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Release Date: 4th May 2012
Genre: Action/Drama
Director: Kunal Deshmukh
Star Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Randeep Hooda, Esha Gupta
Rating: **1/2
With the original Jannat ending showing Emraan Hashmi’s love interest accompanied by her son, I couldn’t help but assume the second film would be a continuation of the story. But be warned it is not! In fact, there are hardly any similarities with the first film apart from the fact that the lead actor is the same, and there is constant reference in the film to a place of ‘Jannat’.
So, now that we’ve established the film has nothing to do with its prequel, Jannat 2 tells the story of a small-time illegal gun distributer Sonu Dilli KKC – kutti kamini cheez (Emraan Hashmi). We can tell he has the gift of the gab as he manages to talk his way out of being shot by a man holding a gun to his head. In fact, not only does he walk away without a scratch, but he persuades the man that he needs to be using a different gun and sells it to him making a profit.
On the other side of the law is ACP Pratap Raghuvanshi (Randeep Hooda), whose only mission is to stamp out illegal gun trade after falling victim to a gang armed with illegal guns, who killed his wife and also aimed fire at him, leaving a bullet in his head. Since then the insomniac drowns his sorrows in alcohol and (despite owning a mobile phone) regularly makes visits to phone booths to call up his old house phone and listen to his wife’s voice on their answering machine.
Sonu unwillingly agrees a deal with ACP Pratap to act as his informer in a bid to start a better life with his partner Jhanvi Tomar (Esha Gupta), a charitable doctor who is looking for the ‘seedha gharelu’ type of guy. And, despite spending plenty of time with Sonu and accepting his donations for the hospital she works at, Jhanvi, funnily enough, doesn’t once think to cross check what Sonu actually does and simply believes that he runs a clothes shop.
Things take a turn for the worse as Sonu realises he has got himself in way too deep and risks being caught out by the love of his life or killed by the dangerous leaders of the arms business.
Despite the script being quite predictable and fairly weak on the whole, one plus point is the interesting relationship that develops between Sonu and ACP Pratap. The two men who once seemed to hate each others guts, begin to develop a sense of loyalty towards each other, and we start to see the humane side of a cold-hearted ACP.
On the other hand there is the relationship between Jhanvi and Sonu. While the audience get to see the duo lock lips more than once, their love story seems a little too rushed as in typical Bollywood style neither seem to know anything about the others background, and they just dive straight into this whirlwind romance, which comes back to haunt them both.
Emraan is no stranger to the ‘gunda-type’ role and he does a convincing job as Sonu, however the real show-stealer is Randeep Hooda who shines as the drunken cop with a grudge who is tough on the outside but still mourning the death of his loved one on the inside. Esha Gupta manages to up the glamour quotent, which is perhaps what she was simply cast to do.
There are a few stand-out scenes like the chase in the dargah and the initial meeting between ACP Pratap and Sonu where the former slashes Sonu’s hand and pretends to throw him off the bridge. Pritam’s sufi-inspired soundtrack is pleasant on the ears with ‘Tu Hi Mera’ being my pick of the songs.
Kunal Deshmukh does well in some respects to make us empathize with the complex characters but perhaps it was a mistake to label the film as ‘Jannat 2’ as the audience will enter the cinema hall expecting a lot more and probably leave feeling a little cheated.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLxI_1iKYgc
