"Sunny Leone is dazzling to look at and has an incredible body"
Pooja Bhatt made all the headlines, when she announced she wanted to cast Indo-Canadian pornstar Sunny Leone, for her upcoming movie Jism 2, making the movie, one of the most anticipated films of 2012.
Jism 2 starring Sunny Leone, Randeep Hooda and Arunoday Singh, released on the 3rd of August 2012. The film is directed by actress turned director, Pooja Bhatt, with whom we last saw direct Kajraare, which starred Himesh Reshammiya, and which did not even get a theatrical release. She has starred in films alongside huge actors including Ajay Devgan, Aamir Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Mithun Chakraborty and many more.
Jism 2 is the sequal to 2003’s hit film Jism, which again was directed by Pooja Bhatt, and starred Bipasha Basu, and John Abraham. Jism 2 tells the story of Izna, a pornstar who is hired by an officer Ayaan, who is played by Arunoday Singh to become a “Honeytrap” for an assassin played by Randeep Hooda. The movie defies Bollywood conventions by having the main protagonist play a pornstar.
The film has a lot of steamy lovemaking scenes which are miles apart from the rustle of flowers seen in 1960’s Hindi cinema. Jism 2 has an A (Adults only) certificate rating and opens with an erotic scene which shows Sunny Leone in red lingerie on a bed making love to Arunoday Singh’s character. A scene with such full-on sensuality is possibly a first for Bollywood.
However, interestingly, as sizzling as Sunny Leone looks on the outside, strangely, doing the intimate scenes for the film were not so easy for her. Sunny surprised the entire crew with her shy behaviour. “Everyone was surprised with her shyness, but I understood that it will be difficult for her. It’s not easy to shoot a lovemaking scene; it is a very demanding thing. Those who believed that it would be a cakewalk for her will be shocked by this revelation,” said Mahesh Bhatt, who also partially wrote the script of the film.
The film opened worldwide on the 3rd of August 2012 and had a strong opening in India. Once released the film opened with a bang in India, grossing over 28 Crore Rupees.
The film, however, received mixed reviews from critics, trade analyst Taran Aardash gave the film 2/5 stating: “On the whole Jism 2 has Sunny Leone as its USP, but the lacklustre screenplay and the sluggish pace act as deterrents.”
Sunny Leone took to Twitter too to thank her fans for the fantastic response: “Thank you to everyone who watched jism 2. I love you all for the support.”
Director Pooja Bhatt also took to the platform saying:
“#Jism2 has bigger collections than Murder2 AND Jannat2. Happy,happy! Joy,joy!”
A trade expert commenting on Sunny’s appearance in the film said: “Sunny Leone is dazzling to look at and has an incredible body, but does she deliver as an actress? To start with, Pooja has, very smartly, cast her as a seductress. Sunny’s gestures, body language, erotic scenes and sex appeal are, unquestionably, far more seasoned than most divas, who restrain a sort of hesitation when it comes to steamy scenes. She is scorching hot in Jism 2 and takes the heat percentage to an altogether different level.”
However in the UK, the film has a limited release and performed below average. Indicating that the UK audiences have possibly reacted to the adult formula for a Bollywood film.
The target market for the film was without doubt the younger and modern Indian audiences who would not be too apprehensive to the content of the film. However, the tone of the content isn’t as bold as many people expected and hovers on the edge of erotica. The plot and script of the film have been more criticised than the use of a porn star for the first time in a Bollywood film.
Before entering the porn industry, Sunny Leone, whose real name is Karen Malhotra, studied to be a Paediatric nurse, in Orange County. After meeting an exotic dancer who was a classmate, she was introduced to Jay Allen, a photographer for the hit Men’s magazine “Penthouse.” After posing for Penthouse magazine she was crowned “Penthouse Pet of the Month” for March 2001. She then appeared in many popular top-shelf magazines such as Swank, Club International, Low Rider and many more.
In 2005, was when Sunny Leone ventured into the hardcore pornographic industry by signing a three year deal with Vivid Entertainment. Her first pornographic movie called ‘Sunny’ released in December 2005 and was a huge success. Since then, Sunny Leone won awards and achieved status as a star in the million dollar porn industry.
Upon finding her new fan following in India, Sunny has appeared in magazines like FHM India in sensual and sultry poses to tantalise audiences specifically in India. Her appearances in magazines and in person are being eagerly followed by fans, especially since the release of Jism 2.
Sunny Leone was announced to be a part of the Indian equivalent of Big Brother, called Big Boss in 2005. It was during her stay in the Big Boss house, Mahesh Bhatt, entered the house to offer her Jism 2, which Sunny Leone accepted.
The film’s targeted at audiences at Single Screens in India rather than the multiplexes. This has been a conscious decision in the strategy because it has been proven that films with explicit content do better in single screens. Examples of this are Hate Story, Murder 2 and Jannat 2.
As expected not everyone in India was going welcome the film’s release. Many protests took place across India against Jism 2, where images of Sunny Leone and director Pooja Bhatt were burned. In Mumbai, protestors tore down images of Sunny Leone with the discontent being about the casting of a porn star, in a mainstream Bollywood movie.
Irrespective of the protests, the takings for the film are in the green, the Bhatt’s have announced Jism 3. Whether Sunny Leone is going to be part of the third film in the series, remains to be seen. However, there is no doubt the Sunny Leone has definitely made a hot debut in Jism 2 is already being signed up for future Bollywood films which will no doubt use her sexual screen chemistry as the main advantage.
Check out our gallery of Sunny Leone and JISM2 photos.
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