Awarapan 2, the new film starring Emraan Hashmi , has been lapped by audiences. In six days at the ticket window, the sequel has grossed over ₹ 150 crore worldwide. Yet, its critical reception has not been as grand. In a chat with Hindustan Times, the film’s writer Bilal Siddiqi reflects on the reaction and how he is treating the critique.
Bilal was a school-going pre-teen when the first Awarapan released in 2007. But the writer explains that Awarapan 2 has a different tone compared with the first part. On review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a lowly approval rating of 45%. Awarapan 2 also stars Disha Patani, Shabana Azmi, Puran Gabbi, Suvinder Vicky, Vijayant Kohli, and Atul Kumar in key roles. Directed by Nitin Kakkar, the film has earned ₹ 113 crore net domestically and ₹ 161 crore gross worldwide. Earlier reporting noted: ‘Why not Jannat’: Emraan Hashmi was not sold on Awarapan 2, reveals Visheh Bhatt, softened after re-releases worked The success of Awarapan 2 almost seems like a foregone conclusion at this point. The first film, released in 2007, is a cult classic with a dedicated and loyal fan base. But hindsight is always 20/20, as they say. Earlier reporting noted: Ask him if making Awarapan 2 was a creative decision or a business decision, and Vishesh promptly says, “It was an emotional decision. Those 2-3 years, there was a lot of at-home watching, and a lot of things were being made for that.
The sequel, released last week, is already Emraan Hashmi ’s highest-grossing film. Because there were moments built for fans, such as callbacks to dialogue from the first film, “This film didn’t actually require me to detach completely as a fan,. Because the man had already lost someone, and he was living as a shell, in part one, it was a slow-burn thriller. Because of the way they approached the screenplay and the time it took to build up, there are some people who probably prefer part one. Because you just saw them cheering at every line the way you intended, “That felt like real validation.
He confesses he is a fan, but adds that this did not hinder him from writing the sequel. “When Vishesh (Bhatt, the producer) and I sat down to brainstorm this, we knew we needed to bring back the themes from part one while making it contemporary. Also, I think there’s a slight shift in the film’s tonality, driven solely by the urgency of the inciting incident. In this film, he didn’t want to lose again. Not wanting to lose again comes with a sense of urgency,” he adds. The box-office success has shown the audiences are loving the film, but the critics have been harsher. Many critics have compared it unfavourably to the first part, which was widely praised. Bilal admits he is ‘looking at everything’. Bilal adds, “It’s not like anyone has an invalid opinion. I’m reading everything and hoping to learn something from it. It’s my first film, after all. Overall, I think a large number of people have liked it. Bilal is happy about the audience’s reaction to the film. He informs he watched the film at Gaiety Galaxy in Mumbai a day after its release, with the general audience. “Till then, I’d only seen the film in the edit room with Vishesh and the director (Nitin Kakkar) and Emraan. You’d see every scene get the response you hoped it would get while writing it. So those things were extremely validating. When the film was in the ideation stage, Emraan was not very confident about it, reveals producer Vishesh Bhatt . In an exclusive chat with Hindustan Times, the filmmaker talks about how the much-anticipated sequel came to be. The filmmaker elaborates, “I think we followed a lot of things emotionally, which probably converted. That’s why the audience feels that way. Creative came from the emotional, and then comes the business. But I felt that when the cinemas open, what would I want to go and see? I felt drama was missing. Everything is being mounted with VFX and grand scale. We have done the same things here, but to support the drama. Everything looked like a very clever cover-up for lack of drama.”
So those were what the fan in me would want to see,” he says. But they also have to understand that this film, as I said earlier, is a slightly different approach to advancing the character. Earlier reporting noted: “I said it actually came from feeling a lack of emotions connecting to the audience in me during Covid.
But, when I finally got to see the film in Gaiety Galaxy on Saturday night, it felt like a stadium, and that was really fun to see,” he says.
