When a movie is marketed as an erotica with a brand (and title) as strong as 'Jism', you do expect body play in motion. However just a woman (Sunny Leone) showing her ample booty in practically ever shot of hers can't possibly make you pick this one up as a fitting tribute to 'Basic Instinct'.
Yes, to be fair to the film, it begins with Sunny in a bathtub with a love making scene soon after with a sizzling red lingerie doing the trick. However, once the novelty factor wears off and the actual story begins, you know that the film is going downhill.
For starters, the so-called twist in the tale is something that you can see in the first 15 minutes itself. Okay, so you may not realise the exact nature of the tale but the twist in characters would occur can be 100 minutes in advance.
Even if one leaves this aside, the way everyone on the scene starts acting for camera makes you wonder who is trying to outsmart other in the ham department. The one who tops the list is Arunoday Singh who, after a very good act in 'Yeh Saali Zindagi', just doesn't get it right in the acting department.
So you take the best route out which is gaze on Sunny. However what turns out to be a distraction is her heavy panting that went out of vogue in the 90s itself. Here it is mighty misplaced as she either seems to be overtly worried in a scene when there was no demand for that while being strictly blank when better emoting would have saved the scene.
Well, perhaps the makers wanted Randeep Hooda to take care of the emoting part. This is the reason why not just does he find himself in the middle of lengthy monologues (which are way too many) but also abstract in the name of being poetic.
It is tough to really keep pace with his emotions, especially when the makers have established at the very beginning that the man is going through some psychiatric issues.
What doesn't help the cause are dialogues of the film that range from being highly philosophical to unintentionally funny at close to a dozen instances. Everyone gets fair share of such dialogues though, whether it is Sunny, Arunoday or Randeep which means there is no partiality whatsoever.
So what still manages to keep some interest alive in the proceedings? Well, to begin with the film has a very striking look to it, what with the entire production design being top notch. Whether it is the interiors of the villa where the protagonists are staying or Randeep's special designed private adobe, everything has a touch of class to it.
The music works well though one has to admit that they sounded much better when just heard in isolation instead of being explored in the context of the film.
There are a few scenes that one does remember as well after the end credit roll is through. Randeep's flashback with Sunny has a few tender moments while the sequence leading to the interval point is good too. However quite a few 'now what was that' sequences outweigh the ones that leave an impact, hence disallowing 'Jism 2' from becoming a plus outing.
Moreover, Sunny's flip-flop till the very end is puzzling while it is rather surprising to see Randeep being taken for a ride with much more ease than a child would be when told about the stories of Santa Claus.
When an erotic thriller drama does everything but arouse, excite and fetch your attention, there is something really wrong with the way the film unfolds. Worse, when there is unintentional laughter at more than just one junction, you know for sure that things have gone for a toss. Just to know more about that and experience it first hand, the film deserves a watch.
Rating: **
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