Singham Again trailer review: Never-seen-before actioner or a starry khichdi?

Singham Again is one great attempt at assimilating the avengers of Rohit Shetty’s cop universe. Ajay Devgn leads the film as star cop Bajirao Singham and is joined by the likes of Akshay Kumar, Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Tiger Shroff, justifying their own mega screen presence in the film. The trailer of the film, which was shared online on Monday, October 7, made the cinema lovers in India sit up and notice everything that seemed special about this actioner.
It is Shetty’s world where swanky cars will be crashed, the goons will be thrashed, and heroes will look more heroic than ever. But, it is also his first time that he is not just relying on the star power of his lead. Except for Farah Khan’s little jingle in Om Shanti Om, where she managed to pull off the biggest casting coup of the industry, no other director has managed to bring in as many as six of the biggest stars from the Hindi film industry together. Or best, uniting them to fight against one villain in a never-seen-before fashion. But, while it is largely been seen as the strength of the film, it’s a risky move. At least, the trailer suggests the same.
At close to five minutes, the trailer of Singham Again gives away the entire story. It features all the grand entry scenes of the big actors, ripping you off of the joy of whistling and cheering for your favourite superstar’s entry inside a theatre. You see action happening everywhere, and in its literal sense, the film also travels right from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. At one point in the trailer, when you have met all the stars, admire their action potential, the drama that they ensue and have understood their aim, you also wonder if it’s boasting too much of everything? That’s also the point where you look for a breather in the trailer.

Apart from the management of stars, or lack of it (only the future will tell), the film also deals with another tricky detail. Singham Again is inspired by Ramayana where Shetty re-imagines his characters as the reverred figures from the Hindu epic.
You get Lord Ram and Sita in Ajay and Kareena Kapoor Khan, respectively, while Ranveer Singh becomes Lord Hanuman and Tiger Shroff is Laxman. Akshay Kumar, who has his own solo cop film, Sooryavanshi, in the universe, is seen as Jattaiyu in the film. All of this looks interesting on paper, and probably provides an edge to the story in the trailer. But, it isn’t that easy. Using mythology or any religion-based story as the basis of your film is like walking on a double-edged sword.
And while the audience will put their 100 per cent faith in the directorial prowess of Rohit Shetty, also considering he has the most successful track record of films in Bollywood, Singham Again could just be a big risk to his career. The film has a lot to gain from the buzz and the individual fan following of the six superstars, but what if it ends up being a muddy slump of shiny, good-looking faces?

Stills from Singham Again trailer (Photo: YouTube Screenshots)

Singham Again is going to be a huge cinematic experience and all eyes are on the big screen this Diwali. But, great stardom has to come with a great story. Fingers crossed!