Awarapan 2 Trailer Review: Lackluster! Emraan Hashmi’s Return As Shivam Fails To Match OG’s Aura, Vibe Or Musical Brilliance

After 17 years, Emraan Hashmi is back as Shivam Pandit and this time he’s older, scarred, and carrying the emotional baggage left unresolved at the end of the first film. How do we know that? Well, the ‘action and emotion-filled’ trailer of Awarapan 2 has just released and has got the fans – especially the millennials, talking. Does it match the expected nostalgic aura or vibe? Much importantly – was a sequel needed? Well…

Awarapan 2 Trailer Review

Directed by Nitin Kakkar, Awarapan 2’s 1-minute, 25-second-long trailer fails to click and make us want to know what happened to our tragic, melancholic anti-hero Shivam Pandit. Emraan Hashmi as the brooding anti-hero is someone we all loved, however, nearly 20 years later the characterization is something that doesn’t click. While his signature walk in the trailer is still enough to grab the eyeballs, it’s not enough to make the millennials want to spend their money and head to theatres to watch him.

The entire trailer- including ten seconds dedicated only to showcasing the credits, feels like an amateur creation with different videos clubbed together with a single soundtrack. As the trailer unfolds, you see some random dialogues being delivered – but nothing by Emraan. Besides just showing us some sweat-soaked, rain-soaked and blood-soaked visuals of Emraan, there’s no indication of which direction Shivam’s life is in now.

Talking about the others, Disha Patani looks just like eye candy despite flaunting her badass side with a gun in-hand. Shabana Azmi – whose character details still seem to be under wraps, feels out of place. She feels like a wanna be Dimple Kapadia from Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo. Her dialogue delivery is nice, but there’s nothing wow about it. Puran Gabbi as Zorawar seems to be a character to look out for.

While kudos to the makers for not telling us the entire story in the trailer, we wish you could have just given us a taste of what’s in store.

About The Film

Mukesh Bhatt and Vishesh Films present Awarapan 2. The upcoming action drama is produced by Vishesh Bhatt, directed by Nitin Kakkar and written by Bilal Siddiqui. While Emraan Hashmi reprises his role as Shivam Pandit, Disha Patani steps into this world as Zara. The action thriller also stars Puran Gabbi as Zorawar, Anirudh Rawal as Sikandar, Surendar Vicky as Jaideep, Vijayant Kohli as Mehmood and Atul Kumar as Samarth.

The musical of Awarapan 2 is composed by Mithoon, Jeet Gannguli, Amaal Malik, Ankit Sachdev and Wasif Ahmad, with lyrics by Sayeed Qadri, Rashmi Virag, Akhil Sachdeva and Sachin Singh Chandel. Awarapan 2 releases in cinemas worldwide on August 14, 2026.

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Did Awarapan really need a sequel? Do we need an epilogue about Shivam Pandit’s life after the 2007 film ended? We think not, but do feel free to let us know your thoughts in the comment section of the post above.

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Also Read: Arijit Singh To Return From Retirement For Emraan Hashmi-Led Awarapan 2- Report

Grinell Jacinto

With nearly 10 years of experience, Grinell Esther Jacinto is the Desk Head of Bollywood Bubble. Her interests lie in everything that is kaleshi and she loves to dig deeper into the lives of B-town actors. She has a problem though – she loves horror films but will have chills the minute the theatres lights dims. She’s previously worked with Koimoi, UrbanAsian and SpotboyE.