Rai's next role was in the 2009 Harald Zwart-directed spy comedy "The Pink Panther 2". Starring alongside Steve Martin, Jean Reno and Emily Mortimer, Rai portrayed the role of Sonia Solandres, a seductive criminology expert. Like its predecessor, the sequel received negative reviews from critics, but did a moderate business of $34 million at the American box office. Roger Ebert wrote, "Rai is breathtaking in Bollywood films, where they devote a great deal of expertise to admiring beauty, but here she's underutilized and too much in the background"; "USA Today" mentioned her expressions as "wooden" and added, "She looks gorgeous, but her expression rarely changes".