Title: Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Deepika Padukone, Tiger Shroff, Arjun Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Jackie Shroff, Akshay Kumar and Shweta Tiwari.
Where: In cinemas
Rating: 3 stars
Positioned and postured as a full-blown action entertainer to be enjoyed with your family, Rohit Shetty brings Ajay Devgn’s Bajirao Singham back to narrate the modern day Ramayana, replete with a bunch of B-town stars to do justice to the epic saga that shows the ultimate victory of good over evil. So, right from Sita-haran (Sita’s abduction) to Jatayu’s sacrifice to Lanka-dahan, every chapter must unfold with cinematic liberty and melodrama that must serve justice to every key situation of the epic battle.
And truth be stated, we get the events, and we even cheer for every sequence and subtext that the film mounts to showcase the Ram Vs Ravan battle. Right from the unconditional love of Laxman and Bharat to the ultimate loyalty of Hanuman to Sita’s cruel abduction– every character has a context placement and contemplation to ruminate over. But hang on a sec! Who is Deepika placed as in this tale? She is neither Shabri, Shurpanakha or Mandodri. Her character seems as misfit and misplaced as her poor acting and her wobbly (read: horribly put on and off-putting) accent!
While the rest of the star cast plays to the gallery amidst the ear-splitting background score, Deepika sticks out like a sore thumb as the lady Singham.
At 2 hours and 24 minutes, Shetty unleashes the mega star-power of his film, and how! From Simmba (Ranveer Singh) to Sooryavanshi (Akshay Kumar), everybody jumps in to offer their bit to ensure that the audience remains engaged and entertained. Equally engaging and pleasant are the backdrops against which the makers have set the pieces of the narrative. Every locale is either scenic, handsomely mounted or ‘explosive’ with the trademark sign of Shetty pasted all over.
The story is simple and straight to state the obvious. Bajirao Singham nabs a notorious terrorist (Jackie Shroff) and his arrest triggers another baddie (Arjun Kapoor) to abduct Singham’ wife (Kareena Kapoor Khan). So, what’s the connection between these two events, you may wonder! You will have to watch the film to find out the link, as Shetty gives you a backstory that sets the current tale rolling.
What’s remarkable is how the makers have designed the entry of each character, and how the sequences have been spaced out to do justice to every character that makes their presence felt. Nobody disappears or gets diluted in terms of the presence and storytelling in the name of cinematic liberty. Add to it Ranveer Singh’s over the top hysteria, Akshay Kumar’s reassuring screen-presence and Tiger Shroff’s crisp, but impactful action chops, and you would know how Shetty elevates the film as a sheer entertainer worthy of all the whistles and cheers.
The sequence where Ranveer sets Arjun Kapoor’s territory on fire or when Shetty brings Chulbul Pandey (Salman Khan) to spice up the already high-voltage drama is incredible!
For a strory where you know how everything is going to unfold and conclude like, Shetty brings his A game to the table to showcase his strength –which is action and comedy–and dare we say, he doesn’t miss a single beat. While some sequences look stretched out beyond their capacities, and some could easily have been edited out, all in all one enjoys this ‘copverse’ studded with bharpoor dialoguebaazi and seemingly never ending ‘action’.
As far as the performances are concerned, Ajay Devgn leads from the front. In an ‘explosive’ tale of this scale, his understated act and ‘less is more’ brilliance works! Ranveer is his usual live-wire of infectious energy, while Tiger Shroff adds so much zest and youthful spirit. Akshay Kumar’s sheer presence lifts the film. Kareena Kapoor is gorgeous to look at and Arjun Kapoor’s character works in most parts.
In a nutshell, Singham Again is explosive and entertaining even if the tale continues to be predictable. The film scores high in terms of the scale, the drama and the impact!
