Two franchises are battling it out in the box office this Diwali – ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’ and ‘Singham Again’ – and both of the new installments only make you appreciate the original more. Singham followed the story of a cop, Bajirao Singham (Ajay Devgn), who faced off against a politician Jaikant Shikre (Prakash Raj) for his senior’s honour. While there are parts of the film one could fault, as a ‘cop film’, there is much to love about the 2011 film.
However, Singham Again squanders most of the original’s promise in an exasperating attempt to recreate an Infinity War-esque culmination to a cinematic universe. Like with Marvel’s superhero fatigue, Singham Again is a testament to the ‘cop universe’ fatigue.
There is no denying that stories inspired by epics and myths can make for brilliant, engaging films – they’re ‘epics’ for a reason. From the Ramayana and Mahabharat in India to works like Hamlet and Illiad, filmmakers have often turned to literature for inspiration. And so does Rohit Shetty.
The characters and the basic plot of the Ramayana forms a shadow over the film – scenes from the epic are interspersed with scenes from the film. Singham (Devgn) stands in for Ram, Singham’s wife Avni (Kareena Kapoor) stands in for Sita, Simmba (Ranveer Singh in a reprisal) stands in for Hanuman and so on and so forth. And in the midst, Deepika Padukone’s character is introduced as Shakti Shetty aka ‘Lady Singham’ and she stands for…nobody. To be fair, she stands for ‘Singham’ because, unlike most characters, her action is interspersed with scenes from Singham.
Deepika Padukone is a good actor, Shakti Shetty is not a good character. She is expected to overact and ham and slo-mo walk throughout the film and one can’t help but wonder where Padukone went. And not in a good way.
The film is loud and obnoxious – both qualities that have acted as strengths in Shetty’s films before but here they only add to how tedious everything feels. And unless you’re someone who is absolutely taken by the Cop Universe and is okay with over-the-top action leading to and from nowhere, Singham Again tests your patience.
It becomes apparent soon enough that the film is relying on manipulating the audience – if the links to Ramayana won’t do it, the ‘ghus ke maarenge’ brand of dialogues will.
At some point, youth from Kashmir stand in front of Singham and say, ‘Stone pelting is old fashioned, we’re on your side now’. Your face will struggle to decide between a look of absolute confusion and exasperation because what does that even mean?
Ajay Devgn as the imposing Singham is every bit as impressive as he has been in every installment – there’s a reason it’s one of the actor’s most iconic acts. His booming voice and his sheer screen presence do a huge favour to the film. And so does Arjun Kapoor. Kapoor plays the film’s terrifying antagonist ‘Danger Lanka’ and operates from bases in India and Sri Lanka – no points for guessing which Ramayana character he is. He is driven by the need to avenge his family’s death and to guarantee his uncle’s safety.
His real name is Zubair (who is surprised?) and he studied in London and is ‘not a jihadi’ – that’s some ‘Cop Universe’ growth right there. He is introduced as someone who is as shrewd as he is ruthless, though the film doesn’t let these qualities actually clash against Singham’s strength.
A satisfying climax could still have made this film a better viewing experience considering how both actors truly commit to their roles, no holds barred. But there are more cogs in this fight – namely, ACP Sangram aka Simmba (Singh), ACP Satya Bali (Tiger Shroff), and DCP Veer Sooryavanshi (Akshay Kumar). Of all of them, Singh gets the most to do and does it well for the most part.
When he is not swinging in the air or going ham in some sequences, he is funny. His comedic timing and his grasp on physical comedy both come in handy and it is perhaps the fact that he is a breath of fresh air in the film that makes him look even better. Satya, on the other hand, gets the best action set piece but his introduction is so comical that you can’t help but wonder if this is a cop that just wanders around in a jungle with no purpose, hoping to stumble upon a case.
Speaking of action, the film’s action choreography leaves much to be desired (except one sequence). The editing is too choppy and the action choreography feels too artificial – both Shakti Shetty and Sooryavanshi’s introduction scenes seem set up to fail. The only impressive action sequence is the one where Satya is fighting against the enemies to protect his ashram – Shroff’s action expertise aside, the combination of guns blazing and mixed martial arts is impressive.
The women in Singham Again exist to do more than they have previously done in films from the Universe but it’s only marginally better. Avni seems to work in the cultural arm of the Indian government and her arc revolves around staging a RamLeela which feels like half-RamLeela, half-documentary. Women ‘fight’ when they must but otherwise, they are either sidelined or they cower in a corner till a saviour arrives. But it’s not like anyone else in the film fares any better – every character is a caricature.
The screenplay doesn’t make a lot of sense but we’ve stopped expecting that from Rohit Shetty’s films. And that was okay when the films were mindless fun but this film doesn’t have much ‘fun’ to look forward to. Sometimes I found myself wondering if the makers have any idea of ‘where’ this story is meant to go. A cameo by Salman Khan hints that there is more to come from the ‘Singham’ or ‘Cop Universe’ and the only thing I found myself thinking is, ‘Please not Singham again’.
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