- Awarapan 2 crossed Rs 50 crore in two days despite low distributor interest
- Producer Vishesh Bhatt said the team funded the film with their own money
- Distributors showed no interest before release, indicating no cash grab intent
Awarapan 2 is doing the very thing its makers had hoped for – getting people back into theatres for a film that did not have much distributor interest before release. The Emraan Hashmi-led sequel has crossed the Rs 50 crore mark in its first two days, even as producer Vishesh Bhatt says the team had to put their own money into the project.
The film opened in theatres on August 14 and has managed to hold its ground despite competing with Sunny Deol's Batwara 1947. But the story was very different before the release.
In an interview with Zoom, Vishesh Bhatt, who has also co-written the film with Bilal Siddiqui, revealed that distributors were not lining up to buy the film. According to him, the lack of interest was one of the reasons he does not see Awarapan 2 as a film made simply to make quick money.
“If you want to watch films like Awarapan, you will have to support it in cinemas. Otherwise, how would I know that you are interested in that? If I know, I will put in my hard-earned money to cash-grab it. Let me tell you, Awarapan 2 is not a cash grab film,” he said.
The producer also pointed out that the sequel had a direct link with the original and was not created just because the first film had developed a cult following over the years.
He said, “Nothing is there; there is part one that will take you to part two. If it were a cash grab, distributors would have shown interest in it, and I would have been sitting on a table profit today. Nobody in the market came to buy the film. We put our own money into it. Yes, the market did wake up when the film was ready. If audiences show love for films like these, Awarapan kind of films can be made.”
Directed by Nitin Kakkar, the sequel picks up Shivam Pandit's story after he survives the six bullets fired at him in the first film. He later rescues a baby named Aliyah and discovers that she has been caught up in a child trafficking racket.
Shivam then goes undercover inside Zorawar's gang to get her back.
The film stars Emraan Hashmi, Disha Patani, Shabana Azmi and Suvinder Vicky. The original Awarapan, released in 2007, did not make much of an impact at the box office but found a strong following in the years that followed.