New Delhi, Aug. 15 -- Some films return because they have a story left to tell. Others return because they want to revisit a memory. Awarapan 2 sits somewhere in between-revisiting a 2007 film that underperformed theatrically but slowly acquired a second life on television, streaming platforms and through Emraan Hashmi's enduring image as Shivam Pandit. Nearly two decades later, the sequel continues that story while also serving as a re-entry into its mood.

The commercial logic is easy enough to understand. Bring back Shivam, the brooding gangster and wounded lover who became one of Hashmi's most recognisable avatars, and put the actor back at the centre of a violent crime drama. This is Hashmi returning to the kind of role that defined ...