The series Breathe: Into the shadows was recently released on the OTT platform of Amazon. It was directed by Mayank Sharma and the lead roles are played by Abishek Bachchan and Nithya Menen.
Abishek Bachchan plays the role of Avinash Sabharwal, a thriving psychiatrist in Delhi NRC. The show in the very first few minutes tells us that the role pf Avinash is meant to be taken seriously as he is summoned on courts frequently to appear in trials and provide expert testimony. Nithya Menen plays the role of Abha who is a chef. Avinash and Abha are parents of a young girl named Siya who is diabetic and is in need of regular insulin shots. Their calm life is disrupted when Siya is taken hostage.
A few months later, Avinash and Abha receive a ransom from their child’s kidnapper. The kidnapper states that in order to rescue Siya, they must kill random people that according to the kidnapper are guilty of committing sins such as ‘lust’. Unlike season 1 of Breathe, Season 2 is not about a parent’s loss but it the story of a serial killer. Each episode lasts for 45 minutes and there are 12 episodes.
Through the series Avinash’s character is been given an interesting back story. To make the audience more interesting, when the kidnapper chooses his victim – a woman in her late 20’s who is in a lesbian relationship, Avinash finds out that he has met that girl in Nainital when he was young and that they spent the summer vacation together. The kidnapper’s list includes women who love women, wheelchair users, fearless ladies of the night, recovering drug addict, a competitive female cop. Critics say that the season 2 has been loosely written kidnapping drama that focuses on the creation of a psychotic killer.
Spoiler Alert:
Natasha – who is a Lesbian is an amateur photographer living in Delhi with her partner Divyanka. Abha, to lure Natasha, introduces herself as a food blogger and that she is new to Delhi. Abha says that she is from Bangalore and wants Natasha to help her with the photographs required for the magazine to submit her article on ‘Food Journey of East to North’. Natasha when tells Abha that they can presume work next Monday as she has to go and meet Divyanaka, Abha suggests that they go on a road trip.
When Abha and Natasha take a quick stop to stay over the night in a local motel. Abha mentions that she has never had feelings for women but feels different with Natasha. Abha somehow makes Natasha believe she is interested in her and asks her to take the car to a secluded lane. The scenes depict that Abha and Natasha are being intimate and Abha uses the chance to hand cuff Natasha to the car. And the rest is the story…
What makes the series more engrossing is that it shows a Queer person as one of the important roles. Though the series was not about Lesbian relation, it meant to show that in today’s time, women do not only like men, but they also like women. It reads to us openly that India has become a country that lets people choose their partner and their sexuality really does not matter.
When Natasha speaks about her partner Divyanka, Abha says that she has read the book that Natasha wrote and published. Natasha mentions that in the book she has come out about her sexuality, Abha sweetly replies that your sexuality is yours and it does not matter who approves or not.
