Film: Simmba
Starcast: Ranveer Singh, Sara Ali Khan, Sonu Sood, Ashutosh Rana, Siddarth Jadhav, Suresh Oberoi and Ajay Devgn
Okay, the verdict on Simmba is out. PeepingMoon.com’s critical film analyst from Dubai says Rohit Shetty’s revenge cop drama is a kick-ass entertainer and worthily deserving of four stars – well, moons! One ought to go entirely to Ranveer Singh who, with his skillful play of emotions – sometimes naughty, then funny, otherwise angry – has clearly come of age as an actor. Sara Ali Khan, his love interest, also has a terrific screen presence. She is vivacious, spontaneous in her repartee, has a sizzling chemistry with Ranveer (mountains above what she shared with Sushant Singh Rajput in Kedarnath) and impresses in her brief role.
The story is as old as is crime in India. Inspector Sangram “Simmba” Bhalerao (Ranveer Singh) is a corrupt cop in Goa. But his corruption aside, Simmba is hugely entertaining. If only all policemen were cut of this cloth. He makes no bones of telling everyone that he’s in the khaki for the money. Unlike Salman Khan’s Chulbul Pandey who wickedly gets a lion’s share from every crooked deal happening under his nose which he distributes among the poor in the Dabangg films, Simmba is no Robin Hood. He spares nobody from his greed for money. Not even the fearsome local dada played powerfully by Sonu Sood who is back to his evil ways after getting it right in Dabangg.
[caption id="attachment_189514" align="aligncenter" width="696"]
Ranveer Singh and Sara Ali Khan ft Simmba poster[/caption]
But Simmba does have a heart of gold, too. And he gives up his corrupt ways and becomes an avenging cop who goes off in hot pursuit of the men who dared to sexually assault his ‘sister’. That’s about the story of Simmba. Rohit Shetty’s been there and done it all before with the Singham films and he does not venture out to recreate the wheel withSimmba. The action, comedy, dance, music formula has worked for him before. He dusts it off the shelf and puts it to use again here. And just when you are getting used to it all, Rohit Shetty staggers you by producing Ajay “Singham” Devgn himself in an extended cameo that crackles with intensity. Devgn as Singham, Ranveer as Simmba, even theAvengers cannot match this. Then, when you think you’ve seen it all, Rohit Shetty teases explosively with a mischievous peek at the next Singham/Simmba film. The filmmaker is madly in love with cops and you’ll never guess who his next superstar in khaki is.
[caption id="attachment_189382" align="aligncenter" width="670"]
Ranveer Singh and Ajay Devgn[/caption]
Ranveer Singh as Simmba puts out a roaring, lion-like performance. After Padmaavat and Bajirao Mastani, this has to be his best character on screen, and he slips into khaki effortlessly to give new meaning to being a police officer. Sara Ali Khan as Shagun is a director’s delight even though she flits on and off the screen and returns towards the end with a girl gang. In addition to her, there are several other female characters to stir the plot, most playing Simmba’s sister. The film is totally and absolutely a masala entertainer, paisa vasool for the front benchers and back, and Bollywood could not have had a more cheery and positive start to the New Year than Simmba after the Diwali and Christmas disasters that were Thugs of Hindostan and Zero respectively. Simmba has been produced by Karan Johar's Dharma Productions and Rohit Shetty Picturez.
Go see the film. Full recommended.
rating: 4 moons
