They explored cricket betting in Jannat and the online porn racket in Kalyug. With Blood Money, the Bhatts attempt to expose the underbelly of diamond trading. A good idea, but it’s already been done — much before and a lot better.

Blood Money is such an uninspired piece of work that the makers didn’t even think it necessary to come up with an original title. Blood Diamond it was, Blood Money it is. Much like the 2006 Leonardo DiCaprio film that focused on blood diamonds mined in African war zones and sold to finance conflicts and fund terrorism, Blood Money strives to take a look at the ugly side of the cut-clarity-colour-carat game. Except that the setting shifts from the murky jungles of Sierra Leone to the swanky boardrooms of Cape Town. Which, in a way, sums up what this film is about — all style and no substance.

Newly-weds Kunal Kadam (Kunal Kemmu) and Arzoo (Amrita Puri) land in Cape Town from Mumbai with stars in their eyes — a dream job for him, a dream apartment for her and the promise of a dream life together. Spurred by ambition, Kunal swiftly climbs the corporate ladder, sacrificing honesty and principle and trampling on corpses along the way. Driven by his addiction to the good life and fearful of the repercussions of exposing the underbelly of the business he is in, Kunal sinks deeper into the abyss. Till the day it claims much more than what he had bargained for.

Blood Money could have made for a riveting watch if director Vishal Mahadkar had stayed true to the basic premise. The dynamics of this dangerous game — smuggling, manipulation of stocks, arms dealing, mafia links and murder — are superficially treated. What we have is two hours of typical Bollywood masala — item songs, scowling villains, a hapless heroine and a hero who’s all sound and fury signifying nothing.

Attention to detail is minimal, the plot turns ludicrous and stereotypes abound. There is even an Osama-like character on the run who carries on his terrorist operations from the Angolan mountains. As soon as our hero delivers arms and ammo to him, the terror kingpin blows up Mumbai double quick!

The acting is just as bad. Manish Chaudhuri — Ranbir Kapoor’s boss in Rocket Singh — tries menacing but comes off comical. The only thing you notice about MTV girl Mia Uyeda, who seduces Kunal Kemmu, is her scarlet pout. Kunal bites his lips, twitches his eyebrows and kicks everything that comes in his path — in the name of acting. Amrita Puri takes nyakaness (there isn’t really an English word that comes even remotely close) to a new level and does enough to give Kangana Ranaut competition in the dialogue delivery department. But you can’t really blame the poor thing since she has lines like “Tumhein mere saath chalna hoga. Main yahan se akele Mumbai vidhvaa ban ke nahin jaoongi!”

Tolly man Jeet Gannguli’s music makes the film tolerable to an extent, but it doesn’t help that we have heard it all in a Dev or a Jeet film before.

Blood Money burns your money and makes your blood boil. Oh, is that why they named it so?