The cat was out of the bag a few days back when the identity of the main villain in Murder 2 was revealed. Though the makers had made all attempts to keep the actor's identity as secret, it was revealed that the man in picture is none other than Prashant Narayanan. So while one looks forward to the exploits of the talented actor who has seldom disappointed in his half a dozen odd appearances so far, there is another twist in the tale. Now it is also being insinuated that Emraan Hashmi himself could be the real villain of the show, as was the case in the first of the series, Murder.

Ask Emraan if this indeed is true and he says with a trademark mischievous grin, "I don't see any role as positive or negative. Pick up most of my films, say for example Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai. Now the character that I played there was as positive or negative as that of Ajay (Devgn)." However, as one tries to scratch the surface and enquire further details from Emraan about his character in Murder 2, he shies away from revealing much.

"If I do that now, what would be left for audience to figure out", he smiles, "This is the reason why right through the film's promotion we haven't even tried to imply whether the character played by me belongs to a positive or a negative zone. In Murder it was fairly straight forward since the character I played was by itself so imposing that you knew he would be a negative guy. More than that I don't want to say anything more about Murder 2. If I do that, audience would gather certain perception and it would spoil all the fun." Talking of fun, Emraan promises that there is lot in the offing with Murder 2 though audience would require a strong stomach to digest it all since the narrative here is as bold and shocking as it gets.

"Within these bold and shocking parameters, we have made an entertaining film. Audience would be taken into an underground world that we have never really seen in a Bollywood flick before", promises Emraan, "The serial killer element would bring in more thrills and edge of the seat drama than the first in the series of Murder franchise." Continuing to talk about Murder 2 being an unabashed take on 'bold and shocking' affairs, Emraan justifies it to be the demand of the franchise created by the Bhatts.

Emraan Hashmi"Come on, you can't invite audience to watch a Murder flick and not be bold. Such things have to be kept in mind when you promise something bigger, better and scarier. We have taken the film into a different dimension. Murder was slightly more urbanised with the story being restricted to that of a woman being trapped in an extra marital affair. On watching Murder 2 you would realise that we have moved far ahead while presenting the content in a far more shocking manner, both visually as well as thematically." Despite such huge claims, Emraan is still cognizant of the fact that eventually it would be the overall content that would be the winner here and not some standalone shock moments sprayed over Murder 2 narrative.

"Sensationalism for the sake of it doesn't work", he admits, "You can't have a sex scene or a kissing sequence or some controversies making a film run. You need to make a good film. Period. It should be entertaining to the core. All I can promise though is that when it comes to Bhatts, they make a certain kind of cinema. They are a brand which doesn't make regular Bollywood films. Murder 2 too is right up there in the brand value which is being maintained to the fullest here. And yes, it is indeed a much darker affair this time around." Well, we would like to check that out for ourselves once Murder 2 releases this Friday.