In the absence of a second season of Cheat, the writers of Mithya (Purva Naresh, Nishank Varma with a screenplay by Nisarg Mehta) have created a new set of twisted mind games which aren’t always logical or convincing.

By now, Juhi has gained confidence and overcome her previous ambivalence. Juhi is now a celebrated author, but an accusation of plagiarism by the failed writer Amit Chaudhary (Naveen Kasturia) destroys not just her reputation but her father’s equilibrium too.

As things intensify, Anand is pushed into an abyss. Indraneil Sengupta, Avantika Akerkar, Rushad Rana and Krishna...