MUMBAI: There's no filmmaker today like Rohit Shetty who can blend rational cinema with unbridled masala, and they've been few across history in Bollywood, who could deal similar doses of no-holds-barred masala entertainment for the highest echelons of ivory towers to the lowest hanging fruit. Manmohan Desai, Prakash Mehra, Ravi Tandon, and David Dhawan are the only ones who come to mind preceding Shetty, and none after him. A major chunk of this pedigree for the iconic filmmaker has been been built on the back of two blockbuster franchises — Singham and Golmaal — so it's only fitting he returns with Singham Again aka Singham 3, and again, during Diwali for another shot at both box office glory and ruling over the hearts of masses across denominations. The good news is that he should succeed on both counts. The slight bit of disappointing news is that the Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar, Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Kareena Kapoor, Tiger Shroff, Arjun Kapoor, Jackie Shroff starrer falls a tad short of its rip-roaring predecessors in the cop universe.
The plot follows the trajectory of the trailer, with our testosterone-fueled cops embarking on a journey to a proverbial Lanka to rescue a proverbial Sita in the guise of Kareena Kapoor from the clutches of a proverbial Raavan in the shape of Arjun Kapoor. Shetty and his mini-army of script and dialogue writers do remarkably well to juxtapose this fairly simple, extremely derivative plot against the annals of Ramayan, splattered with copious doses of quintessential Rohit Shetty-styled adrenaline-pumping action, jaw-dropping stunts, and belly-aching laughs. All the ingredients are there for a tailormade Diwali bonanza, backed by every member of the cast swinging for the gallery and emerging triumphant.
As expected in a Rohit Shetty movie, the technicalities are all on point from Girish Kant and Raza Hussain Mehta's camerawork to the slick VFX and large-scale production values. Bunty Nagi's edits could've been crisper, but, thankfully, they do not allow the narrative to lag or dip at any juncture.
The real minor drawback as alluded to before actually lies in the writing and characterization, with the melee of stars this time seeming a tad crowded unlike the organic, seamless way they were made a part of proceedings in Sooryavanshi. Also, the climax — a highlight of any Rohit Shetty film — comes across a tad underwhelming. Make no mistake, it still makes an impact but just not as big a one as his erstwhile endeavors.
That being said, the fireworks by way of all the A-list names and archetypal Shetty dynamites strewn across the screenplay are all on display to make Singham Again a highly rewarding bonanza on the big screen with your friends and family.
3.5/5 stars
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