Singham Again Review: Rohit Shetty Deserves Brownie Points For Ambition, Ajay Devgn Leaves You Wanting For More – News18

Last Updated:November 01, 2024, 11:50 IST

Arjun Kapoor as the anti-hero is a complete revelation. He impresses the most and the build-up to his character is delicious.

Singham Again Movie Review: First things first, please leave your thinking caps back home if you truly want to enjoy and experience Singham Again, the fifth instalment in Rohit Shetty’s cop universe after Singham, Singham Returns, Simmba and Sooryavanshi. Keep your mind open and rid it of all kinds of ‘wokeness’ and Singham Again will turn out to be an entertaining Diwali dhamaka. And let’s face it, how often do we get to watch some of the biggest stars of Bollywood come together, all guns blazing, to put our screens on fire! Singham Again has fire written all over it, so much so that Arjun Kapoor’s Danger Lanka is introduced as ‘aag ka toofan’ and he goes around town setting fire to anything that comes in his way.

The film picks up from where Sooryavanshi ends. Senior superintendent of police, Bajirao Singham, is now posted in Jammu & Kashmir. He’s a part of Special Operations Group, which also includes former militants turned into desh bhakt soldiers. Taking the action ahead from Maharashtra, Singham now proves his brawn in the valley as he fights and nabs Lashkar chief and terrorist, Omar Hafeez. This also helps him earn the favour of the Kashmiri youth, who come up to him and tell him that gone are the days of stone pelting as they now believe in extending their support to the police.

But capturing Omar only lands Singham in more trouble as the bigger threat now to the nation is a dreaded terrorist, Zubair (also known as Danger Lanka), who operates out of Sri Lanka. Things get worse when he abducts Singham’s wife, Avni, when she goes to Rameshwaram to shoot for her Ram Leela Project. She works with the Ministry of Culture and through her series, she wants to prove to those – particularly her Gen-Z son – that the epic of Ramayana is not a myth but a part of history.

And before Singham can reach Rameshwaram to rescue Avni, he puts Shakti Shetty, who calls herself Lady Singham, and Satya, in-charge of the mission to being back Avni from the clutches of Danger Lanka. Simmba and Sooryavanshi also join the team and crushing Danger Lanka becomes their sole motive. Constant parallels are drawn between the plot and Ramayan with Singham (Ajay Devgn) playing the modern-day Ram. Avni (Kareena Kapoor Khan) is Sita, Satya (Tiger Shroff) is Lakshman, Shakti (Deepika Padukone) is Vibhishana, Simmba (Ranveer Singh) is Lord Hanuman, Sooryavanshi (Akshay Kumar) is Garud and Danger Lanka (Arjun Kapoor) is Raavan.

Avni’s abduction by Danger Lanka intercuts with an episode from her Ram Leela Project where Sita too is abducted by Ravan as soon as she crosses the Lakshman Rekha. Much like Jatayu who tried saving Sita, Satya fights Danger Lanka with all his might and kalaripayatu skills but fails. However, a modern retelling of Ramayan calls for modern tropes. Unfortunately, Kareena as Avni/Sita is reduced to a damsel in distress. An actor of the stature and calibre of Kareena deserved a better written character with an agency. At the same time, this analogy doesn’t always go with the cop-centric storyline.

At 2 hours 24 minutes, Singham Again makes for a more or less engaging watch. The screenplay is incoherent in parts and sometimes overstuffed too and that’s where the pace dips. However, Rohit made sure that no time is wasted in setting the tone and the background of the crux of the plot. Interestingly, this is one of those commercial potboilers with no songs. Ravi Basrur’s background score, however, makes up for it. He creates an entirely new soundscape for the film and for each cop. While the music mostly complements the high-octane drama and action of the narrative, it becomes jarring at several points.

For those expecting to see Singham upping the ante with his action sequences, you may get slightly disappointed. The stunts, overall, lack a certain kind of novelty too, leaving you wanting for more. To justify the presence of so many cop characters, Singham appears to be taking a back seat and calling them for action every now and then. However, his slow-motion introduction scene does give you a trip down the memory lane and reiterates the heroic qualities that has made Singham a much-loved cop character. Speaking of introductions, Sooryavanshi gets the most stylish chopper entry and this pumps up the style quotient of the film by several notches.

But Rohit’s need to connect with the Gen-Z audience through Singham and Avni’s son, who’s seen imparting a lesson or two to his parents on what GOAT and situationship mean, feel unnecessary to the plot. The humour quotient is missing through the first half but with the entry of the highly energetic and impish Simmba in the second half, the chasm gets filled. His one-liners are sure to crack you up. His banter with Sooryavanshi is absolutely cracking.

Do cars still fly in this Ramayan-meets-cop universe? Without a shred of doubt. And Rohit deserves brownie points for his unapologetic vision and ambition and for being able to pull off an enviable casting coup. Singham Again screams mainstream, mass and masala. It is larger-than-life with the filmmaker’s trademark touches all there. What’s exhilarating is the induction of a female cop in this otherwise male-dominated universe, which perfectly sets the stage for the upcoming film starring her in the franchise. Additionally, Bollywood lovers are going to cherish the sequence featuring Singham, Sooryavanshi, Simmba, Shaktia and Satya together as they try to bring Danger Lanka down. What a big screen moment it is!

But it’s Arjun as Danger Lanka, who impresses the most. He’s a revelation. He might have played characters with grey shades in Ishaqzaade, Aurangzeb and Sandeep Aur Pink Faraar but Singham Again gives him the opportunity to play with a dark, menacing character and prove his mettle. His sinister smile is unforgettable. In a nutshell, the build-up to his character is delicious. Do watch Singham Again for him, for its ambitious, larger-than-life appeal and for not-so-surprising Salman Khan’s Chulbul Pandey cameo. If promises are met, then a Rohit Shetty X Salman Khan collaboration will be one for the books!