Jannat 2 review by critic: Nothing different about it

 Movie: Jannat 2 

CAST: EMRAAN HASHMI ESHA GUPTA RANDEEP HOODA

DIRECTION: KUNAL DESHMUKH

MUSIC: PRITAM

RATING **

So finally we have Jannat 2 review as its special screening for press is done just a while ago in Delhi. Well, we are not going to tell you that what this movie is all about and whether you should go and watch it or give a miss. You need to read the entire review and then decide.

Gangster films, made famous in the recent past by RGV and the Bhatts, have, in a way, quite a linear format. In nearly all the films, the male lead who obviously gets trapped and lured into the big bad world, is actually someone with a heart of gold.  He invariably has an ultra glam girlfriend, who either has a brother or someone from within the family, either is a small fish in the larger game plan, or is naïve guy getting lured into vicious world.

Jannat 2 is no different. With (Sonu) Emraan Hashmi playing the smooth talking street-smart gun runner, with a gift of the gab that helps him in being the finest street-smart hustler, the plot never really takes off in the first half. To make matters worse in a film that has a righteous cop (played by Randeep Hooda, who has a past when his wife was gunned down by members of the spurious firearms manufacturers) chasing all the possible goondas, particularly Hashmi, there was no place for the beautiful ex Miss India Esha Gupta flaunting her hour glass figure. But then a Hindi film can’t be made without Hashmi locking lips with a sexy babe whose flowing tresses manage to reveal more rather than hide her curves.

 The illegal gun trade business has many a respectable men in business camouflaging in the veneer of religiosity or uniform.  Sonu sells locally made guns for a living, and the cop who makes his life miserable – ACP Pratap Raghuvanshi,  is a hardened maverick cop. His personal vendetta against the gun nexus makes quite a chilling moments in the film tad interesting. But only temporarily. As the cop is on a mission to crack down this nexus and expose everybody involved in the illegal gun trade, he gets to outsmart Hashmi with his strategic moves and crisp oneliners.

Hashmi’s love interest turns out to be the key foil to his otherwise smooth sail. And, Hashmi who starts off with a funny Haryanvi accent in the first few scenes lets his accent  slip after a few scenes, to emerge as – as we said earlier – the man who really is a gem.

The problem with Jannat  2 is its weak plot and its lead Emraan Hashmi. He is being paired with the good looking Gupta who makes it even harder for viewers to sustain interest in him. The cast boasts of interesting actors like Manish Chaudhary, Randeep Hooda, Arif Zakaria to name a few, but they are all saddled with a lame script and predictable storyline. Music too suffers as there was no scope for songs and the two romantic numbers affect the proceedings.