So I watched 'Singham Returns' today and the movie prompted me to write a post on it. As an avid Bollywood movie lover, I have been
watching Hindi action movies for long in theaters to experience the sheer
energy and the thrill which you get by watching them on the big silver screen.
In last couple of years, there
have been some small budget movies which leave an impact with their solid story,
crisp direction and class act. And then there have been good romcom movies for
which generally the beautiful locations and melodious music makes the cut. But
when we think about an action movie with biggies like Salman, Aamir, Akshay or Ajay,
the expectations soar high and there are always comparisons with past.
Somehow I felt that the kind of masala
action movie trend which started with likes of ‘Ghajini’ , ‘Wanted’ and
continued with ‘Dabangg’ , ‘Rowdy Rathore’, ‘Singham’ etc. was diminishing from
the celluloid in past couple of years. Yes, there have been big money minting action
movies like ‘Dhoom-3’, ‘Krishh-3’, ‘Holiday’ and ‘Kick’ recently, which have crossed
150-200 crore mark at box office, mainly due to the star power and high ticket
prices. But I believe that they have completely failed in generating the single
screen buzz in multiplexes with their not so rustic dialogues and the westernized
action sequences.
Now why I feel that ‘Singham
Returns’ scores above all among the recent action movies in entertaining the Bollywood
audiences to the core. First of all, the movie highly banks upon its first installment
‘Singham’ which was loved by the audience and appreciated by critics too, just
like ‘Dabangg-2’which completely rode on the success of ‘Dabangg’. The protagonist
Bajirao Singham takes his journey of bravery and machoism to another level as he
has already become a household name with his hugely popular dialogues like ‘Atah
maajhi satakli’ and ‘Aaali re aali atah tujhi baari aali’ ! I am sure some of
the dialogues of this one would also become popular but imagine what happens when
you create the similar face-off situations between the hero and villain, play
the same Singham track in background and put the same popular dialogues in the
scene ……..the audience just shout them loudly in chorus with the hero. And I
guess that’s where the connect happens! But on dialogue front, the icing on the
cake is when the corrupt politician runs to save his life from thousands of
policemen, and locks himself in a house with the emphasis given on shutting of
door. As soon as Singham reaches the door and inspects it before saying
anything, the timing completely makes you shout on top of your voice – Daya Darwaza
tod do! The very next moment it happens
and you just enjoy that fun and thrill it brings to the theatre.
Rest is taken care by the Rohit
Shetty, Ajay Devgan specialized style of action. The well timed entry of hero
in each fight sequence, the fighting moves, the blazing guns, everything just
adds to this super action experience for the audiences. There is also a flavor
of beauty and comedy, both mixed in Kareena’s character, who being a seasoned
actress, delivers that perfectly with few ‘whistle blowing’ dialogues.
Now the point is where the movie
lags. Honestly speaking, I felt that some of the action and the
confrontation scenes were repetitive. Also one of the objectives of focusing on the plight
of cops who sacrifice their personal lives over national duty, was not handled well
as compared to ‘Singham’. And last but not the least, I really missed the lovable
villain Prakash Raj.
Besides these, some might say the
story isn’t that great as compared to the first or there are some superhero
stunt sequences which are far far away from reality, not to forget the Shetty’s
trademark style of blowing the vehicles high in air. I would just advise them to
buy the DVDs of recent blockbuster movies which I mentioned in the beginning of
this post and try finding out some story or logic in them. And if even after
watching all, they rate them above Singham Returns, then as an Ajay Devgan fan
I would just tell them…. Attah Maajhi Satakli !
