‘Singham Again’ movie review: Ajay Devgn returns in deathly dull franchise

Star Cast: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Akshay Kumar, Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Tiger Shroff, Arjun Kapoor, Jackie Shroff

Director: Rohit Shetty

Singham Again Movie: Story

Ever since the trailer of Rohit Shetty’s cop universe film Singham Again came out, many fans were concerned about the overexposure of the entire movie. This also led us to think whether the movie would be all chaos and no play, with so many Bollywood biggies but a jumbled and shoddy execution. My worst fears came true when this is exactly what I witnessed in the movie, especially in the second half. Imagine making a dish with the perfect ingredients, which is bound to make it tasty. But instead of letting one ingredient blend well into the dish, you pour everything in one go, leading to a confused and bland taste. This is what happens with the Ajay Devgn starrer. Despite the spirit of Diwali, the Ramayana reference and inspiration in this one tends to do more harm than good.

DCP Bajirao Singham (Ajay Devgn) meets his longtime foe Omar Hafiz (Jackie Shroff) and holds him captive. Still, now his grandson Zubair Hafiz, aka Danger Lanka (Arjun Kapoor) is out for vengeance from the cop universe trio – Singham, Simmba (Ranveer Singh), and Sooryavanshi (Akshay Kumar) for the death of his family members. Zubair kidnaps Singham’s wife, Avni (Kareena Kapoor Khan). This leads Singham on a quest to rescue his wife and stop Zubai’s deadly revenge witchhunt, which takes him to Sri Lanka. Apart from his comrades Simmba and Sooryavanshi, this time around, he is also joined by Lady Singham, aka Shakti Shetty (Deepika Padukone) and ACP Satya Bali (Tiger Shroff).

Singham Again Movie: Script Analysis

It was established in the elongated Singham Again trailer that the movie’s characters seek inspiration from the characters in Ramayana. However, to stay true to the character inspirations and the critical events in the Indian epic, what comes through is a chaotic and half-baked screenplay and execution. Every character seems to be giving melodramatic and preachy dialogue, which holds to their respective characters. Be it Arjun Kapoor’s Ravan declaring the demon king as his favorite character or Kareena Kapoor Khan’s Sita preaching over a good over an evil arc in the Kali Yug while being held captive. If Tiger Shroff and Deepika Padukone’s characters were based on Lakshman and Sugreev, we hardly get any reference over there.

Only Ranveer Singh’s Hanuman seems endearing and some of the best moments of Singham Again is him being sent to Sri Lanka to meet Avni, synonymous with Lord Hanuman flying to Lanka and burning it down. The climax seems to be one of the most underwhelming parts of the movie. Forget the badassery but the action set-pieces are monotonous, devoid of logic, and seem to be yet another stint of Rohit Shetty living his flying car fantasies. Except for the banter between Ranveer Singh and Akshay Kumar, there is no chemistry, camaraderie, or brotherhood between the characters. And if you are waiting for that ‘cameo’ please be prepared to be disappointed because it gets done in a blink of an eye with no impact. Not to forget, some jokes made on the modern dating jargon like ‘situationship’ or ‘ghosting’ also do not create a strong impact.

Singham Again Movie: Star Performance

Ajay Devgn starts with intensity, but somewhere, that spark, energy, and fire are missing in his screen presence and dialogue delivery. The movie lacks intensity in Singham and Singham Returns. It is rather disappointing, given the expectations attached to the impact this iconic character should create amongst the masses. Akshay Kumar enters in swag, but his performance fails to create a strong impact. His character forgetting the names of everyone around him does not land as a strong comedic element. I’m still wondering about the objective of Tiger Shroff and Deepika Padukone’s characters. Not only were they lousily integrated into the script with little or no screen time and presence, but both actors were extremely underwhelming in their performance. Deepika as Shakti Shetty was a rather misfit and none of the dialogue delivery unfortunately landed. Arjun Kapoor was the surprise factor. Given the scrutiny his performance was under, the actor surprisingly delivers the menacing antagonist act.

However, the highlight and the ultimate Pookie of this one was Ranveer Singh’s act as Sangram Bhalerao, aka Simmba. There is never a dull moment when he is onscreen. Some of his portions are the highlights of the movie. Be him smiling in a photograph while held captive, interrupting a romantic moment with Singham and Avni, or cribbing about Sooryavanshi. He is truly the show stealer of this one.

Singham Again Movie: Direction, Music

Singham Again relies heavily on the background score by Ravi Basrur and Thaman S. While the background score is indeed catchy and heart-thumping, doing the heavy lifting instead of a solid direction and execution is one of the red flags of the movie. The over-the-top action sequences, blaring background music, and the preachy Dialoguebaazi to do justice to the Ramayan reference leads to the direction being extremely hair-brained and buffoonish.

Singham Again Movie: Conclusion

Alas, this Rohit Shetty’s cop universe fails to impress despite the Showsha. Amid an epic clash with Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, it will be interesting to see the impact this has on the box office numbers and word of mouth. Even Chulbul Pandey’s Tadka fails to add that needed spice.