By Hindustan Times
According to a recent newspaper report, India has replaced China as the world’s top importer of arms between 2007 and 2011. China is a joint third with Pakistan, with 5 per cent imports, South Korea marginally ahead with 6 per cent, while 70 per cent of India’s total defense requirements
are being imported. Emraan Hashmi’s eagerly awaited sequel, Jannat 2 talks about this changing face of gun trade.
His filmmaker uncle Mahesh Bhatt explains that while researching the subject, they learnt from the Delhi police that nawabs and kings had employed skilled artisans to make arms for them to wage frequent wars, but the British banned them, wanting exclusive control over arms and ammunition in India. Centuries later, with sales of arms escalating, the next generation was tapped for their skills and made part of the flourishing illegal trade.
“Jannat 2 will open a can of worms, much like its predecessor did in 2008,” promises Emraan. “Four years ago, a story about match-fixing may have seemed like pure fiction, but today, after a string of headline-grabbing front page reports, there’s a sense of déjà vu. What you see and read in 2011-2012, was all said in our film four years ago. That’s exactly how it’s going to be with Jannat 2 as well. ”
While the subject is dark and real, the actor insists Jannat 2 is a commercial film but admits that like with the earlier film, he took a break from shoots to travel with director Kunal Deshmukh to meet with people connected with the trade and the police.
“As part of the research, I even got to fire a gun,” says Emraan who since he was a child, has been hooked to action movies. “I used to fire toy guns earlier. Firing the real thing was a high, but I also realised how much power it puts into your hands. It is used by the police to protect, but if it gets into the wrong hands, it can destroy too. It brings out the dark side in some people and can become a fatal obsession.”
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