'Jannat 2'; Emraan, Randeep Shine In Sequel Gone Bust…

Four years post the release of his original 'Jannat', director Kunal Deshmukh tries his best to turn his debut into a franchise. However, as one sees, while 'Jannat 2' does have its moments, the general predictability of the plot and the inflated dialogues of the film mean that this one is a less-than-appealing effort.

The film brings Deshmukh back together with his favourite star, Emraan Hashmi, who stars here as Sonu Dilli, K.K.C., those last three alphabets standing for Kutti Kameeni Cheez. Sonu is an illegal gun seller in Delhi, who's happy making a quick buck as long as he doesn't know what is happening with those guns that he's selling. His moral outlook changes though, when he runs into Dr. Jaanvi, played by Esha Gupta, who he falls instantly in love with, and is willing to turn an honest, upright man to marry. However, by this time, Sonu has unwittingly become a pawn in a larger game of cat-and-mouse between the angsty ACP Pratap, played by Randeep Hooda, who wants to bring the illegal arms business to an end, and arms kingpin Mangal Singh Tomar, played by Manish Choudhary.

The problem with the plot, penned by Shagufta Rafique, is that it moves in such a way that there are few moments in the film that actually come as surprises. To top that, some elements, like that of Pratap being obsessed with his dead wife, are forced into the story in such an obtuse and ham-handed manner, that you can't help but chuckle, at least. To complete the picture, Sanjay Masoomm churns out such pedantic dialogues, like starting a conversation between two girlfriends with the line, “teri hansi kahan gayi”, that one can't quite wrap one's head around it.

What salvages the film to an extent though, are the performances it features. Though he may have had to shake off his lover-boy tag to achieve it, it's become clear in the last couple of years that Emraan Hashmi is one truly talented actor. Here too, the new A-lister does his best to deliver, though it's an ill-etched role. However, with Randeep Hooda turning in brilliantly smouldering performance as ACP Pratap, Hashmi finds his thunder stolen. Indeed, it is Hooda who lights up the film every time he is on screen in his angst-ridden, maverick cop avatar here, making it worth the watch just for him.

Esha Gupta is featured here simply as a pretty face, with most of her scenes seeming like they're part of some larger ad campaign for elaborate sarees. Manish Chowdhary is a bit over the top at times as the deadly Mangal Singh, but the 'Rocket Singh' actor covers up well anyway. Brijendra Kala and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub are both effortless as right hand men of Pratap and Sonu respectively, while Arif Zakaria is fine in his minor role.

The big draw of any Bhatt movie is the music, and here, it's their regular Pritam who delivers the goods, with 'tera deedar hua' and 'tujhe sochta hoon' being the standout tracks.

Though the film's writing and execution seems to have made a hash of things, 'Jannat 2' is worth a watch solely for the play between Emraan Hashmi and Randeep Hooda. That apart, one can hope that these actors seek out better plots than these to feature in the next time around. 'Jannat 2' earns just two stars for its two stars…