Murder 2

This is the country of the formula movie is what they say. And who better to understand the fine art of formula movie making that the Bhatt family. They have cracked it ages back and continue to dish out the same stale formula time and over again. But whaddya know??? It still works. The full houses @ movie halls would indicate that. Murder 2 has opened to a strong reception from the audiences who have lapped up every one of the formula movies that the Bhatts have released over the past couple of decades. And what was surprising from my perspective was the fact that the couple which was making out right next to me in the hall was actually seeing the movie for the 2nd time!!!! Aaaargh!!! Let me assure you that there is not much in Murder 2 that can make you come back for a second helping. But the woman next to me would disagree with what I say. If she had it her way, she would have jumped onto screen and licked the serial kisser to death when he says – “Haan teri biwi ne thappad maara tha jab meine uske saath raat bitane se mana kar diya tha” (your wife slapped me when I refused to sleep with her last night). Pardon me if the narration is not verbatim but it was definitely to that extent. That the crowd didn’t explode into a huge cheer and throw money on screen was only because it was Emraan Hashmi narrating the dialogue and not Rajni Saar.

Mohit Suri continues his love story with the Bhatts which started back in 2005 I think with Kalyug & Zeher – another one of those lucky directors like Abhinay Deo who gets 2 movies in his debut year. Deo can take heart coz Mohit Suri has delivered 5 more pot boilers after that and is considered to be reasonably successful. That Suri has not improved in his direction capabilities should not bother Deo much because he has definitely shown marked improvement with Delhi Belly. Mohit Suri on the other hand trusts the standard formula which distracts the audiences from seeing the oh so startling flaws in consistency. The formula is very simple actually. Every once in a while get Jackie Fernandes to take her top off and stand in a bikini and the male part of the audience is staring at the screen with the jaw on the floor and the tongue that has rolled on about 6 feet in front under the seats. The ladies are probably at the same time fuming through their ears about how anyone can look so hot. That Jackie’s role is restricted to making phone calls which don’t get a response, stripping off her bikini in a loo, smashing wine glasses, trying to act drunk (and badly at that), kissing Hashmi (and really well at that) and getting tied up at the end with scotch tape and almost killed is the disappointing part. I have always thought she is a decentish actress. This one doesn’t help her cause in Bollywood much I can assure you.

The only acting visible in the movie is that of Prashant Narayanan who is quite solid actually and a contender for this year’s awards in the Best Villain category for certain. He is ice cold and definitely makes you feel a chill down your spine. I am glad because it was time that he got a break that makes use of the immense talent that he has and doesn’t portray him as the usual “Sadak Chhap Mawali” (Street Urchin – crudely translated) that he lands up playing. What is also disappointing about this Bhatt movie is that there is only one song worth its while. Overall as below average as any of the movies starring the serial kisser. 4 on 10 is what I would give it. If I had a choice to watch Chillar Party and Murder 2, I would go for the former.

Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZkUz_fFJck