‘SINGHAM AGAIN’ REVIEW | 1 November, 2024

Jio Studios, Rohit Shetty Picturez, Devgan Films, Reliance Entertainment and Cinergy’s Singham Again (UA) is the third in the Singham franchise and yet another in Rohit Shetty’s Cop Universe.

Bajirao Singham (Ajay Devgan) manages to nab dreaded terrorist Omar Hafiz (Jackie Shroff) and puts him behind bars. He then asks ACP Shakti Shetty (Deepika Padukone) to arrest his three trusted lieutenants viz. Sarath (Ankit Mohan), Ranga (Chetan Chitnis) and Birju (R. Siddarth). But Omar’s grandson, Zubair Hafiz (Arjun Kapoor), swears revenge and sets Shakti Shetty’s police station on fire, also killing several police officers. Even as Singham is planning his strategy to nab Zubair from Sri Lanka, the latter abducts Singham’s wife, Avni (Kareena Kapoor Khan). Zubair asks Singham to have his grandfather released from jail and sent back to him in exchange for Avni. It is now Singham’s mission to get his wife safely back from Zubair and also arrest the latter and bring him to India while, obviously, not letting Omar Hafiz be set free. In this mission, he is aided by police inspectors Veer Sooryavanshi (Akshay Kumar), Simmba (Ranveer Singh), Shakti Shetty and Satya Bali (Tiger Shroff).

Kshitij Patwardhan has written the story and juxtapositioned the same with the epic Ramayana. The juxtapositioning is so wonderfully done that the Ramayana runs (on stage) parallelly with the story of Singham versus Zubair, making them appear as the modern avatars of Lord Rama and Ravana respectively. This gives the story more depth and holds special appeal for the ladies and family audience. The screenplay, penned by Yunus Sajawal, Kshitij Patwardhan, Sandeep Saket, Anusha Nandakumar, Abhijeet Khuman and Rohit Shetty, is very fast-paced and keeps the audience engaged throughout. The proceedings have almost all sorts of emotions — there is drama, melodrama, comedy, emotions, plenty of action etc. As mentioned above, the similarities between the Ramayana and Singham’s drama make the screenplay even more interesting. The only drawback is that it becomes a bit predictable at times. The light moments, interspersed in the tension-ridden drama, especially after interval, provide the much-needed relief. Shantanu Srivastava’s dialogues, with additional dialogues by Milap Milan Zaveri, Vidhi Ghodgaonkar and Rohit Shetty, are excellent.

Ajay Devgan once again lives the role of Bajirao Singham, breathing fire into the character. His performance is extraordinary. Kareena Kapoor Khan looks gorgeous as his wife, Avni, and her acting is wonderful. Akshay Kumar provides lovely support in the role of Veer Sooryavanshi. Ranveer Singh often brings the house down with laughter as Simmba. His dialogues greatly contribute to the comedy. Deepika Padukone is terrific as Shakti Shetty and makes wonderful mark. Tiger Shroff is pretty endearing in the role of Satya Bali. His silent entry will evoke a loud round of applause. His action scenes are to die for. Arjun Kapoor is fantastic as antagonist Zubair Hafiz. He plays the villain pretty effectively. Jackie Shroff lends able support as Omar Hafiz. Ravi Kishan makes a fine mark as Raj Jaishankar. Shweta Tiwari (as Devika Singh) and Dayanand Shetty (as Daya Shetty) are natural as Singham’s assistants. Viren Vazirani is cute as Singham’s son, Shaurya. Ankit Mohan (as Sarath), Chetan Chitnis (as Ranga) and R. Siddharth (as Birju) make their presence amply felt. Rajshri Nair (as Satya’s mother), Prerna Gandhi (as Revati Amma), Sara Arfeen Khan (as Mrigya alias Iqra Hafiz), Shubham Sharma (as Ram), Saloni Misra (as Sita), Vansh Pannu (as Laxman), Varinder Singh (as Hanuman), Hardeep Singh (as Ravana) and Abhi Munde (as the sutradhar) lend very able support. Salman Khan’s appearance at the fag end of the film lends tremendous star value but there’s nothing he does to evoke applause. In other words, his presence does not add to the film’s story but only gives an indication of what to expect in the next Cop Universe film. Other actors do as desired.

Rohit Shetty’s direction is excellent. He has made a wholesome entertainer for all kinds of audience and for every age group. Music (by Ravi Basrur and Thaman S.) is appealing. Lyrics (Swanand Kirkire and Kumaar) are rich. Ganesh Acharya’s choreography is functional. Ravi Basrur’s background music is extraordinary and heightens the impact of the drama. Girish Kant and Raza Hussain Mehta’s cinematography is outstanding. Action and stunt scenes (by Sunil Rodrigues and Grant Hulley) are super-thrilling. They will often be met with thunderous applause. The action is designed by Rohit Shetty and Mayank Tandon. Production designing — by Swapnil Bhalerao and Madhur Madhavan (Art Monks) — is superb. Bunty Nagi’s editing is super-sharp.

On the whole, Singham Again is a super-hit and will do extraordinary business. It will work in the multiplexes as well as single-screen cinemas and will appeal to men and women, girls and boys, young and old, rich and poor.

Released on 1-11-’24 at Inox (daily 14 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru PVR Inox Pictures. Publicity: very good. Opening: good (adversely affected at places owing to Diwali festivities in Hindu households). …….Also released all over. Opening ranged from good to excellent (affected adversely at many places due to Diwali festivities).

