Mumbai-based matchmaker Sima Taparia is back with a new set of clients she’s making matches for in Indian Matchmaking Season 2. While she breaks her unsuccessful streak this time around with hopes for a new pair she’s helped go on a first date, Season 2 is as much about single people trying to find a suitable partner on their own. Here’s what makes Indian Matchmaking Season 2 less cringe-worthy and more fun than its debut season.

Old and new singles

Season 2 brings back three singles from the first season—Aparna Shewakramani, Nadia and Pradhyuman Maloo.

Season 1’s breakout star Aparna, an attorney, returned to the show with her journey to find a husband but not as Sima’s client. The Indo-Guyanese Nadia had failed to click with any of Sima’s matches in the first season, but the second season began with her continuing to date her Season 1 match Shekar Jayaraman.

Mumbai-based jeweller Pradhyuman, too, came back as a former client of the matchmaker, but this time not really as an eligible bachelor.

“My mom thinks I’m quite eligible,” quipped Akshay Dhumal, the first new single person introduced in Indian Matchmaking 2. The eldest son of a business family based in Nashik has been searching for a woman who would be willing to relocate to his town, and Sima, too, is shown struggling to find a match for the same reason.

With Aparna out of Sima’s list, there’s a new client, Viral Joshi, who evokes similar reactions in Sima. A North Carolina-based pharmaceutical developer, Viral describes herself as an “ovo-lacto-semi-vegetarian”. Her “criteria” for a suitable match irks Sima to the point that she ends up calling Viral “superficial”.

Another new client is the dog-loving, soon-to-be-cardiologist Arshneel Kochar, a likeable single with a charming smile. Tired of being the groom’s buddy and never the groom, he decides to let Sima help him find a match.

The third new single of Season 2 is the 38-year-old Shital Patel, the eldest of three sisters who is frustrated at still being single while her younger sisters are married. She hires Sima but the two disagree on the issue of adjustment.

The fourth new single of this season is the Miami resident Vinesh Vasnani, who, with his steady stream of jokes, left Sima wondering how serious he was about getting married.

The same old story of ‘demands’

What primarily made Indian Matchmaking Season 1 a superhit show was the conflict and tension between what the eligible singles wanted in their partners and matchmaker Sima’s exasperation at these “demands”. Meeting or not meeting the “criteria” and Sima’s views on whether those are acceptable criteria or not form the plot point of Season 2 as well.

So you have singles with requirements like wanting their partners to like dogs, have a tattoo and be open to sky diving. The women are on the lookout for successful, tall men with financial stability. The men continue to want family-oriented, good-looking women who can cook. In Episode 2, Akshay rejects one of his dates as he was offended when she kept questioning him for using a plastic straw.

Taking matters into their own hands

Sima goes on repeating her mantra that one will never find a 100% match and must settle for 60-70%. This does not sit well with many of her clients, and some from Season 1 have stopped using her services.

Alongside Sima’s matchmaking attempts, this season tracks the parallel journey of singles who are continuing their search for a partner without her help. Like Aparna Shewakramani, who generated either love or hate in Season 1. One of Aparna’s friends sets her up with their Los Angeles-based cousin Daman. Aparna, who’s moved to New York, goes on a couple of dates with Daman before walking away from the budding romance. She’s later seen regretting moving to New York to her mother.

Another of Sima’s former clients, Pradhyuman, returns to the show to flaunt his new restaurants and relationship. Pradhyuman introduces us to his partner, Ashima Chauhan, who he met at a party. Having rejected some 100 matches suggested by Sima, Pradhyuman is now desperately in love. He proposes to Ashima and rides an elephant to their wedding on the show. Watching him making space for his bride’s clothes in his ferociously guarded closet is kind of fun.

The only other wedding you see in Indian Matchmaking 2 is of a couple we hadn’t met before.

Sima appears to have scared off Shital with her ‘you need to adjust your expectations’ speech as well. Later on in the show, Shital informs Sima that she’s found a match for herself through her sister. She proceeds to date Florida-based radiation oncologist Niraj Mehta and is even ready to move to Miami to be with him. The two share a kiss, giving us hope that they might end up together.

Sima Aunty finally makes matches

Unlike Season 1, which was a dud as far as matchmaking is concerned, Sima finds some success in Season 2. At the end of Season 2, Arshneel takes the phone number of the emigrant dentist Rinkle Goyal. He doesn’t ask Sima for more matches or talk about ending things with Rinkle, so we can hope they are still together.

Viral rejects the first two matches Sima sets her up with. But Sima hits the right note with her third match. Viral’s search for a Gujarati-speaking man ends in this season with New York-based optometrist Aashay Shah. Aashay impresses the Joshi family and woos Viral to the point that she even forgives him for his tardiness on a date. On her social media, Viral has shared pictures of her recent trip to India, which could have entailed meeting a certain Aashay’s family.

Less focus on superstitions

The first season of Indian Matchmaking was packed with numerologists and astrologists sharing their “expert advice” to Sima and her clients. It was one of the features of the debut season that got a lot of flak for promoting superstitious beliefs. Season 2 has some instances of its participants resorting to astrological interventions, but those are few and far between.

Aparna seeks the help of an astrologer by herself, and there’s Janardhan Dhurbe, Sima’s trusted face reader who tells her that Akshay is under a curse that is preventing him from getting married. Akshay keeps saying that he is “not extremely spiritual” but ends up performing a ritual to negate the supposed curse.

Heartbreak season

Things between Nadia and Sekhar seemed to be a step away from a marriage proposal with Nadia’s entire family strongly approving of Sekhar. However, Nadia derails it after meeting Vishal at the mixer she hosts for Sima’s US-based clients. Vishal dumps Nadia soon after, leaving her as heartbroken as she had left Shekar. Sima had warned Nadia against dating Vishal, who was seven years younger than her, and said she did not find Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas to be a good match because of their 11-year age gap.

Another eligible bachelor is left feeling like he’s been “stabbed in the heart with a plastic knife” after being rejected for not being attractive enough. Sima sets Vinesh up with the warm and friendly Mosum Parikh. Mosum gets along famously with Vinesh’s family but he does not find her hot. When Vinesh reveals this to his family, his mother is in tears. The next person he is set up with is California-based nurse Meena, who seems to float Vinesh’s boat with her looks and style. But their date turns out to be a bummer as Meena stares blankly at Vinesh’s jokes. She rejects Vinesh as she doesn’t find him attractive. “The princess has to kiss a lot of frogs before she meets her prince,” says Meena, essentially calling Vinesh a frog.

Sima-verse expansion

The final episode introduces us to Priya Ashra, who is based in the UK. She is seen chatting with her friends about men in “dragon shirts” being a no-no for her. Through this new eligible bachelorette, the show hints at an expansion of Sima’s clientele. Season 1 and 2 have been focused on clients in India and the US; Season 3 might be travelling to the UK to expand Sima’s client base.