Producer: Mukesh Bhatt. Director: Mohit Suri Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Jacqueline Fernandez, Prashant Narayanan, Sudhanshu Pandey, Sulagna Panigrahi

MUMBAI: Murder 2, like the recent Bheja Fry 2, has nothing to do with the makers‘ earlier film, Murder, but it solves the trouble to look for a fitting title while also adding a certain degree of brand equity to the film.

Bhatt brothers, Mukesh and Mahesh, work on a sort of studio system of the Hollywood of yore, choosing the film‘s hero and director from their own lot; hence the film is directed by Mohit Suri with Emraan Hashmi as hero.

In most cases, the inspirations for Bhatt films are from some odd films abroad, which are then duly well incorporated for local acceptance. The location too is the convenient Goa, which never wears out no matter how many films are shot there.

Emraan Hashmi is an ex-cop making a living by doing odd jobs for the local gangs. He gets this new assignment where he is asked to solve the mystery behind the missing live-stock of a man in flesh trade. Girls from his roaster have been going missing lately and he needs Emraan to find out as to who is behind this.

Emraan Hashmi‘s love angle is Jacqueline Fernandez, a model. Realising this to be a case of serial killing, Emraan Hashmi embarks on the trail by finding a scapegoat for the killer and this happens to be Sulagna Panigrahi, a college student turned prostitute.

The film has two peculiarities and that is – all its characters have a bad past for whatever reason and that the film is as sordid as the writers can make it to be; there is nothing pleasant about anybody or anything. The script may create a situation but usually does not know how to get out of it and just takes the viewer for granted.

The film‘s USP is thrill element and ample skin show.

Having sent a scapegoat to the suspected killer‘s place, Emraan Hashmi soon learns that she too has vanished like other girls earlier. Meanwhile, he stumbles across the villain of the piece, Prashant Narayanan; they fight, end up in a lock-up till; and finally, they meet at a temple to sort things out.

Such a film would need a strong villain to also elevate other characters and Prashant Narayanan does a spending job here, playing a self-castrated eunuch. Emraan Hashmi sticks to being his usual self. Jacqueline Fernandez gets to display only her sex-appeal in this film; rest of the cast supports very well.

Direction is fair, sticking to basics. Musically, two songs, Haal e dil…. Aa zara have popular appeal. Photography is good and adds to the thrill value of the film.

Murder 2 has taken a bumper opening response all over and that assures its recovery during its first weekend run from most circuits.

Producer: Ronnie Screwvala, Salman Khan Director: Nitesh Tiwari, Vikas Bahl Cast: Irrfan Khan, Sanath Menon, Rohan Grover, Naman Jain, Aarav Khanna, Vishesh Tiwari, Chinmay Chandranshush, Vedant Desai, Shreya Sharma, Divji Handa.

MUMBAI: Chillar Party is a children‘sfilm, after a long time. Nothing caters to the entertainment for the children of India except a few TV channels, which try vainly to Indianise their content with language usually; even the Government sponsored Children‘s FilmSociety has just proved to be a money guzzling machine.

There is not much in the name of imagination used to make Chillar Party no adventure stuff; it is about right and wrong and children Vs elders. In fact, the story could have been an episode from the popular TV Serial Tarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma.

In this hugely family-planning-conscious housing society called Chandan Nagar, where between 60 flats there are just about eight children who go to the same school, play together and generally stick together all the time. Each of them has an idiosyncrasy or trait because of which he enjoys a pet name.

However this bunch of kids, known as Chillar Party among the residents, have a cause for concern soon as a replacement car washing boy, Irrfan Khan, comes along with a dog, Bhidu, in tow. The boys have a problem with the dog since the one dog, which is already there in the society has been using their cricket pitch for poo.

In the process of separating Irrfan and Bhidu, the boys become friends with both and soon find them to be worthy of friendship too. The dog then happens to step on a wrong toe, that of a local politician who is in the vicinity to inaugurate a park. The story, as such, begins when the politician makes it his mission to get rid of Bhidu in the guise of cleansing the city of aggressive stray dogs and the Chillar party devises ways to save the dog from being taken away.

The story has little in form of exciting moments and moves on expected lines considering which more than two hours of running time is rather telling. Direction is passable. Music lacks that one number, which would become a children‘s anthem. While all kids have done a reasonable job, the weakest link is the central character, Irrfan Khan, and the one who shines in the lot is Naman Jain.

Chillar Party has had an uninspiring opening and will find it hard to sustain through the weekend.