Jannat – 2 – Movie Review

Posted by FATEMA H.KAGALWALA on May 4, 2012 | 1 Comment

PRODUCER – Mahesh Bhatt and Fox Star Studio
DIRECTOR – Kunal Deshmukh
WRITER – Shagufta Rafique (Screenplay), Sanjay Masoom (Dialogues)
CAST – Emraan Hashmi, Randeep Hooda, Esha Gupta, Manish Chaudhury
MUSIC – Pritam

Emraan Hashmi is back struggling to turn a new leaf and make his ‘jannat’ (heaven) on earth. Keeping him company is Esha Gupta as his lover/wife and Randeep Hooda as his friend yet nemesis. Sonu Dilli (Emraan) is a small-time crook trying to come clean for the love of his life as he works for Pratap Raghuvanshi (Hooda), an eccentric, dare-devil police officer to nab the honchos of the illegal guns trade. As much as the goal is personal for Sonu, so it is for Pratap, who is seeking vengeance for his wife’s death. But there are moles and twists of fate ahead which continue to dangle both their hopes and journey’s on the edge of death. Will they achieve what they have set their hearts on?

Jannat-2 broadly outlines the premise of the original film but is far more gritty and earthy in its tone and setting than its prequel. It’s a thriller with a vulnerable core where stakes are typically matters of the heart. Emotions are running high and tension is taut as the cat and mouse games keep playing themselves out in the Delhi-NCR belt of India with its attendant Jats and Delhi’s underbelly. The Bhatt camp pulls itself out of the locales of South Africa and explores the dirt and dustiness of north Indian landscapes. It trades its heroine’s couture for mis-matched middle-class wardrobe but continues with clean frames and Pritam’s music. Coupled with a very carefully articulated North-Indian accent in some of the characters, the entire jamboree comes across as confused and derived. This, especially when the central characters speak in a polished non-accented tongue punctuated with mandatory cuss words, articulated with a similar emphatic drama.

Apart from creating a setting that strikes as derived, the plot and treatment receive an uneven attention with some irrational twists and see-sawing sensibility. It is difficult to feel enough for Sonu or Jhanvi. Randeep Hooda’s police officer packs a punch though, the actor playing it as gritty and as pained as possible. He is a man on a mission who has nothing to lose anymore and hurting incredibly for the fact. Hooda brings a perfect mix of intensity and eccentricity to his character without over-doing it, faltering only in emotional sequences. Brijendra Kala is reduced to a trusted lieutenant with nothing much to do. Esha Gupta, on her part looks camera-friendly but her ill-conceived styling and template-like performance refuses to bring her character to life. Manish Chaudhury as the evil Tomar with a mission and Jhanvi’s father continues to ham like in every other film of his.

Jannat – 2 is a drama full of action, emotion, love and music like every other Vishesh Films product that is cosmetic and even with a strong story represents a commercial sensibility of ‘masala’. For that benchmark, Jannat – 2 does its job. And that is well too.