A sceene from ÔJannat 2. Jannat 2 is a tumultuous rollercoaster journey of a hard-bitten cop and his hustling informer set against the explosive murky backdrop of the arms trade in North India. Photo Courtesy Vishesh Films

Jannat 2 is a completely fresh tale, unlike Jannat

Kaleem Aftab

Director: Kunal Deshmukh
Starring: Randeep Hooda, Emraan Hashmi, Esha Gupta, Manish Chaudhary
**

Bollywood sequels are strange affairs, such as how last year's Murder 2 bore no resemblance to its predecessor, so fans of 2008's Jannat should be thankful that while much of the story and theme has changed, at least the film's director and lead actor have returned.

This completely fresh tale revolves around the love/hate friendship between an alcoholic cop, Pratap (Hooda) and an anti-hero Sonu (Hashmi), an arms dealer who becomes a police informer after falling in love with Jhanvi (Gupta).

It's a bewildering clash of genres: the intriguing buddy-buddy cop relationship takes place against the backdrop of an intense crime drama, as Sonu is used as bait to capture the big boss (Chaudhary) - all the while the dull romance is packed with trite pick-up lines and poor dance choreography.