Jism 2 Review – Don’t hold your breath

Those of us who have been surfing the internet for more than five years now, will surely be acquainted with Sunny Leone.

They will also be aware that Sunny, like her namesake whose hands weigh 2.5 kilos each, will stop at nothing to entertain the audience. We are also aware that she is capable of more than one expression.

What we didn’t know however, was whether she could act in a Hindi film.

Like many other Doubting Thomases, I walked into the cinema hall to watch Jism 2.

Over the years, erotica has been fused with other genres in cinema. There is of course, erotica with drama in thrillers, erotica with horror in the countless date horror movies, erotica with gore like in the Hostel series.

Jism 2 goes where no other film has gone. It is erratica mixed with unintended humour.

I always thought that Sunny Leone was quite pretty. And honestly, if Celina Jaitley and Tanushree Dutta can survive for ten years here, surely acting cannot be that much of a burden. I thought history was being made in Hindi cinema.

Within five minutes, I was laughing.

Sunny Leone plays Izna, a porn star who is contracted by Intelligence officials to spy on a suspected terrorist who has a lot of sensitive information with him. But instead of arresting him, they set a trap for him, by asking Izna to seduce him.

Trouble is, Izna knows the guy very well. They had spent one song together six years back and in the morning the guy packs his bag and leaves Sunny Leone. Now she has to fight her emotions and do her bit for the country.

She says, “Desh ke liye toh main bahut kuchh kar rahi hoon. Apni kapde uthar ke.” When I heard the dialogue, I turned to see if the guy sitting next to me was a Bajrang Dal worker.

What follows after that is a highly illogical but extremely entertaining two and a half hours. It seems like the whole film is an extended ‘Bloopers’ session.

But there is someone else who needs special mention. Arunoday Singh.

As the Intelligence Officer, he matches Sunny Leone step for step when is acting. When she is not acting, he acts for the both of them – that’s the level of overacting that the guy does.

Watch the pain in his eyes when he confront Izna by saying, “You fucked him!”, or his mind-bending intelligence when he kills a man and buries his body on the beach. Or the way he picks up a woman at a bar, and then in the room, reveals, “Main intelligence ka aadmi hoon.” Quite apparent, that.

Another stellar performance is by Arif Zakaria, jiska koi baal bhi baanka nahi kar sakta hai. Not because he is very powerful, but because of the ridiculous wig he wears all through the film.

But finally, it is Sunny’s show. Using her vast experience, she comes up with a variety of expressions to suit each and every feeling of the protagonist:

1. Pain: Breathing heavily

2. Excitement: Heaving the bosom

3. Fear: Heaving the bosom with pursed lips

4. Anger: Breathing heavily, heaving bosom, and pursed lips.

In short, one size fits all.