Murder 2 review

Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Jacqueline Fernandez, Prashant Narayanan, Sudhanshu Pandey

Directed by Mohit Suri

Rating: *

Mahesh Bhatt presents (a squirt of paan). A Vikram Bhatt production (a spew of ketchup). A Mohit Suri film (a splash of red curry). When the credits roll like this, it's not surprising that 60 percent of the film has some substitute for blood being spat on the screen. 'Murder 2' is, as you would imagine, a bloody thriller.

The film's lead hero, Arjun (Emraan Hashmi) is Goa's very own Robin Hood. An ex-cop who is now engaged in almost all illegal operations that can be managed wearing a leather jacket. He doesn't believe in God but regularly visits church to donate fat bundles of money to orphans. And yes, somewhere towards the end of the film, he does reinstate his allegiance to Christianity, inappropriately accompanied by the song 'Aye Khuda Mil Gaya'. And what transforms him into a believer is a series of painfully graphic and ridiculously illogical incidents.
Arjun's lady love, Priya (Jacqueline Fernandez) models for sleazy magazines. Naturally, in every two out of her three scenes, Priya is required to shed some part of her clothing. So, for anatomy students, it couldn't be a better way to learn the human body. Most of Priya's dialogues are lost inside Arjun's mouth as he indulges her in one smooch-athon after another. And when she does get a chance to speak, it's a bit out of sync like the late-night dubbed teleshopping ads.
But what really adds thrill and lots of screams into this thriller is a cross-dressing psycho-killer, Dheeraj Pandey (Prashant Narayanan), who loves mutilating sex workers while singing 'Bheegey Hont Tere', unmelodiously and with sadistic lyrics. Why? Because his characterization is deep fried. Oddly enough, he gets caught early in the film and even confesses to his sinister deeds. But there are so many reels left? So, Arjun is assigned the task to find clues and evidence to corroborate Pandey's confession by a bewildered cop (Sudhanshu Pandey). And just to double the excitement, he has to do all this over a night.
Will Arjun manage to flick his Little Richard bangs and save Pandey's last victim? Despite confessing to finely chopping several whores, will Pandey be let off for his odd political connections? Will Priya's lips continue moving for seconds after her dialogue completes? These questions are only rhetorical and best unanswered.
The dialogues in this film are downright tacky. An interaction between the lead pair just after a ferocious make-out session goes like this. Priya: "Khaaye, Piye, Khiskay? Arjun: "Hotel mein khaane ke baad koi baitha rehta hain kya?" But the dialogues don't even compare to the magnitude of clichés in the plot. Arjun's 'Ma-Behen-Baap' have all deceased due to poverty. Eunuchs have been portrayed as a cult that worships the devil and let's not even get into the cop with the fake Goan accent.
The film's sound effects could have you shrinking into your seat. But largely, it's less scary and more disturbing. Emraan manages a great job of letting his mouth do all the acting but his constipated expressions are only marginally different from his remaining expressions. Jacqueline is an ideal pin-up girl and those considering this film just to get a glimpse of her would be happy to overlook her lack of acting skills or inability to enunciate.
One could safely call this film as the 'Silence of the Bhatts', with Emraan almost managing the Jodie Foster hairdo. And since the penalty for several murders is the same as that for one, let's just hope the third one is a bit more premeditated.