Murder 2

Murder 2 is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language psychological crime thriller film and the second installment in the Murder film series. A quasi-sequel to the 2004 film, Murder, it stars Emraan Hashmi, Jacqueline Fernandez and Prashant Narayanan, and features Sulagna Panigrahi as a debutant. Directed by Mohit Suri and produced by Mukesh Bhatt, the film was released on 8 July 2011 and became one of the highest grossing Bollywood films of 2011. The film is alleged to be based on the 2008 South Korean film The Chaser, though Bhatt denied this and said that it was inspired from the 2006 Nithari killings in Noida. However, Narayanan in 2023 admitted to the film being a remake of The Chaser. The film is remembered for its erotic scenes.

Plot
The film starts with a woman trying to entice a man later dressing in a woman's outfit, who later kills her.

Arjun Bhagwat is a money-hungry ex-cop involved in committing crimes. An atheist, he regularly visits the church to donate money to orphans. At the church, he comes into contact with Priya, a model. Arjun seems to kiss her initially without her consent, but she later gives in and both of them end up at her home. Priya reveals to harbor romantic feelings for Arjun. However, Arjun only lusts after Priya's marvelous body. He asks her to find someone else if she wants love, as Arjun can only have a no-strings-attached relationship, and nothing else.

Meanwhile, the girl who got killed was getting dumped by the man at a well full of dead bodies of those women like her.

Arjun makes a deal with a gangster and pimp, Sameer, to solve the mystery of the unexplained disappearance of his prostitutes. While investigating, Arjun finds a phone number linked to the missing girls. He tells Sameer to send a prostitute to that number. Sameer decides to send Reshma, a college newcomer in the business, who has chosen this work to feed her family but keeps this a secret from them. Reshma is sent to the house of Dheeraj Pandey who is a psychopathic murderer responsible for torturing and killing the missing hookers including Jyoti (who gets killed at the beginning of the film). He decides to do the same with Reshma and throws her in a dark well, to torture her till she dies.

Arjun discovers that Dheeraj is the murderer and informs the police. While Dheeraj is in jail, the commissioner calls a psychiatrist Dr. Sania to extract his confession. Dheeraj tells the doctor that he kills women because he thinks they take advantage of men. Dheeraj is eventually released under Nirmala Pandit's influence. Meanwhile, Reshma escapes from the well and tries to find her way through the forest.

Arjun meets Dheeraj's family, and the family reveals that Dheeraj used to beat his wife. Up next, he meets a private dancer, Sonia, who was also tortured by Dheeraj but managed to escape. Arjun then meets an idol-maker who used to work with Dheeraj. The maker tells him that Dheeraj used to make idols of devils instead of deities and killed the factory owner who tried to stop him. Inspector Sadaa (Sudhanshu Pandey) informs Arjun that Dheeraj is free, and the police try to track him down as quickly as possible. Nirmala and Dheeraj enter the same temple where Reshma is hiding. Nirmala and the priest, who had both been unaware of Dheeraj's true nature, are killed by Dheeraj, but not before the priest reveals that Reshma is also there. Dheeraj finds the terrified Reshma who urinates (out of fear) on seeing him. Dheeraj then brutally murders her, escaping just before Arjun and the cops arrive. Arjun finds Reshma's body and breaks down, feeling guilty and responsible for her death.

Dheeraj targets Priya next, whom he calls for a photo shoot and tries to torture, but Arjun saves her, engaging Dheeraj in a fight as police officers show up. They request Arjun not to kill Dheeraj. Dheeraj then plays the tape he recorded when he was torturing Reshma. Hearing Reshma's pleading cries, Arjun, tormented by her death and blaming himself for it, furiously stabs Dheeraj multiple times until being stopped by inspector Sadaa, but after witnessing the bestiality of Dheeraj in the form of Reshma's cries, Sadaa ultimately shoots him, ending his reign of terror once and for all. As the film ends, Arjun visits a church with Priya, implying that he has faith in God and Priya's near-death has made him realize his love for her.

Cast

 * Emraan Hashmi as Arjun Bhagawat, an ex-police officer turned criminal, who is an atheist and is in a casual relationship with a model, Priya. He tries his best to search for and protect the missing hookers, including Reshma.
 * Jacqueline Fernandez as Priya, A pretty but lonely model, who is in a passionate but confused relationship with Arjun.
 * Prashant Narayanan as Dheeraj Pandey, a misogynistic and psychopathic serial killer who pretends to be a customer, calls the hookers and murders them.
 * Sulagna Panigrahi as Reshma, a poor college girl, who enters prostitution to feed her family. She is later killed by Dheeraj Pandey.
 * Sudhanshu Pandey as Inspector Sadaa, an inspector and a friend of Arjun, who helps him to save the missing hookers.
 * Sandeep Sikand as Nirmala Pandit, a man who used to be Dheeraj's mentor and is killed by him.
 * Bikramjeet Kanwarpal as Commissioner Ahmed Khan, a commissioner who tries to solve the murder case.
 * Shweta Kawatra as Psychiatrist Dr. Sania, in a Special Appearance.
 * Amardeep Jha as Reshma's mother.
 * Abhijit Lahiri as Dheeraj Pandey's father
 * Jhuma Biswas as the Hostel Warden
 * Santosh Sahu as a Male Prostitute.
 * Yana Gupta as Jyoti, the girl who was murdered by Dheeraj (special appearance in the song "Aa Zara")

