A spinoff of Rohit Shetty’s blockbuster franchise Singham and loosely adapted from Telugu hit Temper, Simmba fits perfectly into frame of a hit film with Ranveer Singh playing an unabashedly corrupt policeman – Sangram Bhalerao aka Simmba with Sara Ali Khan as the leading lady.
The revenge drama has finally hit the theatres and its first reviews are out. Most of the critics are praising Ranveer’s performance and seem impressed with Rohit. The film’s upward trajectory – in reviews and numbers alike – promises that 2018 will conclude with a roar!
Here are some excerpts of reviews from popular Indian publications:
Bollywood Hungama:Â Ranveer Singh is the lifeline, the soul of the film
Rating:Â 4/5
Rohit Shetty and screenplay writer Yunus Sajawal pick and choose some memorable, clap-trap moments from Temper and give Simmba an altogether different texture. The essence of the story remains intact, but it’s made more contemporary to suit the pan India tastes. Ranveer Singh is the lifeline, the soul of the film and I must add, he proves he’s an all rounder who can essay diverse characters with superb ease. Simmba is sure to multiply his fan following by leaps and bounds. Sara Ali Khan sparkles, just like her debut film Kedarnath, although there’s not much scope for her in the second half. Sonu Sood is in terrific form. Simmba would’ve faltered if the antagonist wouldn’t be as convincing as the protagonist. Sonu matches up to Ranveer every time they come face to face.
Read: Exclusive: Sara Ali Khan on her debut, Ranveer Singh’s fashion choices & Pakistan
Hindustan Times: Ranveer Singh lifts this Rohit Shetty blockbuster
Rating:Â 3/5
Based on the Telugu potboiler Temper, Simmba takes an inevitable turn for the serious. This could have been disastrous, given how much Shetty telegraphs his actions. You can not only predict the inescapably horrid fate awaiting the local girl who Simmba starts calling his sister, but you know how the hero will kick the doors open or precisely when he’ll earn a salute from the honest policeman. Yet Singh dials up the intensity, cheeks a-quiver and invective punctuated by spittle, and the show stays compelling.
Film Companion: A briefly entertaining 90s-style comedy that morphs into a horribly tone-deaf social drama
Rating: 1.5/5
Like most rape-and-revenge melodramas, Simmba uses the heinous crime as a dishonest hashtag; it is designed to exploit the current mood of a nation that often lets movies be its moral science textbooks. An encounter in a police station is so absurdly staged that you wonder if the cops trying to provoke the rapists by calling them “impotent†and mocking their manhood is the least offensive aspect of the scene. The film lacks not just in nuance and taste but also in self-awareness. At one point, the father of the victim mourns the sorry state of womanhood in this country while he asks a girl in the same breath to make him a nice cup of tea. At another point, Simmba decides to take matters into his own hands (one of which sports a tattoo that says “policeâ€), weaponizes a gang of angry ladies, strides away in style and tells them to “follow me with tiffin boxesâ€. The irony is almost as delicious as the fish curry they cook for all the men in the film.
Khaleej Times: Ranveer dominates in this masala flick
Rating:Â 4/5
Sara Ali Khan as Sangram’s love interest Shagun shows great presence. She is chirpy, and dances like a dream and has great chemistry with Singh, but she doesn’t have much to do and somewhere along the movie, we even lose sight of her, until she reappears towards the end along with her girl gang. It is to Shetty’s credit again that despite having a macho hero like Singh take centre stage, there are enough female characters to get the emotions going. In fact there are so many sister figures for the rowdy Bhalerao that at times his girlfriend fades into the background.
