Director: Rohit Shetty Cast: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff Runtime: 2 hours, 24 minutes Where to watch: Theaters
Singham Again, directed by Rohit Shetty, leaves a lot to desired. With Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Akshay Kumar, the film has a stellar star cast. Salman Khan also makes a cameo appearance in the post-credit scene.
Singham Again opens with a journalist introducing viewers to Bajirao Singham, SSP-SOG, Jammu & Kashmir police. In an interview with the journalist, Singham (played by a towering Ajay Devgn) explains that most of the SOG (Special Operations Group) commandos are reformed militants. Why were we told this? Does the information serve a larger purpose in the grand scheme of things? Absolutely not. In fact, Kashmir is entirely forgotten in the rest of the film as the action shifts down South.
You see, director Rohit Shetty has a fascination with all-things-action, be it the cops, the SPG/SOG commandos, the army men and special squads. This fascination is visible in the film, not organically but as factual information delivered by characters in a straight-forward, almost robotic manner. At times, I was wondering if I am watching a documentary feature on India’s armed forces.
Singham Again Movie: Plot
Shortly after this interview, Singham is attacked by a convoy of cars, driven by armed gunmen. These are the men of Omar Hafiz (Jackie Shroff), the chief antagonist who is arrested shortly after a showdown with Singham. Hafiz continues to operate with external support of his accomplice Danger Lanka, alias Raavan (Arjun Kapoor), who has a score to settle with Singham.
Singham Again can best be described as a powerpoint presentation. The plot plays out like slides in the most basic, bland and simplistic manner. Avni (Kareena Kapoor Khan) is the cultural minister cum powerpoint presentation operator. She organizes Ram Leela where she provides proof for each assertion made in the play. Both Avni and Singham are hell bent on embarrassing their son Shaurya, who is written as a stereotypical disrespectful GenZ kid who (surprise, surprise) undergoes a moral and spiritual transformation through the course of this film.
Singham Again Movie: Performances
Avni and Singham are the kind of parents who say “aajkal ki generation toh [insert a moral judgment based on behavioural patterns]”. Meanwhile, Shaurya teaches Singham GenZ lingo; words like situationship, GOAT. The action then shifts to Rameshwaram, where we are introduced to Lady Singham (Shakti Shetty, played by an underutilized Deepika Padukone). As evident from the trailer, Padukone delivers most of her dialogues in a stereotypical manner.
The biggest gripe of this critic with the Rohit Shetty brand of cinema is that plot is always secondary to action. It seems like Shetty, the director, treats the plot/narrative in a step-motherly fashion. It seems that the action set pieces and shooting locations are decided first, then the plot is written to justify them. Don’t get me wrong. The action in the second half of the film is simply stellar. Rohit Shetty is indeed a maven when it comes to directing action films. But the lack of an engaging plot in Singham Again doesn’t keep the viewer hooked. There is no novelty, no sudden surprise or a departure from Ramayan that we are all familiar with.
Singham Again Movie: Writing And Direction
The fact that the film explains the plot to its viewers like they are five years old doesn’t help either. Each time a character is introduced, we are shown parallel visuals of Ramleela (as if it wasn’t evident which character is a placeholder for which Hindu deity). What left this critic puzzled was Satya (played by Tiger Shroff, personification of Laxman), gets hit by a bullet and doesn’t flinch as much. Willing suspension of disbelief can only take you so far.
Where is the logic? Where is the intrigue? I couldn't help but doze off pre-interval block as the plot moved in the most predictable way possible. We are introduced to Ranveer Singh, personification of Lord Hanuman. There’s also a helicopter cruising, gun-wielding Akshay Kumar who provides comic relief. Salman Khan's cameo makes you wake up from your deep sleep and take notice, but that’s about it.
Singham Again Movie: What Works, What Doesn’t
Singham Again takes forever to get to the point. Its build-up is 1 hour 10 minutes long and really tests your patience. By the time things get going in the second half, you are exhausted.There is also Shweta Tiwari and Dayanand Shetty in supporting roles. At one point, Avni yells “Daya darwaaza tod”. There are a couple meta references in the second half of the film but that’s about it. CBFC has wreaked havoc on the film (censoring 7 minutes, 12 seconds of the footage).
The book length disclaimer at the beginning of the film followed by pixelated visuals of a man’s head being chopped are the most obvious changes. While the replacement of background music isn’t obvious, the lackluster score leaves much to be desired. All in all, Singham Again is, to quote Rohit Shetty, “fun, timepass and leave your brain kind of movie”.
Star rating: 2.5 / 5 stars
Singham Again is now playing in theaters.
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