Awarapan 2 — Review

Shivam Pandit was believed dead twenty years ago. He comes back to break a child trafficking ring in Bangkok after a girl he gave up for adoption goes missing. It is a fine idea for a revenge thriller, and the film never really develops it past that one line.

Reviewers who disliked the film were clear about why. The writing is where it falls down. The link to the first film is thin, things happen too conveniently, and you are told the stakes rather than shown them.

Kakkar knows what the audience came for and gives it to them early. The film moves quickly and the action scenes have enough swagger to work in a full theatre.

Between those scenes it sags. The quieter stretches, which is where the first Awarapan found its sadness, are where this one is least sure of itself.

This is a reminder of what Emraan Hashmi does well. He is brooding, physically committed, and reviewers found him likeable even when they disliked everything around him.

Raghav Juyal got some of the strongest notices of anyone. One review built its headline around him. Shabana Azmi brings real weight to a small role. Disha Patani is given very little to do.

The Bangkok setting gives the film texture and the action is shot cleanly. It looks more expensive than the story is ambitious.

The style is standard for this kind of film. Nobody praised or attacked it much, which tells you it does its job without drawing attention.

The mass-entertainer approach worked with the audience it was aimed at. One trade review even predicted it would be among the year’s bigger hits on that strength.

Not everyone agrees. The 2 out of 5 reviews came from critics judging it as a sequel to a film with a cult following for its mood, which this one does not try to recreate.