“Why should boys have all the fun?”
Well we have cerebral Pooja Bhatt not just taking a call but making a clear if
leisurely statement. With two hunks and a porn star you know that this is
uninhibited Bhatt product. However the promos of the film are its greatest
undoing. It raises expectations ( sorry for the poor pun) and delivers a
product far superior to the promise. This disappoints a whole section of the
audience that hoped to see the film as a indulgence in legitimate voyeurism.
To the credit of Pooja Bhatt it must be said that she has made an adult film
not necessarily a sex dosed film. Viewed from this angle it is adult without
being lewd. It undoing is the audience that has had salacious expectations and
are disappointed that the narration falls short of their expectations. We also
have an audience that has not come to terms with a man woman intimacy of screen
and betray a near eagerness to see the act than the foreplay. The lewd comments
throughout the film from the audience is a poor reflection on the Indian
collective and is paradoxical that it is so viewed on a day when the citizenry
has chosen to take the bull by the horns on the concept of corruption (Ref:
Anna’s announcement on joining mainstream politics) In the dark consigns of a
theatre, unnoticed, we lay bare our lack of sophistication. In that sense, the
audience is a bigger let down than the film and/ or its content.
Jism 2 is a Mahesh Bhatt take on Dhoom. It does not have the sophistry and
richness of the Yash Raj platform. It has the punch and rawness typical of
Bhatt. The story is about planting a person to catch the crook and a constant
dilemma whether the planted person is reliable or is suffering the Stockholm
syndrome. Izna ( Sunny Leone) is picked by an intelligence body headed by Guru
( Arif Zakaria) through Ayaan ( Arunoday Singh) to be planted in the life of
Kabir ( Randeep Hooda) an in exile killer . A quick look at the past at this
stage is that Izna has had an affair with Kabir before he just disappeared from
her life. Like a teaser on the cover of a best seller, he attracted her but
left her without cause or explanation.
Izna and Ayaan reach a fancy resort in Sri Lanka as accidental neighbours of
Kabir. Kabir is said to have some where lost his balance and is living his
luxurious life with no company save his Man Friday Sumin ( Imran Zahid) . While
Izna walks into Kabir’s life he initially suspects her motive but soon gives in
to her alluring charms (frankly conspicuously absent). The twists and turns of
this love hate and political intrigue leads to a lot of blood and constant
volley of confidence crisis among the principal characters. It finally ends
where it all begins with blood death and a dramatic declaration that life in
Bhatt’s world is nasty, fatal and the one big bonus is love seen again as a
four letter word.
The screenplay by Mahesh Bhatt is disappointing and takes the film though jerky
routes and throws up a few loose ends. Nigam Bomzan ( cinematography) is very
pleasing to the eye. He steps away from the dark stereo type of such cinema and
chooses a hue of blue that is symbolic and pleasant to the eye. Sunny Leone is
obviously there to show more than do and thus fits the bill. Arunodhay Singh is
beefy but lost . Randeep Hooda is the surprise packet. He delivers the right
note and manages a heady mix of the playing the hunk with the heart. The
slightly disturbed angle to his character adds to the challenge. Above all, for
all its flaws, the film needs to be appreciated for the effort of Pooja Bhatt
who is willing to take on a bold film and does not get carried away by just
presenting the audience with skin and smooch. For one who is willing to pierce
through the voyeuristic detail and give the emotional content of the film some
thought, for one who is willing to see style over sex, Jism 2 could be an
interesting if not absorbing take.
L. Ravichander.