Jio Studios, Rohit Shetty Picturez, Devgan Films, Reliance Entertainment and Cinergy’s Singham Again (UA) is the third in the Singham franchise and yet another in Rohit Shetty’s Cop Universe.

Bajirao Singham (Ajay Devgan) manages to nab dreaded terrorist Omar Hafiz (Jackie Shroff) and puts him behind bars. He then asks ACP Shakti Shetty (Deepika Padukone) to arrest his three trusted lieutenants viz. Sarath (Ankit Mohan), Ranga (Chetan Chitnis) and Birju (R. Siddarth). But Omar’s grandson, Zubair Hafiz (Arjun Kapoor), swears revenge and sets Shakti Shetty’s police station on fire, also killing several police officers. Even as Singham is planning his strategy to nab Zubair from Sri Lanka, the latter abducts Singham’s wife, Avni (Kareena Kapoor Khan). Zubair asks Singham to have his grandfather released from jail and sent back to him in exchange for Avni. It is now Singham’s mission to get his wife safely back from Zubair and also arrest the latter and bring him to India while, obviously, not letting Omar Hafiz be set free. In this mission, he is aided by police inspectors Veer Sooryavanshi (Akshay Kumar), Simmba (Ranveer Singh), Shakti Shetty and Satya Bali (Tiger Shroff).

Kshitij Patwardhan has written the story and juxtapositioned the same with the epic Ramayana. The juxtapositioning is so wonderfully done that the Ramayana runs (on stage) parallelly with the story of Singham versus Zubair, making them appear as the modern avatars of Lord Rama and Ravana respectively. This gives the story more depth and holds special appeal for the ladies and family audience. The screenplay, penned by Yunus Sajawal, Kshitij Patwardhan, Sandeep Saket, Anusha Nandakumar, Abhijeet Khuman and Rohit Shetty, is very fast-paced and keeps the audience engaged throughout. The proceedings have almost all sorts of emotions — there is drama, melodrama, comedy, emotions, plenty of action etc. As mentioned above, the similarities between the Ramayana and Singham’s drama make the screenplay even more interesting. The only drawback is that it becomes a bit predictable at times. The light moments, interspersed in the tension-ridden drama, especially after interval, provide the much-needed relief. Shantanu Srivastava’s dialogues, with additional dialogues by Milap Milan Zaveri, Vidhi Ghodgaonkar and Rohit Shetty, are excellent.

Ajay Devgan once again lives the role of Bajirao Singham, breathing fire into the character. His performance is extraordinary. Kareena Kapoor Khan looks gorgeous as his wife, Avni, and her acting is wonderful. Akshay Kumar provides lovely support in the role of Veer Sooryavanshi. Ranveer Singh often brings the house down with laughter as Simmba. His dialogues greatly contribute to the comedy. Deepika Padukone is terrific as Shakti Shetty and makes wonderful mark. Tiger Shroff is pretty endearing in the role of Satya Bali. His silent entry will evoke a loud round of applause. His action scenes are to die for. Arjun Kapoor is fantastic as antagonist Zubair Hafiz. He plays the villain pretty effectively. Jackie Shroff lends able support as Omar Hafiz. Ravi Kishan makes a fine mark as Raj Jaishankar. Shweta Tiwari (as Devika Singh) and Dayanand Shetty (as Daya Shetty) are natural as Singham’s assistants. Viren Vazirani is cute as Singham’s son, Shaurya. Ankit Mohan (as Sarath), Chetan Chitnis (as Ranga) and R. Siddharth (as Birju) make their presence amply felt. Rajshri Nair (as Satya’s mother), Prerna Gandhi (as Revati Amma), Sara Arfeen Khan (as Mrigya alias Iqra Hafiz), Shubham Sharma (as Ram), Saloni Misra (as Sita), Vansh Pannu (as Laxman), Varinder Singh (as Hanuman), Hardeep Singh (as Ravana) and Abhi Munde (as the sutradhar) lend very able support. Salman Khan’s appearance at the fag end of the film lends tremendous star value but there’s nothing he does to evoke applause. In other words, his presence does not add to the film’s story but only gives an indication of what to expect in the next Cop Universe film. Other actors do as desired.

Rohit Shetty’s direction is excellent. He has made a wholesome entertainer for all kinds of audience and for every age group. Music (by Ravi Basrur and Thaman S.) is appealing. Lyrics (Swanand Kirkire and Kumaar) are rich. Ganesh Acharya’s choreography is functional. Ravi Basrur’s background music is extraordinary and heightens the impact of the drama. Girish Kant and Raza Hussain Mehta’s cinematography is outstanding. Action and stunt scenes (by Sunil Rodrigues and Grant Hulley) are super-thrilling. They will often be met with thunderous applause. The action is designed by Rohit Shetty and Mayank Tandon. Production designing — by Swapnil Bhalerao and Madhur Madhavan (Art Monks) — is superb. Bunty Nagi’s editing is super-sharp.

On the whole, Singham Again is a super-hit and will do extraordinary business. It will work in the multiplexes as well as single-screen cinemas and will appeal to men and women, girls and boys, young and old, rich and poor.

Released on 1-11-’24 at Inox (daily 14 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru PVR Inox Pictures. Publicity: very good. Opening: good (adversely affected at places owing to Diwali festivities in Hindu households). …….Also released all over. Opening ranged from good to excellent (affected adversely at many places due to Diwali festivities).