Actor-filmmaker Anurag Kashyap experienced an emotional breakdown after watching the final episode of Jaideep Ahlawat-starrer Paatal Lok Season 2, he said in a long note on Instagram.

“All episodes are directed and cinematographed by the very talented @avinasharundhaware. And the ending suddenly shows you the light in a way, it made me break down because I wanted it but didn’t see it coming,” the 52-year-old actor-filmmaker wrote in his note shared on Wednesday.

Anurag began his write-up with a quote by Korean director Bong Jong Ho from his winning speech at the 2020 Oscars. “Once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films,’ said the celebrated South Korean film maker in his award winning acceptance speech for Parasite,” he wrote, looking back at India’s first Netflix original series Sacred Games, which paved the way for other Indian web series in the future.

“I always believed it (Sacred Games) was peak writing, directing, performance and can’t be out done. I couldn’t have been more wrong. 2025 started with a bang with Black Warrant and the bar was already set high. A week later, ‘Pataal Lok Season 2’ dropped. I have been busy doing posts and other things and have changed my routine to sleep early,” Anurag said.

After watching one episode of the new season of Paatal Lok, Anurag said he became hooked and went on to binge watch the other episodes.

“The opening sequence of Jonathan Thom’s body being found, just took my remaining sleep away and I got sucked into the world of Hathi Ram Choudhary so fast, like it was a quicksand. The depths of human darkness that he dwells into, always looking for some hope, that will and won’t come by. It’s a thriller, a mystery and it’s dark, set in a region which we know of but don’t pay attention to. It is armed by poignant writing, not holding back the punches. It mirrors our hypocrisy, showing us the darkness that resides collectively within us as a society, like Hathiram says ‘main Pataal Lok ka permanent niwasi hoo’,” he added.

Anurag encouraged his fans to watch the series and not let the subtitles become a barrier. “Don’t be afraid of the subtitles and watch it in a way it is meant to be seen, for its authenticity, creative audaciousness and writing, directorial and acting brilliance,” he shared.

Heaping praise on Jaideep Ahlawat for his performance in the series, Anurag wrote, “As for Jaideep Ahlawat. This for me is not just his best performance to date. I would call the best performance of 2020’s by any actor I have seen here. He isn’t acting, he embodies Hathiram Choudhary . It’s a masterclass of acting. I am in awe.”

Created by Sudip Sharma, Pataal Lok features Ahlawat as Hathi Ram Chaudhary, a washed-out Delhi police officer who lands the case of a lifetime when four suspects are captured in connection with an assassination attempt on a prime time journalist. The new instalment, directed by Avinash Arun, takes Hathiram back to the netherworld.