Awarapan 2 Review: Emraan Hashmi Goes Massy

Awarapan 2 may give Emraan Hashmi the massy comeback his fans have been waiting for, but nostalgia can only do so much, notes Sreeju Sudhakaran.

IMAGE: Emraan Hashmi in Awarapan 2.

 

Much like Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Shivam Pandit (Emraan Hashmi) has somehow returned from the dead in Awarapan 2. Naturally, this negates the emotional poignancy of the Awarapan climax, where he finally reunited with his deceased lover in jannat.

So why is Shivam suddenly alive, besides the obvious fact that producers see a golden opportunity in the current craze for legacy sequels?

The protagonist himself asks this very question at the grave of his beloved Aaliyah (Shriya Saran). There, he discovers an abandoned baby, names her Aaliyah, and watches over her at a local orphanage until she is adopted.

Not long enough, it is this new Aaliyah (Myrah Shivan) who forces Shivam back into his violent ways after she falls prey to a child trafficking ring. This time, the grim action shifts from the streets of Hong Kong to the seedy underbelly of Bangkok.

The Awarapan Legacy

The original Awarapan, as an unofficial remake of the Korean thriller A Bittersweet Life, stands as a prime example of a box office disappointment evolving into a massive cult favourite.

Fans had connected with the hero’s enduring trauma and his spiritual redemption. I always harboured a minor gripe with that messaging, as it essentially implied Shivam’s atheism drove him down a dark road, while religion offered the sole route to moral salvation. Still, the narrative choice worked perfectly for Awarapan. Add in a stellar, albeit borrowed, soundtrack, and the lasting appeal makes total sense.

Taking the reins from original director Mohit Suri, Nitin Kakkar clearly understands Awarapan‘s legacy.

He channels the protagonist’s persistent grief into a fresh chapter, pushing Shivam to liberate a new flock of ‘pigeons’. Beyond rescuing young Aaliyah, Shivam takes it upon himself to free the ‘poor’ rich girl Zara (Disha Patani) and her autistic elder brother Sikandar (Aniruddh Rawal). Their captor is their ruthless younger sibling, Zorawar (Puran Gabbi), who usurped his father’s criminal empire through cold-blooded murder.

Zorawar now commands the same trafficking syndicate holding Aaliyah hostage, while continuing his father’s turf war against a rival faction led by the formidable Nafisa (Shabana Azmi).

Dhurandhar Redux

Is Awarapan 2 a remake like its predecessor?

While the makers might not have a specific source material in mind, the screenplay feels incredibly familiar. I am sure there would viewers out there who will quickly draw parallels with the recent blockbuster Dhurandhar. Both films feature a protagonist with a fractured past who infiltrates and dismantles a criminal syndicate from the inside, earning the villain’s trust through violent encounters.

Let’s be fair, Dhurandhar hardly invented this trope. We have seen similar Donnie Brasco setups play out countless times before.

Dhurandhar won over its fanbase through an unabashed display of alpha masculinity, no-holds-barred violence and a heavy dose of cross-border bashing. Awarapan 2, on the other hand, tries to win you over simply by reminding you how much you loved the first film.

The sequel aggressively uses flashback footage to recount Shivam’s past exploits, strangely forgetting that the audience’s strong memory of those exact events is the very reason this project was greenlit.

The narrative constantly insists that Shivam still pines for his deceased girlfriend Aaliyah, never minding the fact his heart instantly flutters the moment a pretty new woman enters his life.

The sequel drops in two cameo appearances from the original cast purely for fan service. It ignores the glaring eventuality of why these figures look noticeably older (and with wrinkles) in Shivam’s hallucinations.

Another sequence sees Shivam buried alive on a rainy night, this time trapped in a pit filled with salt. It might have served as a cool callback, but you are left wondering why his captors used a substance that rapidly dissolves in water, that would have rendered his punch-heavy escape completely unnecessary.

Awarapan 2‘s biggest weapon

When all else fails, Awarapan 2 deploys its biggest weapon: The iconic track Tera Mera Rishta Purana and its variations. The multi-placement of the track is effectual, and in one scene, it even brings back the Chinese monks when Shivam is caught in a tight spot and desperately needs a musical reminder not to revert to atheism.