Production and filming
The film was shot in Mumbai and Goa. Earlier, Bipasha Basu was offered the part of the leading lady, but she refused. Then Mohit Suri offered the leading role to Asin Thottumkal, who deemed the role of the female lead 'not powerful enough' and also declined the role. The part was then offered to Jacqueline Fernandez, though actress Sonal Chauhan was also considered.

After declining the lead role, Basu was offered the item number "Aa Zara". When she declined again, the role was offered to Yana Gupta, who accepted.

The scene featuring the song "Haal-E-Dil" had to be partly re-shot in order to make it more suitable for use in television promos.

Yana Gupta's item number "Aa Zara" was not shown during television promos as it was deemed too violent for audiences under 18. Instead, an alternative music video for the song was shot with Jacqueline Fernandez and Emraan Hashmi, which was aired on television and was used to promote the song. The original scene with Yana was still used in the film.

The DVD of the film was released on 1 August 2011.

Critical reception
Murder 2 received mixed to positive reviews from various critics of India. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave it 4/5 stars and wrote: "Murder 2 is one of the finest crime stories to come out of the Hindi film industry. Also, as a film, it lives up to the expectations that you may associate from a sequel of a smash hit". Nikhat Kazmi of The Times Of India gave it 3.5/5 stars commenting, "Murder 2 has enough to give the masses a mast time". IANS gave it 3/5 stars. Komal Nahta of Koimoi rated Murder 2 with 3/5 stars and said that "it doesn't have too much to offer in terms of entertainment as it is a dark film but its plus points are the abundant sex scenes and the good music. Its reasonable budget on the one hand, and wonderful recovery from sale of its satellite, music and worldwide theatrical rights on the other have ensured that the producers have made a handsome profit before release". Pankaj Sabnani of Glamsham gave it 3/5 stars, while writing that "an intriguing plot supported by superb performances, make MURDER 2 a 'killer' film". Daily Bhaskar also gave it 3/5 stars, stating that "if Emraan plus Jacqueline under the name Murder 2 don't arise your interest enough, then the story will surely do the trick".

Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the movie 2.5/5 stars. Raja Sen of Rediff gave it 1.5/5 stars and wrote in his review: "Murder 2 is flat, boring and not worth talking about. Even Emraan, sporting less stubble than usual, seems baby-faced as he goes through the motions. It might be inspired by some obscure film, but I don't even care enough to look for its name. By now, I've come to accept that the Bhatts have a bigger DVD collection than me. I do wish they'd stop flaunting it, though". Sudhish Kamath of The Hindu said: "At best, Murder 2 is a show reel for the talented Prashant Narayanan, a men's room glossy featuring the saucy Jacqueline Fernandez and just another day on the job for serial kisser Emraan Hashmi".

Box office
The film opened with full houses across India with occupancy ranging from 70 to 100%, earning inr 70000000. The film grossed inr 228000000 in its opening weekend. After the weekend, the film grossed inr 47500000 on Monday, inr 37500000 on Tuesday and inr 32500000 on Wednesday. The film went on to gross inr 365000000 in its first week, although collections were affected on 13–14 July due to the bomb blasts in Mumbai on 11 July 2011. , Box Office India claimed that it was the 28th biggest opening week of all time. The movie dominated the single screens despite new releases and grossed inr 205000000 in the second week despite limited multiplex release. Murder 2 grossed approximately inr 850000000 at the Indian box office. The all India distributor share stood at inr 250000000. Overall the film collected a gross of ₹115 crore with a budget of ₹50 crore worldwide.

Track list
The film's music was to be composed by the original murder film composer Anu Malik. He even recorded the first song but was sacked and replaced by new composers. The film's score was composed by Raju Singh, while the songs were composed by Mithoon, Harshit Saxena and Sangeet-Sidharath. All songs became popular in 2011. Lyrics are penned by Mithoon, Kumaar and Sayeed Quadri.

Reception
The album received positive reviews from critics. Joginder Tuteja from Bollywood Hungama gave the album a 3/5 stars saying that "Murder 2 turns out to be a good deal overall". Musicaloud gave the album 3.5/5 stars.

Sequel
After the success of the first two installments, the producers released a third film Murder 3, on 15 February 2013. The film, which was an official remake of Spanish film The Hidden Face, starred Randeep Hooda, Aditi Rao Hydari and Sara Loren in lead roles. However, unlike the earlier parts, it was an average grosser at the box office.