Sunny Leone debutes in Bollywood..

Despite making headlines around the world for a promise of racy content and its accompanying controversies, Jism 2 hasn’t been able to recover from a sharp drop at the Indian box office after its strong opening.

Among the diaspora audience in the United States, Jism 2 hasn’t made an impact at all. This might be because overseas Indians know they can find far better and more titillating material elsewhere, but it could also be because its distributor has had to limit its release to Indian American theaters since no mainstream chain would touch it with a 10-foot pole.

The story is a predictable potboiler about top-secret Indian government agent Ayaan (Arunoday Singh), who hires Izna, a porn actress, as a honey trap to trick a wanted terrorist who is also her ex-boyfriend, Kabir (Randeep Hooda), into giving up a computer file containing the names of his accomplices. It’s a formula: kiss, kiss, bang, bang, oil massage, death scene and a few songs -- including one featuring the terrorist playing an anguished cello solo.

Hooda, first discovered by Mira Nair and cast as an Australian hottie visiting India in Monsoon Wedding, smolders to the best of his ability in the role of a violent criminal whose only vulnerability is his love for Izna. Singh also turns in a smart, capable performance as the heroic agent who also ends up falling in love with the brunette beauty, though both actors are limited by a messy script. 

Obviously, Leone is the selling point of the entire exercise. Sporting a wardrobe that can best be described as Frederick’s of Bollywood (tight animal print pants and macramé tops, cleavage-bearing mini-dresses and six-inch heels), Leone does her best to convince the viewer that men are willing to die for the chance of a night in her arms.