Till wealth do us part

Marriages change shape. The anything-goes elasticity of newly-weds sooner or later becomes more defined. For better or for worse, marriages solidify, and, in keeping with that, sometimes they crumble.

- RAJA SEN

Shapeshifting happens also with stories about marriages and Made In Heaven a series about wedding planners, returning to Amazon Prime with a much awaited second season, four years after the first-isn't quite the show it used to be.

Created by Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti, Made In Heaven started as a swishy, sexy, incisive take on the hypocrisies and hi-jinks of Delhi weddings, increasingly overblown shindigs designed to out-Instagram each other. Focusing on the planners ironing out problems born out of privilege and bigotry, it was a sort of Call My Agent! for the shaadi market. The new season, comprising seven episodes each more than an hour long, is a slower, sadder drama.

One achievement of season I was the show's protagonist, Tara Khanna. Played by a poised Sobhita Dhulipala, Tara-one of the two founders of the titular wedding planning firm was revealed as an opportunistic social climber who had entrapped a wealthy husband by any means necessary. Dhulipala shines particularly bright in silent moments, like when she longingly caresses a beloved green handbag. Tara is the kind of unapologetic anti-hero we rarely see and she continues to make questionable choices while refusing to be judged by anyone, from mother to lover to business partner.