Awarapan 2 Review: Emraan Hashmi Finds Shivam Pandit Again in a Story About Loss, Love and Redemption

Awarapan 2 Review: Emraan Hashmi Finds Shivam Pandit Again in a Story About Loss, Love and Redemption

Director: Nitin Kakkar

Writer: Bilal Siddiqui, Vishesh Bhatt

Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Disha Patani, Shabana Azmi

Duration: 140 Minutes

Rating: 4

It is not easy to bring back a character after almost two decades, especially one that became such an important part of an actor's identity. But Shivam Pandit was never just another role for Emraan Hashmi. In Awarapan (2007), he played a hitman who looked like he had nothing left to lose, yet carried an enormous amount of emotion beneath that cold exterior. The film found its audience over the years and eventually became a cult favourite. Awarapan 2 knows it has to live with that legacy, but instead of spending two hours trying to recreate the first film, it asks a more interesting question — what happens to Shivam after all these years?

The answer begins in a graveyard. Shivam is still visiting Aaliyah's grave when fate puts another abandoned child in front of him. He takes the infant to an orphanage and begins quietly looking after her, eventually naming her Aaliyah. There is something touching about the gesture because Shivam isn't trying to replace the woman he lost; he is simply trying to protect someone when he couldn't protect the person who mattered most to him. When a couple comes forward to adopt the girl, Shivam accepts it despite her reluctance, believing that a family will give her a better future. He soon discovers that the couple are actually linked to an international child-trafficking syndicate. And when Interpol informs him that the girl has been kidnapped, Shivam has to make a choice he thought he had already made years ago — return to the world of crime.

What makes the setup work is that Shivam isn't looking for a fight. He is dragged into one. Interpol wants his help in bringing down the trafficking network, but his reason for getting involved is Aaliyah. The film therefore gives his violence an emotional trigger. This is not a man suddenly deciding that he wants to be a gangster again. He knows exactly what that life has cost him. Yet when someone he feels responsible for is in danger, all those old instincts return. From there, Awarapan 2 opens up into a much larger crime thriller, dealing with trafficking, organised crime, drugs, revenge and sacrifice. The first film was more intimate and inward-looking; this one is clearly built on a larger scale, with action and spectacle playing a much bigger role.

Emraan Hashmi is at his best when he doesn't have to explain everything his character is feeling, and that works particularly well here. Shivam has aged, and there is a tiredness to him that wasn't there in the same way before. He isn't trying to prove how dangerous he is. He has already lived through that phase. Hashmi plays the character with a controlled intensity, allowing the silences to do some of the work. When the violence comes, it feels less like an introduction to a hero and more like an old part of Shivam's personality that he wishes he could keep buried. His return also carries the weight of his long association with Vishesh Films. There is a particular emotional and musical style associated with the Emraan Hashmi-Bhatt combination, and Awarapan 2 clearly knows how much that association means to its audience.

The film's other characters keep the story from becoming entirely dependent on Shivam. Disha Patani plays Zara, who is caught in a criminal world she did not necessarily choose for herself. Her brother Zorawar, played by Puran Gabbi, is involved in the drug trade, and that family connection puts Zara in a difficult position. Patani brings a vulnerability to Zara that gives her portions of the story some emotional grounding. Gabbi, on the other hand, is one of the film's more interesting discoveries. There is something unpredictable about his performance, and he manages to give Zorawar menace without turning him into a familiar gangster stereotype. Shabana Azmi plays Nafisa, who operates at the centre of the trafficking network, and her presence gives the film the kind of authority that the character demands. Suvinder Vicky as Jaideep, Vijayant Kohli as Mehmood, Atul Kumar as Samarth and Aniruddh Rawal as Sikandar also add to the film's expanding world.

And then there is the music, which is almost a character in the Awarapan franchise itself. Mithoon, Amaal Mallik and Jeet Gannguli continue that musical legacy, with lyrics by Sayeed Quadri and Rashmi Virag. "Tera Mera Rishta" and "Toh Phir Aao" return in reimagined versions by Mithoon, while Arijit Singh's "Yeh Awarapan" gives the sequel a new emotional anthem. What works here is that the songs don't feel like they're simply being inserted because the franchise needs a soundtrack. They belong to the story. They help establish mood, carry Shivam's emotions and add to the sense of longing that runs through the film. And this is one soundtrack that makes more sense on the big screen. The theatre sound gives the compositions a different weight, and when the music, visuals and action come together, Awarapan 2 becomes much more of an audio-visual experience.

Vishesh Bhatt's role in taking the franchise forward is also important. As the co-producer of the original and now the writer-producer of Awarapan 2, Bhatt has clearly approached this as more than a nostalgia project. His vision of turning Awarapan into a franchise gives the sequel a larger purpose. Nitin Kakkar and the creative team follow that direction while giving the film its own identity. Interestingly, the marketing campaign begins to look different once the movie has been seen. Some of the things teased beforehand are deliberately better understood within the film, and that gives audiences a reason to experience the story rather than simply rely on the trailers. It is also why the theatrical setting matters here. The action, music and scale have been designed to work with an audience and on a large screen.

Awarapan 2 doesn't try to convince you that it is the same film you watched in 2007. It isn't, and it shouldn't be. Cinema has changed, Emraan Hashmi has changed and, most importantly, Shivam Pandit has changed. The sequel takes the emotional DNA of the original and puts it into a bigger, more commercial crime thriller. At times, the scale comes at the expense of the raw intimacy that made the first film so memorable, but the heart of Shivam's story remains intact. Emraan Hashmi brings the character back with conviction, Disha Patani adds emotional weight, Puran Gabbi makes a strong impression, Shabana Azmi brings gravitas and the music keeps the franchise connected to its roots. Vishesh Bhatt's larger franchise vision gives it direction. After 19 years, Shivam Pandit doesn't feel like a character being brought back simply because audiences remember him. He feels like a man whose story still has somewhere to go. Rating: