No Ramayan, more like a modern Adipurush – Beyond Bollywood

Director Rohit Shetty and his team of eight writers not only undermine the Hindu epic but also diminish the Singham franchise. Ranveer Singh is the sole saving grace.

Rating: ⭐️💫 (1.5 / 5)

By Mayur Lookhar

In the past, whatever Rohit Shetty touched turned to gold. But he is human too, as evident from the failure of Cirkus (2022) and the negative reviews for Indian Police Force (2024), his maiden web series. Having committed to a cop universe, Shetty is obligated to deliver more content. His super cops displayed teamwork in Sooryavanshi (2021), which ended with a visual of Bajirao Singham, the cop who started it all. Deepika Padukone describes him as “Our Guru ji.” The guru, however, seeks much more than guru dakshina in Singham Again (2024), the fifth film in Rohit Shetty’s cop universe.

This story begins in Jammu & Kashmir, where Bajirao Singham (Ajay Devgn) is transferred. He unexpectedly captures Omar Hafiz (Jackie Shroff), the Pakistani villain from Sooryavanshi (2021). Hafiz warns Singham of an impending storm, which arrives in the form of his grandson Zubair (Arjun Kapoor). Two years later, Zubair kidnaps Singham’s wife, Avni (Kareena Kapoor Khan), hoping to trade her for his grandfather.  Singham, along with other super cops—Simmba (Ranveer Singh), Satya (Tiger Shroff), Shakti Shetty (Deepika Padukone), and Sooryavanshi (Akshay Kumar)—travels to Sri Lanka to rescue Avni and eliminate Zubair. The rest, as they say, is history.

The five-minute trailer made it clear that Rohit Shetty and his writers have drawn inspiration from the Ramayan to tell this latest Singham story. In life, one often clings to faith during tough times. Instead of a direct adaptation, it’s wiser to create a contemporary film that reflects the ethos of the epic. This ‘brilliant’ story idea was conceived by Kshitij Patwardhan. The film features contributions from as many as nine writers, including director Rohit Shetty. But is this a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth? After 144 minutes, it’s fair to say that more than the Ramayan, Singham Again resembles a modern retelling of Adipurush (2023), Om Raut’s disastrous retelling of the ancient Hindu epic.

Yunus Sajawal (screenplay) leads the writing credits, which also includes the cringe filmmaker Milap Zaveri. After nine writers, if this is the final draft, one can only imagine how poor the earlier drafts must have been. For all its tribute to the Ramayan, Rohit Shetty doesn’t even get the two most important scenes right—Avni’s kidnapping and the elimination of Zubair Hafiz.

While faith draws people, does a Ramayan fit into Singham’s world? Matters of national security are handled by the Indian Armed Forces and police, motivated by national pride rather than faith. Mind you, Shetty doesn’t impose any faith into the troubleshooting of Singham and co.; the events and characters only attempt to mirror the Ramayan in spirit. Devgn’s Singham is Ram-like, Kareena is reminiscent of Maa Sita, Simmba is as strong as Hanuman, Arjun Kapoor is Ravan-like, Akshay Kumar’s Sooryavanshi is equated to Garud, while CID’s Daya resembles Jatayu.

The faith aspect is represented by Kareena Kapoor’s Avni, who works in the Indian Ministry of Culture. She travels to different parts of the country preaching the Ramayan, not just through her commentary but also through stage plays. Shouldn’t Shetty have opted for a more subtle reference than preaching? Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra was wrong to equate his college hooligans to martyrs like Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Chandrashekhar Azad, but Rang De Basanti (2006) didn’t preach history. It’s rather bizarre that while Avni promotes Hindu culture to the citizens, her own son doesn’t believe much in Indian epics—he even finds Raavan cool. Avni and Rohit Shetty are woefully mistaken to assume that the youth of this country does not associate with Bharat’s rich culture. While this is still pardonable, the subtle praise for the current establishment, its vision of Naya Kashmir, and the zero tolerance towards terror feels like nothing but PR. In their endeavor to preach to the youth, Singham and co. end up learning from them when Singham discovers the meaning of “situationship,” a modern term for a non-committal relationship. Phew, Singham even discusses this with his boss, union minister (Ravi Kishan), who then enlightens him with more youth jargon.  Maybe this was Rohit Shetty’s way of connecting with the youth. However, there is no conviction in the screenplay, as the film simply meanders along.

This whole Ramayan tribute is simply not Rohit Shetty cinema. Singham Again truly engages when Simmba appears. Ranveer Singh briefly takes the ‘epic’ load off the film, entertaining the audience with Simmba’s wit and banter. However, he crosses a line when he compares Zubair’s appearance to that of a South Indian hero. Being South Indian himself, how did Rohit Shetty allow such a disrespectful line? Singh breathes some life into this extremely dull film, which is arguably the most disappointing in the Singham franchise.

The one positive aspect of a story inspired by the Ramayan is that we don’t see Ajay Devgn smoke at all in this film. Beyond that, though, this jaded version of Singham hardly inspires. This is meant to be Singham’s film, yet the bulk of the good action is carried out by others, mainly Tiger Shroff and Akshay Kumar. The final battle with Zubair is poorly choreographed, with both Devgn and Kapoor lacking intensity and energy. Devgn is clearly a shadow of his former self, and this soul-sucking film leaves disappointed fans saying, “Singham Never Again.”

Having starred in Singham Returns (2014), the makers were perhaps obligated to include Kareena Kapoor. Never for one moment does Avni appear as a damsel in distress. In simple terms, the character and performance are a total farce.

Deepika Padukone’s Shakti Shetty works in Madurai and has Kannada roots, yet surprisingly speaks in a Simmba-like Shivgarh tone. Her opening scene shows her taking down goons, but the action resembles more of a dance than a fight. The fake smile at the end of the scene has become a meme. Shakti  refers to herself as Lady Singham, but the truth is she comes across more like Lady Cringeham.

Struggling Arjun Kapoor must have been shocked to receive this plum offer in a Rohit Shetty film. Perhaps, in another era, Shetty may have envisioned Nikitin Dheer as his Ravan-like character Zubair. Dheer has played Ravan in Siddharth Tiwari’s recent retelling of the Ramayan on TV. Kapoor has the beard but lacks the skills to portray Zubair convincingly. Early on, every time he appears on screen, he breaks into a fake grin. Remarkably, he becomes emotional during his verbal duels with Singham, slamming him for taking the lives of his elders. There is simply no fear factor surrounding Zubair, which raises serious questions about Kapoor’s casting.

Rohit Shetty was wise to limit Tiger Shroff’s screentime and dialogues. While Shroff delivers the best action scene, his role in a Singham film naturally has limited scope in the climax. As for his performance, well, if Sooryavanshi himself cheekily refers to him as Tatya, do we need to say more?

TV star Shweta Tiwari feels wasted in an inconsequential role. In an earlier era, she might have been more suited to play Avni rather than the academic desk operative. The whole world knew it, so there’s no surprise in Salman Khan’s blink-and-miss appearance as Chulbul Pandey in the end credits. Khan has bigger things to worry about, and that tension reflects in his barely five-second special appearance.

For the first time, Rohit Shetty has thought logically, questioning certain ideas and tropes. The viewer is spared the vibrant color palettes, and the trademark Shetty action score is minimal, with fewer flying cars than usual. Singham Again is visually appealing, thanks to the cinematography by Girish Kant and Raza Hussain Mehta. While Shetty has curbed some overused tropes, he has grossly misjudged by infusing a Ramayan flavour into Singham. The truth is, Shetty clearly didn’t have a concrete story idea. A favourable box office might allow Shetty to have the last laugh, but the poor writing, insipid direction, and uninspiring performances by most of the leads are unlikely to win over genuine Singham fans. If not a halt, both Shetty and Singham need serious introspection.

Watch the video review below.