Awarapan 2 opens in Indian theatres on Friday, nearly two decades after the original 2007 crime drama built a cult following around Emraan Hashmi’s performance as a small-time gangster caught between loyalty and love.

Hashmi returns to reprise his role as Shivam Pandit, the character at the center of the first film. He is joined this time by Disha Patani and veteran actor Shabana Azmi, both new to the franchise. The sequel is directed by Nitin Kakkar, written by Bilal Siddiqui, and produced by Vishesh Bhatt.

The original Awarapan was directed by Mohit Suri and produced by Mukesh Bhatt, releasing on 29 June 2007 under the Vishesh Films banner. It flopped commercially at the time but went on to earn cult status among Indian audiences, and many critics still rank it among the best work of both Hashmi and Suri’s careers. Suri, who is not involved in the sequel, reviewed the new trailer publicly earlier this month, telling India TV News he had passed the baton to the new team.

The plot follows Shivam back into the criminal underworld he once tried to leave behind, with the film’s marketing describing a story built around redemption, love and sacrifice as relationships deepen and old conflicts resurface.

Unlike many big Bollywood releases, Awarapan 2 arrived in theatres without press screenings or early critic reviews, according to a report from Bollywood Bubble, which noted that another film releasing around the same time, Batwara 1947, followed a similar pattern. The absence of advance reviews has fueled some speculation about how confident the makers are in the finished product, though studios sometimes skip press shows for scheduling or strategic reasons unrelated to a film’s quality.

Fan reaction to early promotional material has been more upbeat. Bollywood Shaadis reported that audiences responded strongly to preview clips, with some viewers calling the film a likely blockbuster based on trailers and songs released ahead of the launch.

Whether that early enthusiasm holds up will become clear once the film opens to the public and the first wave of reactions arrives over the weekend.