# Murder 2
**Murder 2** (मर्डर 2) is a 2011 Hindi-language psychological crime thriller directed by [Mohit Suri](https://www.edgepedia.org/mohit-suri), in which a Goan ex-cop is hired by a pimp to find the serial killer behind the disappearance of the call girls working for him.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1918965/) It stars [Emraan Hashmi](https://www.edgepedia.org/emraan-hashmi) as Arjun Bhagawat and [Jacqueline Fernandez](https://www.edgepedia.org/jacqueline-fernandez) as Priya, with Prashant Narayanan as the killer Dheeraj Pandey.[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1918965/fullcredits/) Produced by Mukesh Bhatt for Vishesh Films and written by Mahesh Bhatt and Shagufta Rafique, it was released on 8 July 2011.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/murder_2) • [4](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/movieshow/61023447.cms)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 8 July 2011, Hindi; earliest release 7 July 2011 in Malaysia[4](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/movieshow/61023447.cms) • [5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1918965/) |
| Director and writers | Mohit Suri; writers Mahesh Bhatt and Shagufta Rafique[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1918965/) |
| Lead cast | Emraan Hashmi (Arjun Bhagawat), Jacqueline Fernandez (Priya), Prashant Narayanan (Dheeraj Pandey), Sulagna Panigrahi (Reshma)[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1918965/fullcredits/) |
| Story basis | Written around the Nithari killings; also identified as based on the South Korean film *The Chaser* (2008)[6](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/mahesh-bhatts-next-on-nithari/articleshow/6517338.cms) • [7](https://d1f72a6kha0tf8.cloudfront.net/murder-2) |
| Box office | India net ₹476.5 million (₹47.65 crore), worldwide ₹675.9 million (₹67.59 crore) on a ₹130 million (₹13 crore) budget; verdict Superhit[8](https://www.sacnilk.com/movie/Murder_2_2011) |
| Audience rating | 6.4/10 on IMDb from about 8,700 votes[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1918965/) |
| Signature song | "Phir Mohabbat", with about 300 million Spotify streams[9](https://streamclout.io/album/murder-2/1vUKBCizrhzhTZ8tgqL8db) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Arjun Bhagawat is a Goan ex-cop whose family was impoverished; for him money became the basis of every job, and he now earns his living doing wrong and odd jobs for gangsters and flesh traders.[12](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/murder-2/) Sameer, a Goan gangster who supplies sex workers, has been losing money as his girls keep disappearing, and he hires Arjun to trace them.[12](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/murder-2/) Priya, a young model, loves Arjun, but he hesitates to give their relationship a name because money is his only priority.[12](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/murder-2/)
During the investigation Arjun realizes that the missing girls are connected by a single cell phone number, and the trail leads to Dheeraj Pandey, a mentally sick man whose latest victim is Reshma, a teenager who entered the flesh trade to support her widowed mother and siblings.[12](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/murder-2/) • [13](https://indianexpress.com/article/news-archive/web/murder-2/) Reshma's fate awakens Arjun's dormant conscience, and the killer later sets his sights on Priya as his next target.[13](https://indianexpress.com/article/news-archive/web/murder-2/) • [14](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/movie-reviews/murder-2/movie-review/9150358.cms) In the climax, a recording of Dheeraj's torture of Reshma is played, and Arjun stabs the killer repeatedly until Inspector Sadaa restrains him.[15](https://www.whatsafterthemovie.com/movies/murder2-2011)
## Origins and production
The film grew out of the Bhatt camp's plan to continue the *Murder* brand after the 2004 hit *Murder*, which had starred Emraan Hashmi and [Mallika Sherawat](https://www.edgepedia.org/mallika-sherawat) and was directed by [Anurag Basu](https://www.edgepedia.org/anurag-basu). In October 2010 Mohit Suri confirmed that he would direct the new film and that Hashmi would return, while the female lead was still undecided; he described the female protagonist as one of the most important parts of the film.[10](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/news/bollywood/emraan-hashmi-to-star-in-murder-2-mohit-suri-to-direct/)
[Mahesh Bhatt](https://www.edgepedia.org/mahesh-bhatt), who had resumed writing after four years, co-wrote the script with Shagufta Rafique around the Nithari killings, the 2006 case of murders of children and women near Nithari village in Noida. According to a September 2010 report, Bhatt researched the case and made frequent trips to [North India](https://www.edgepedia.org/north-india) to meet the families of the victims and the accused. He argued that the film was not a sequel in the usual sense but the next entry in the *Murder* series, comparable to how the *Raaz* series continued.[6](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/mahesh-bhatts-next-on-nithari/articleshow/6517338.cms) The film's plot has also been traced to the South Korean film *The Chaser* (2008), in which a man hired to find missing women closes in on the man responsible.[7](https://d1f72a6kha0tf8.cloudfront.net/murder-2) Reviewer Taran Adarsh wrote that the writers may have drawn inspiration from *The Chaser* but denied it was a remake or a rip-off.[11](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/murder-2/critic-review/murder-2-movie-review/)
