Singham Again Review - A Timepass Star-Stubbed Actioner!

Ashwin Ram

Singham Again is the latest addition to the Rohit Shetty Cop Universe. Deepika Padukone, Tiger Shroff and Arjun Kapoor are the new entrants to the party in addition to the lords Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar and Ranveer Singh.

Premise:

After the events of Sooryavanshi, Jackie Shroff’s grandson Arjun Kapoor is keen on seeking revenge. He kidnaps Kareena Kapoor, the wife of Ajay Devgn to release his grandfather from prison as ransom. The cops commence their mission to save the day.

Writing/ Direction:

No efforts in script writing, the story is just stitched to the previous installment. Yet to an extent, the team has achieved in serving it as a masala flick. There is a proper high point once in every twenty minutes which boosts the community viewing experience. The theatre moments are mostly played to the gallery, by correctly placing the cameos. Whenever there is dullness in the flow, the craze of a star appearing on-screen in slow motion with mass music rubs off the dry patch. Tiger Shroff’s presence felt like a not-so-necessary one, but the action stretch at his house is hands-down the best scene of the film. Absolutely no logic, but thankfully the Rohit Shetty magic works convincingly as he has given perfect build up for all the stars. The screenplay pattern is repetitive, when an established character gets trapped by the villain, someone gets introduced to free them. To make the storytelling more interesting, a parallel Ramayana narrative is used, which is a clever idea, unwantedly overdone as everyone comes up with the God references after a point. Also, despite the good graphics for the mythological shots, the low-key costumes felt as if they were participating in a fancy dress competition. Lastly, exciting to see a top star welcomed to the universe at the very end, instead he could have been brought in with a purpose and for more screen time.

Performances:

No scope for performances here, the presence of the stars is the key factor. Ajay Devgn is subtle, roars loud when required. Ranveer Singh proves he is a champ when it comes to being a chatterbox, he offers enough humor in the later half. Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone and Tiger Shroff have their share of high-voltage heroic elements, glad they all came together in the ‘Avengers Assemble’ mode. Dummy role for Kareena Kapoor, it was a pity to see her standing still when the other five are surrounding her and shooting the baddies. Arjun Kapoor looked cool, yet he feels like a miscast. Someone with greater star-power would have been apt for the role, as to justify the giants teaming up on the opposite side.

Technicalities:

Thaman and Ravi Basrur come together for the songs, but shockingly disappointing as none of the songs were good. Lazy work by Ravi Basrur in handling the background score, worthless pieces except for the themes we heard in the previous franchise movies. Visually decent, although VFX in the climax sequence is a letdown, the dozen slow-motion walk shots with the right background props and foreground spacing are striking to witness with the crowd. For the number of characters and location shifts, the editor has packed it well with a crisp runtime of less than 150 minutes. Solid action blocks, the choreography is on-point to make the impossible stunts look believable on-screen and the stars entertain us enough in the gaps.

Bottomline

Wafer-thin storyline and there are plenty of writing flaws, the unimpressive Ramayana perspective in particular. Yet a satisfying masala flick despite the shortcomings, the cameos are the major highlight. Commercially charged with neat staging and fun-filled mass episodes.

Rating - 2.75/ 5