The nostalgia of the song keeps hitting the sweet spot, mostly because the new soundtrack is never given enough room to leave an impression. But relying on a single song to carry an entire movie is a flawed strategy. Whenever the music finally stops, the sheer ordinariness of the screenplay hits you with full force.

From the moment an Interpol officer (Atul Kumar) recruits Shivam to bust a child trafficking ring, a heavy sense of déjà vu sets in. From there, Awarapan 2 glides through predictable motions that you would expect from a thriller of this kind.

The first half follows Shivam as he manipulates his way into Zorawar’s outfit, working hard to impress the boss and infiltrate the inner circle. A high-octane car chase following a funeral shootout, capped by Shivam squaring off with the gang, does deliver a welcome touch of mass appeal.

But once Awarapan 2 settles into its core premise, it offers virtually no surprises. The narrative falls back on the tired trope of the villains discovering a mole in their ranks, sparking a frantic hunt for the traitor.

The only twist that genuinely lands is the reveal of the mole’s identity, arriving right before the interval. After that fleeting high, the film is content to walk through standard genre beats without bothering to elevate the writing to suit the stakes.

Naturally, the villains catch up with the traitor amidst them, yet bizarrely choose to keep him alive and hand him over to the police. The script never explains why ruthless killers would suddenly spare a rat just to send him to corrupt cops already on their payroll.

The performances

Shivam constantly mutters that death has forsaken him, but in reality, it is just the lazy screenplay handing him one convenient reprieve after another.

The romantic track between Shivam and Zara is passable at best, largely because the chemistry between Hashmi and Patani is virtually non-existent. It feels as though something is constantly holding them back, and I can assure that it is not Aaliyah’s ghost.

On the bright side, there is a noticeable improvement in Disha Patani’s performance, even when she is styled in distractingly glamorous outfits. Ultimately, though, she is just another female character waiting to be rescued by the hero, albeit with a slightly different backstory.

As for Emraan Hashmi, his fans might appreciate the incremental mass treatment of his character. The actor goes shirtless multiple times to show off the ripped physique he sculpted for Tiger 3, putting it to good use in a couple of solid action sequences. But the climax shootout is strictly average. Relying heavily on highly convenient character turnarounds to aid the hero and a lacklustre standoff, the finale just doesn’t deliver the gut punch that the first film had.

It is hard to fault Emraan Hashmi’s performance, as the actor commits with total sincerity to his long-awaited return to playing one of his iconic characters. He channels the pain and anguish of the protagonist quite effectively, even if those emotions are largely just spilling over from the first film.

The way Awarapan 2 wastes the formidable talents of Shabana Azmi is genuinely disappointing. She appears in a mere handful of scenes, projecting an easy authoritarianism that she could pull off in her sleep.

Instead of giving her something substantial to do, the script reduces her to a mere plot device, existing solely to stir the pot and nudge the narrative forward. If you are expecting fireworks from the veteran actress, you will be left with a damp display by the end.

Puran Gabbi (actress Wamiqa Gabbi’s brother) certainly leaves a mark as the primary antagonist. It is an incredibly showy turn. It feels as though he was instructed to watch The Dark Knight and closely mimic the chaotic body language of the Joker. While his commitment to the bit is undeniable, his character ultimately fails to evolve beyond surface-level, deranged theatrics.

Finally, there is the fantastic Suvinder Vicky, playing one of the three commanders in Zorawar’s syndicate. He occupies the suspicious side-villain role, serving as the immediate roadblock the hero must keep dodging upon infiltrating the outfit.

The only intriguing aspect of his character is the firm moral line he draws against child trafficking. Bizarrely, this trait entirely contradicts his close friendship with a known paedophile within the very same crew. It is yet another glaring example of the screenplay struggling with basic consistency.

Awarapan 2 may give Emraan Hashmi the massy comeback his fans have been waiting for, but nostalgia can only do so much. Beneath Hashmi’s performance, callbacks and familiar music lies a screenplay far too ordinary to match the builtup legacy of its predecessor.

Awarapan 2 Review Rediff Rating: