There are some movies which defy all logic but still you enjoy it and "Singham Returns" is one such movie
The movie begins with a startling message "There are only 47000 people employed in the Mumbai Police force to protect 1.85 cr civilians of Mumbai", this message actually started me thinking. Well this movie is Rohit Shetty's tribute to Mumbai Police.
This time Bajirao Singham (Ajay Devgn) is posted in Mumbai where he finds himself in between political tussle between Guruji's (Anupam Kher) party and their coalition party headed by Prakash Rao (Zakir Hussain). Prakash Rao has a strong backing in the form of Baba (Amol Gupte) who runs an Ashram which finances Prakash Rao's party. Things turn worse for Singham when a constable of his team is found dead in an ambulance with heaps of cash. How Singham solves the mystery of his constable's death and brings law and order in Mumbai forms the rest of the movie.
Story by Rohit Shetty tries to touch upon issue from corrupt politicians with black money to God man and politician nexus, and the role of a policeman and their sacrifices which keep the civilians safe. Screenplay by Yunus Sajawal is packed with clichéd situations of how police are puppets in the hands of the politicians, but where Sajawal's screenplay differs is the way the police is shown to solve the issue, though a bit too far-fetched especially the climax, still it conveys a very strong message. Some sequences stand out like the dead constable's wife is forced to work as a domestic help to run the household expenses or when a women lambastes Singham when he beats his son for taking money from the corrupt politician. I thought the villain's characters were too much of a caricature especially Baba's. Overall the screenplay is tight and crisp but with enough cinematic liberties.
What elevates the screenplay are the impactful dialogues by Sajid-Farhad, some of the dialogues are clearly for the gallery and gets enough whistles.
Ajay Devgn as Bajirao Singham again gives an impactful performance or should I say a seeti maar performance with his trademark dialogue from the previous Singham "Atta Mazhi Satakli", well in some scenes Ajay goes a bit overboard but looking at the response of the crowd I should say it was worth it. Kareena as Avni has nothing much to do other than looking pretty and mouthing some comic dialogues, I think Kareena should take a break from the bubbly roles that she is portraying since "Jab We Met" days. Amol Gupte's portrayal as Baba goes overboard and he hams all throughout the movie. Zakir Hussain as Prakash Rao is a caricature, which even an actor of his caliber could not salvage as the writing is weak. The rest of the ensemble cast Anupam Kher, Mahesh Manjrekar, Ashwini Kalsekar, Dayanand Shetty, Sharat Saxena, Savita Joshi do a good job, though I felt Govind Namdeo as Singham's father is wasted.
Action is a highlight of all Rohit Shetty movies, and this movie does not disappoint. Action designed by Rohit himself in collaboration with Jai Singh Nijjar and Suneil Rodrigues is filled with cars being blown, people flying and enough fisticuffs to keep the adrenalin rush and Dolby Sound blaring. Overall the action is typical Rohit Shetty style which an audience expects from his movies.
Cinematography by Dudley captures Mumbai well and the aerial shots and action sequences are worth a mention. Music is a big disappointment although it had an impressive lineup of composers from Jeet Ganguli, Ankit Tiwari, Meet Bros and Yo Yo Honey Singh. Rather Yo Yo Honey Singh's song "Atta Majhi Satakli" sounds like a rip off from "Lungi Dance".
Rohit Shetty clearly plays to the gallery and the masses and gives a paisa vasool entertainer worth an addition to the 100 crore club.
