Singham Re-review: Singham roars, but Simmba gets the biggest kill in the police universe

Who would have thought that Ramayana could be retold with armed police officers leading the way? Well, Rohit Shetty just did that. He reinterpreted the mythological story in his police universe, with Bajirao Singham (Ajay Devgn) as Ram. In addition, the filmmaker’s inimitable humor, drama and action make the film worth watching. There’s also a dose of meta-jokes, including a dig at Sunny Deol’s success in Gadar, which is sure to make you chuckle.

The plot is taken from the chapter of Ramayana where Sita is kidnapped by Ravanawhich leads to the fight. Rohit Shetty’s Ravan is Zubair, aka Danger Lanka (Arjun Kapoor), who wages a war not on religious grounds, but to avenge his family. Singham is joined by Ranveer Singh’s Simmba as Hanuman and Akshay Kumar’s Sooryavanshi as Garuda. Tiger Shroff’s character Satya is a nod to Laxman, and Deepika Padukone’s Shakti Shetty or Lady Singham to Sugreev.

View the trailer for Sigham Again here:

We all know how the story ends, so there’s no point in going there. What we must mention is how Rohit Shetty has beautifully incorporated a mythological story into a contemporary setting. Other filmmakers (if you know, you know) could benefit from his take on how to tell these stories with a modern twist without making them gruesome. Whether it’s the background music for each character or the references to the epic story, it fascinates and entertains at the same time.

Shetty is probably also one of the few directors who knows how to give all his actors sufficient support. Ajay leads the way as Bajirao Singham, who may be a Gandhian bhakt but adopts the avatar of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj when necessary. Kareena plays Avni, his wife, who is the real force behind his courageous personality. Akshay Kumar joins in as Sooryavanshi towards the climax and does what he does best: hanging from the helicopter and jumping from high towers.

Ranveer’s Simmba gets the best comedy lines and his post-interval entry takes the entertainment field to the next level. His chemistry with seniors Akshay and Ajay is also quite a treat. Deepika Padukone makes her debut in Shetty’s police universe and packs plenty of punches in her few scenes. Tiger Shroff gets just two scenes, enough to flex his biceps and show off his physique.

The surprise element in Singham Again is of course Arjun Kapoor, who stars as the villain. Although his appearance seems to be inspired by Gabbar Singh, his menacing smile and baritone make his ‘Danger Lanka’ a terrifying villain. The actor had recently revealed that he had ‘hunted’ the filmmaker for work, and we think you did just the right thing, Arjun!

A word of note to the writers for the humor: – whether it’s digging into GenZ dating culture or the many meta-jokes of ‘baap ka, dada ka ka badla’ from Gangs of Wasseypur, with Akshay being addressed as ‘Khiladi’ to Ranveer saying that the oldies are the ones creating ‘Gadar’ today. There is also a reference to how this police universe only unites when the woman is kidnapped. Give yourself a pat on the back if you manage to get the connection of Simmba singing ‘Dheere Dheere Pyaar Ko Badhana Hai’ with Singham.

The mutual love and trust of Rohit Shetty and Ajay Devgn makes Singham a successful franchise. No one can play Singham except Ajay, and no other role can present him in such a heroic manner. The actor can make it convincing to defeat invincible villains just by throwing punches. But that’s also a bummer as the fight between him and Arjun ends somewhat during the climax danda.

Another moment where the film stumbles is the jarring VFX during Akshay Kumar’s sequence. The film also doesn’t have an album, with no actual songs in the film (we missed the magic of Singham and his rip-roaring moves). Furthermore, the first 30 minutes are quite slow, as the filmmaker probably used the time to establish his multi-stars and their worlds.

It also falls prey to jingoism as characters use popular dialogues like ‘Naya Bharat, Naya Kashmir’, ‘Ab ghus ke maarenge’ or even ‘Har ek Hindustani mera parivar hai’. But given the dramatic atmosphere of Singham and the universe, Rohit Shetty and his team can be forgiven for this. As salvation, he gives his audience plenty of wow moments as cars fly and crash, and also manages to shoot in breathtaking locations.

PS: Salman Khan’s post-credit entry as Chulbul Pandey is blinking and missing, but also whistling. The announcement of mission Chulbul Singham has certainly aroused the audience’s curiosity.

3.5 out of 5 stars