## Cast
- Emraan Hashmi as Arjun Bhagawat[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1918965/fullcredits/)
- Jacqueline Fernandez as Priya[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1918965/fullcredits/)
- [Prashant Narayanan](https://www.edgepedia.org/prashant-narayanan) as Dhiraj Pandey[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1918965/fullcredits/)
- [Sulagna Panigrahi](https://www.edgepedia.org/sulagna-panigrahi) as Reshma[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1918965/fullcredits/)
- [Sudhanshu Pandey](https://www.edgepedia.org/sudhanshu-pandey) as Inspector Sadaa[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/murder_2)
- Bikramjeet Kanwarpal as Commissioner Ahmed Khan; Shekhar Shukla as the pimp[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1918965/fullcredits/)
## Music
The soundtrack was composed by Mithoon, Harshit Saxena, Sangeet Haldipur, Siddharth Haldipur, and Raju Singh, with cinematography by Ravi Walia.[16](https://www.gadgets360.com/entertainment/murder-2-movie-126447) The eight-track album includes "Hale Dil", "Aa Zara", "Aye Khuda", and "Phir Mohabbat", sung by Mohammed Irfan, Arijit Singh, and Saim Bhat.[16](https://www.gadgets360.com/entertainment/murder-2-movie-126447) On Spotify the album had accumulated about 752 million streams, with "Phir Mohabbat" and "Hale Dil" each near 300 million.[9](https://streamclout.io/album/murder-2/1vUKBCizrhzhTZ8tgqL8db)
## Box office
Sacnilk reports a budget of ₹130 million (₹13 crore), India net collections of ₹476.5 million (₹47.65 crore), India gross of ₹643.3 million (₹64.33 crore), overseas gross of ₹32.6 million (₹3.26 crore), and a worldwide total of ₹675.9 million (₹67.59 crore), with a box office verdict of Superhit.[8](https://www.sacnilk.com/movie/Murder_2_2011) Opening-day net in India was ₹69.5 million (₹6.95 crore), rising to ₹82.4 million (₹8.24 crore) on day three.[8](https://www.sacnilk.com/movie/Murder_2_2011) [Box Office Mojo](https://www.edgepedia.org/box-office-mojo) records a worldwide gross of $9,078,349, of which $8,849,848 came from India and only $59,000 from the domestic (US) market.[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1918965/)
## Reception
Critical responses were divided. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave 4/5, calling it one of the finest crime stories to come out of the Hindi film industry and noting that it is darker and more erotic than the first film.[11](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/murder-2/critic-review/murder-2-movie-review/) The Times of India gave 3.5/5, writing that the story may have nothing original but that the film works through its pace and performances, with Prashant Narayanan described as absolutely riveting.[14](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/movie-reviews/murder-2/movie-review/9150358.cms) Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave 2/5 but singled out the villain as thoroughly deranged and memorable.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/murder_2) Rotten Tomatoes lists a Tomatometer of 52% from one review.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/murder_2) On IMDb the film holds 6.4/10 from about 8,700 votes.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1918965/)
The film is currently unavailable for streaming in the United States and the United Kingdom; [JustWatch](https://www.edgepedia.org/justwatch) records that it last streamed on Google Play Movies until December 2022.[17](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/murder-2)
## References
1. [Murder 2 (2011), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1918965/)
2. [Murder 2 (2011) full cast and crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1918965/fullcredits/)
3. [Murder 2, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/murder_2)
4. [Murder 2, eTimes (Times of India)](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/movieshow/61023447.cms)
5. [Murder 2 (2011), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1918965/)
6. [Mahesh Bhatt's next on Nithari, Times of India (September 9, 2010)](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/mahesh-bhatts-next-on-nithari/articleshow/6517338.cms)
7. [Murder 2 on Moviebuff.com](https://d1f72a6kha0tf8.cloudfront.net/murder-2)
8. [Murder 2 (2011-07-08) box office collection, Sacnilk](https://www.sacnilk.com/movie/Murder_2_2011)
9. [Murder 2 soundtrack Spotify streams, StreamClout](https://streamclout.io/album/murder-2/1vUKBCizrhzhTZ8tgqL8db)
10. [Emraan Hashmi to star in Murder 2; Mohit Suri to direct, Bollywood Hungama (October 25, 2010)](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/news/bollywood/emraan-hashmi-to-star-in-murder-2-mohit-suri-to-direct/)
11. [Murder 2 Movie Review by Taran Adarsh, Bollywood Hungama (July 8, 2011)](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/murder-2/critic-review/murder-2-movie-review/)
12. [Murder 2 synopsis, Bollywood Hungama](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/murder-2/)
13. [Murder 2 review, The Indian Express archive (July 15, 2011)](https://indianexpress.com/article/news-archive/web/murder-2/)
14. [Murder 2 Movie Review 3.5/5, Times of India](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/movie-reviews/murder-2/movie-review/9150358.cms)
15. [Murder 2 (2011) plot summary, What's After the Movie?](https://www.whatsafterthemovie.com/movies/murder2-2011)
16. [Murder 2 Movie (2011), Gadgets 360](https://www.gadgets360.com/entertainment/murder-2-movie-126447)
17. [Murder 2 streaming, JustWatch (US)](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/murder-2)
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