Murder 2

About the film

Murder 2 is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language neo-noir romantic slasher film directed by Mohit Suri and produced by Mukesh Bhatt. It is 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 debutant Sulagna Panigrahi. The film was released on 8 July 2011 to mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, and became one of the highest grossing Bollywood films of 2011.

The film is reportedly an unofficial adaptation of the 2008 South Korean film The Chaser, though Bhatt denied this and claimed that it was inspired from the 2006 Nithari killings in Noida. It is remembered for its erotic scenes.

Plot

The film starts with a woman trying to entice a man dressed 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 and Priya begin a casual relationship. Priya reveals her romantic feelings for Arjun but he is not interested in a relationship. 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 is getting dumped by the man at a well full of dead bodies of women like her.

Production

Bipasha Basu was offered the leading role, but she refused. Asin rejected the part as she deemed the role of the female lead 'not powerful enough' and also declined the role. The role 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.

Filming took place in Mumbai and Goa. 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.

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".

The film opened to full houses across India with occupancy ranging from 70 to 100%, earning ₹70 million (US$730,000). The film grossed ₹228 million (US$2.4 million) in its opening weekend. After the weekend, the film grossed ₹47.5 million (US$500,000) on Monday, ₹37.5 million (US$390,000) on Tuesday and ₹32.5 million (US$340,000) on Wednesday. The film went on to gross ₹36.5 crore (US$3.8 million) in its first week, although collections were affected on 13–14 July due to the bomb blasts in Mumbai on 11 July 2011.

Soundtrack

The film's music was to be composed by the original film composer of the previous installemnts Anu Malik. He even recorded the first song but was replaced by new composers. The film's score was composed by Raju Singh, while the soundtrack was eventually composed by Mithoon, Harshit Saxena and Sangeet-Siddharth. The lyrics were written by Mithoon, Kumaar, and Sayeed Quadri.

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.

Key details