The latest entry in the Singham Cinematic Universe (SCU)
SIMMBA
Cast- Ranvir
Singh, Sara Ali Khan, Ashutosh Rana, Sonu Sood, approximately half the Marathi TV
industry, approximately all of Rohit Shetty’s favourite actors and others
DIRECTOR- ROHIT
SHETTY
Bollywood already had jumped on to making sequels and
milking the original concept dry till it stops making money (Race 1 ,2 3,
Murder Raaz Jannat Ragini MMS Hate story 1,2,3,4- 76 etc. etc.) But with the
success of comic book movies and shared universes, it seems they are turning
their heads in this direction. But hey, am not complaining. I absolutely do not
mind Bollywood creating a shared cinematic universe where awesome characters
create a platform for other awesome characters. Simmba is almost as interesting
and enjoyable character as Bajirao Singham.
Their connection however only ends with a young Simmba
growing up in the same town of Shivgad as Singham did. Although he also grows
up to be a cop, his motive is completely different. As a young orphan, he
witnesses first-hand what power a Khaki
Vardi holds and decides to become a cop. He is manipulative, conniving and
corrupt as hell. Yet it’s the inevitable charm that Ranvir Singh brings to the
role that makes you connect with such a dubious character. Any other actor and the
movie would have collapsed in the first few scenes. The best part about Ranvir
in any role, especially the ones where he has to be eccentric is that he
himself seems to be having a lot of fun. That joy is infectious and rolls off
screen onto you. All his jokes are perfectly timed and his energetic presence
is enough to bring a smile to your face…oh and his Marathi is impeccably
perfect. I mean I have a keen ear for Marathi being spoken in Bollywood movies
and it’s not that am offended when it’s spoken wrongly but it does hamper my
experience when Marathi speaking characters can’t speak a few lines without
messing it up. Ranvir did it well in Bajirao Mastani and he does it really well
here. Not only his language but his body language in playing the masala movie cop is also perfect. The
script surprisingly shows a lot of intelligence by providing his character with a bit of depth instead of making him
completely one dimensional however it doesn’t do that for the entire movie. But more
on that later.
Simmba is transferred to Miramar in Goa and strikes a
profitable arrangement with local don Sonu Sood. Because lets face it, Sonu
Sood is just Sonu Sood. He has always been Sonu Sood and will continue to be Sonu
Sood no matter what character he is playing. I mean he isn’t a bad actor, not
at all…he is just…well Sonu Sood. There is no other word for it. We all know
that he builds his body all year long only to get his ass kicked in the climax
of some cop action film and that is exactly what he does here. I mean this
being Goa and the cop here being a spin off from Singham…you kinda miss the
menacing Jaykant Shikre…I mean not comparing the two characters or actors but
just that Sonu Sood in here is not as interesting a villain. But the real
villain here are his two brothers who rape a girl for whom the orphan Simmba
has gained sisterly sympathy. The rest of the story is Simmba’s fight against
righting his own corrupt nature and fighting a system and society which views
rape cases callously.
If you had seen the trailer of this movie, all I have to say
is fuck the marketing team of the movie. This is not a spoiler when I say it
because the dumb fucking marketing drops the best….I mean the best surprise of
the movie in the trailer itself. It’s if the trailer of Kahaani ended with
Vidya Balan fighting the terrorist or the trailer for Infinity War ending with
Thanos snapping his fingers. If you haven’t seen the trailer of this movie, I
urge you to please not ruin your experience with this.
However, does having watched the trailer of the movie or
watched its original NTR Jr. starrer Telegu film ‘Temper’ ruin the
movie completely? Well not exactly. Firstly itt differs from Temper in a few ways and also
it is not at all boring even if it’s predictable. It is a lot of fun time when
Ranvir is dancing and flirting with Sara Ali Khan who is seriously gorgeous and
again speaks very good Marathi (Rohit Shetty should at this point be given a
civil award by govt. of Maharashtra for making Marathi relevant and cool in
Bollywood movies). She acts decently well but in a movie like this doesn’t have
much to do. The movie is also fun when the action is going down and when Simmba
loses his temper to beat the crap out of goons.
However, the movie stops being the masala fun entertainer it
is, when it gets wayyy too serious and preachy about rape. I am not saying they
handle it insensitively. In fact, any person would want to do what Simmba does
to rapists in the movie (Any sane person…not Indian liberals). But the word is
just bandied about way too many times. Everyone agrees that the act is heinous
and even hearing about it can shake anyone to their core but come on Rohit Shetty just
make some cars fly or some shit! I mean you aren’t exactly making Spotlight
here. We understand what they did and its seriousness. Just get to Simmba being
a badass and fucking them up. It’s that 20-30 minutes of the movie which gives
too much time to the extended drama surrounding the rape that drag the movie
down. The extended drama being the same preaching and dialogue again and again
from different characters. I mean if
they had spent more time on…I don’t know dealing with more of the villain’s
other bad businesses or something then it would have fit the tone of the movie
more in my opinion. What this also does is when the ultimate revenge happens, it just feels
very short. In Singham or Dabanng or Rowdy Rathore, the hero cop takes his time
to mess with the villain…there is a kehke
loonga feel to it. Here it just happens. In fact they show you what happens
in the first 5 minutes of the movie, so even that’s not a surprise. Just like
the trailer. (Seriously fuck the marketing dept. of this movie!)
The music is decent- I mean you have the obligatory dance
song, the desi dance song, the obligatory Rahat Fateh Ali Khan re-singing a Nusrat
Fateh Ali Khan classic and a remix. However, the remix video is done very
cleverly with some very intelligently done cameos, which is frankly something I
would have done.
Overall, the movie is really fun and engaging in most parts
but really drags uncomfortably in the middle. Ranvir is the star of the movie and
really owns the role. I wouldn’t mind seeing him in a sequel maybe sharing the
space with another star. Coz this might the latest entry in the Singham
Cinematic Universe…it isn’t the last one. They straight off pulled a Marvel by
teasing the next movie in the end. And call it a cop-out (woah an actual unintended
pun after a long time), but I am a sucker for such teases and that kinda made
the movie slightly better for me.
The movie for all its flaws is definitely Worth Watching Once.
