Review: Emraan Hashmi is the beating heart of Awarapan 2, a film that relies more on fandom and focuses less on filmmaking
Before debating on the yays and nays of Awarapan 2, an undeniable fact has to be acknowledged: Awarapan is a case study. A box-office bomb on release a year short of two decades ago, the film ended up last in a three-way clash at the box office in end-June 2007, lagging behind even Himesh Reshammiya’s Aap Kaa Surroor. At a time when Emraan Hashmi was bolstered/ burdened by the ‘Serial Kisser’ tag, thanks to his lip-scapades on screen, the Mohit Suri film gave us a brooding, silent leading man, a gangster lamenting the loss of his love and seeking redemption by rescuing a damsel in distress. My review, written on release day, had even mentioned how a non-kissing Emraan Hashmi was no fun, words that I have learnt to regret in retrospect. The film, despite its moments and its music, didn’t work.
Over the years, however, Awarapan has become a pop-cultural phenomenon. This has been thanks to repeated television viewings and subsequently a new digital audience that appreciated the merits of what was an unconventional film at a time largely driven by fast-paced, masala cinema (with some exceptions, of course). In the decades that followed, Awarapan gained an afterlife beyond its theatrical run. Nostalgia marketing, playlist-dominating tunes — led by the timeless Toh phir aao and Tera mera rishta — and an enduring tragic hero rediscovering his purpose in life, powered it beyond its unremarkable box-office showing. Social-media edits and YouTube clips saw the demand for Part 2 grow by the year, with many forgetting (and most not being aware of) that Awarapan was an uncredited remake of the Korean neo-noir thriller A Bittersweet Life.
Arriving 19 years after the original, and created as much by sentimental value as it is with an eye on the box office, Awarapan 2 is a winner already, if the catcalls and cheers, whistles and whoops of delight — the kind that doesn’t really trademark a multiplex audience unless it is a Khan film or a Hollywood superhero outing — that I witnessed at a Friday morning housefull show, is anything to go by. Even as you read this, Awarapan 2 is well on its way to scoring a humongous first weekend in cinemas.
Awarapan 2, however, relies too much on its fandom and focuses much less on its filmmaking. The elements are there all right — that first glimpse of Hashmi’s long-haired, tattoo-sporting Shivam Pandit riding a bike through picturesque salt pans with the strains of Toh phir aao reverberating was enough to make many in the audience jump out of their seats. “Akkha Bollywood ek taraf, aur Emraan Hashmi ek taraf” is real.
With Nitin Kakkar slipping into the director’s chair this time, the first few frames of Awarapan 2 are enough to transport viewers to the original, even as we witness a still brooding Shivam, with the screenplay flashing back to frames of Shriya Saran — Shivam’s dead lover, Aaliyah — and reinforces the grief and guilt of her loss that he is burdened with. A twist of fate gives him a reason to live, with Shivam returning to the world of brutality and bloodshed that he had left far behind within the first hour. A little bit of Taken, a whole lot of Man on Fire and a tinge of Logan follows — a revenge-redemption arc that sees the action shift wholly to Bangkok — with Shivam once again finding himself in a role he is familiar with: the protector.
Awarapan 2 is now playing in cinemas
What Awarapan 2 <a href="https://comicvibe.com/7-eleven-brings-collectibles/” title=”7-Eleven brings collectibles”>brings to the table is nothing that we haven’t seen before. Trafficking, gang wars, the business of drugs, love lost found and lost and some dialogue-baazi (fortunately, restrained). The film has enough nuts and bolts — a formidable if underused Shabana Azmi as a mob boss, an unhinged but trope-embracing villain played by an uneven Puran Gabbi, Shivam’s father-figure turn that adds a new dimension to his wounded hero, and an almost-love story that you root for — to keep it going.
Stylised action set pieces and compelling cinematography work in favour of Awarapan 2, as does the presence of an ensemble cast that includes the likes of Suvinder Vicky, Vijayant Kohli and Aniruddh Rawal. Barun Chanda pops in with a cameo, but his distinctive voice being dubbed is a definite downer. Disha Patani, armed with a cumulative total of two expressions: wooden and even more wooden, should have been bypassed in favour of a much better actor. It is quite ironical that she is unintentionally deadpanned into delivering a line like: “Main marna pasand karungi”. #IYKYK
In contrast, Emraan Hashmi plunges into playing a part that he is familiar with, and yet leaves the audiences moved with some fresh beats. Emotion to action, the actor, who has expanded his art and craft over the last many years, excels, shining even when Awarapan 2 — which feels far longer than its 140-minute runtime — falters. The end leaves the door ajar for Shivam to return. We welcome that, but in a better film.
