Murder 2 : *** 1/2

Murder was "apparantly" a pathbreaker when it released. The credit for that went to the sensous scenes and the darebare attitude of a certain upcoming actress called Mallika Sherawat. So when the trailors of Murder 2 started coming out, it became evident early on that we were in for another "insignificant murder, hot scenes" movie... basically everything Emraan Hashmi is known for. Director Mohit Suri ( Kalyug, Woh Lamhe, Awarapan, Raaz 2 ) though springs a pleasant surprise. If the first movie ran on the Mallika mantra, this time the USP is the one character noone focussed on in the trailors - the villain.

Emraan plays an ex-cop who's working now for pimps as their muscleman. There is an atheist angle also placed there ( a la Awarapan ) but the movie doesn't really delve into it. Anyway, as Christmas approaches, callgirls are disappearing in Goa and one of the pimps asks Emraan to help find his girls.

Emraan springs the idea of setting the lamb amongst the wolves to trap the guy behind what he believes is a case of human trafficking. And thus, a young college girl ( debutant Sulagna Panigrahi ) who's getting started into prostitution becomes the lamb sent to trap the wolf. Emraan manages to catch the antagonist ( Prashant Narayanan ) and even end up in jail with him but there are some key questions at the back of his ( and our ) mind : What happened to the young girl who's missing because of him ? Why is the villain so confidently admitting his crimes in prison ?

Performance wise, Emraan Hashmi does a good job as the guy who's wracked with guilt over the girl's fate and moves heaven and hell to find out the truth behind the killer.Jacqueline Fernandez is hot. Smoking hot. That's it. Her role is strictly secondary as Emraan's girlfriend seeking a commitment.

For once, the award for best male and female acting perfomances in a movie goes to the two characters who are not seen in the trailors. Sulagna Panigrahi as the young terrorised girl is a revelation. Her natural act and genuine fear... I've seen more accomplished actresses struggle to achieve the same. A very encouraging debut, indeed.

And what can you say about Prashant Narayanan ? He gives Bollywood something it sorely lacked - a genuine serial killer. He is cold, calculating, remorseless - he is sick, vile and violent beyond compare. The best moments of the film are spent waiting for his scenes - partly out of anticipation and partly out of fear. The true nature of his character comes through as the film progresses and it is not a pleasant sight.

Mohit Suri is a highly underrated director and this film is just a perfect example of that. This is a much darker film than Bollywood is used to. As usual, it is 'inspired' from a Korean Movie 'The Chaser', but having watched both, I actually liked the Indian version. Even though the villain is in custody early on, you still don't feel safe and that says a lot. This is a movie which definitely deserves it's "A" rating, but for once, it's more for the sense of unease you feel around the villain, rather than the scenes themselves.