This is not the greatest trailer. Or maybe it is? It tells you exactly what this movie will be, no extra style flourishes or fanciness.
The first thing new the trailer reveals is that this film will be more of a continuation of the Singham series and brand than expected. I don’t believe the original southern version was an extension of the original southern Singham? Although I still haven’t seen it, so I can’t be sure.
Anyway, what is this? I like the idea of comparing the two cops, it’s very Ram-Lakhan, having the noble older one who does everything right instinctively versus the younger one who has to learn his lessons the hard way. But combining the two stars/two characters? That just feels ODD!!! Reducing Ajay Devgan to just a friendly appearance, and at the same time saying that Ranveer needs someone to prop him up in his big star film.
I guess it works for Rohit Shetty’s brand? Building an identity as a combined universe of hero cops? And I suppose that’s why Ajay and Ranveer went along with it, as a favor to him maybe? Or not? What do you think?
Plot-wise, I KNOW I have seen this before!!!! And I haven’t seen the original Temper. So, what southern hero cop movie was it? I know it was something. I want to say Theri? Anyway, cop has a coincidental meeting with a young woman, she calls him brother, then she dies and he takes revenge because of course once you are “named” brother, you truly are brother.
Oh wait, I remember! I think in Theri he was taking her account of her attack and invited her to think of him as a brother so she would relax. That makes more sense than here where she just randomly calls him brother and then is attacked, apparently unrelated.
As for the plot, it’s what was in the original, cop cheerfully goes along with corruption (although I am guessing we will have at least one scene when he does the right thing, like stops someone from beating a kid or something, to show he is essentially decent). But then he sees the cost of his corruption. Apparently there is a nest of rapists of some kind? I hope it turns out to be a sex trafficking thing, although I wouldn’t be surprised if it was just a gang who were so powerful and untouchable that they rape women and forget about it.
Anyway, I’m okay with this! Far better than when the rape is, like, a side-note to the actual villainy. At least for once it has a headline role in the plot.
Unlike Sara Ali Khan who seems almost forgotten? Really hope she has more to do than her one line int the trailer indicates.
Oh, and over all I like the look. Although the trailer is a bit disjointed in the editing and all, the songs look fun and colorful and Ranveer looks very good in a uniform.
dontcallitbollywood 
It did seem pretty straightforward for a trailer, even giving away that Singham/Ajay plays a bigger role than previously suspected. Plus it’s also got a Golmaal song with cameos, too. Rohit Shetty really is an interesting filmmaker…he seems so laid back and fun, but he knows exactly what he’s doing with building this franchise and branding it. Singham 2 was a bit weak, but what a way to revive the character in such a clever way.
I do think this will be a smart 2nd film for Sara Ali Khan. She’ll show right away that she can do the sexy, fun roles. The tiny bit of the song we get to see them dancing in looks pretty hot. I’m not expecting much going in regarding what she gets to do, but I like that she gets a feisty line (and in that scene she looks strangely like Karisma Kapoor to me!). Plus, I feel like Rohit Shetty is better at featuring his female performers than say Prabhu Deva. Dilwale and Chennai Express both feature strong female characters and even a wacky movie like Golmaal Again had interesting roles for both Tabu and Parineeti. Though in both Singhams the female leads were underdeveloped, so we’ll see.
Really can’t wait for this one, too!
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Good point about Rohit Shetty and his heroines! Prabhudeva really is the lowest point for featuring women. But Shetty is usually pretty good. Even if they don’t get much screen time, what they have is strong and interesting, not just screaming damsel in distress. And it also seems like he has a really fun safe loose set, Sara will come out of it with a few nice scenes, and a good bond with Ranveer and Rohit and maybe Ajay too. That’s not nothing.
On Mon, Dec 3, 2018 at 11:00 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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You are right, it seems like a mix of Temper plus Theri. And there is absolutely no connection between the original Singam starring Surya and Temper, so this is a new addition.
Also, NTR seemed a bit serious, but Ranveer is sort of goofy here. But absolutely no difference between Kajal and Sara’s roles it seems.
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I wonder how they will balance the serious with the goofy. Rohit Shetty is usually surprisingly good at that, but it’s going to be a tricky line for Ranveer to hop back and forth across. Being the wacky hero for the first half and then convincingly changing his performance so we buy him as serious in the second.
On Tue, Dec 4, 2018 at 1:02 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Ajay Devgan was the best thing in the trailer! I can’t believe I’m saying this but Ranveer didn’t look comfortable – the accent, the mannerisms all looked over done (and I really liked him in Gunday). But Ajay was so impressive in the 15 sec he was in the trailer for.
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Yeah, Rohit Shetty seems like a director who is good at giving you the mannerisms but trusts his actors to fill in the rest of the emotions. It will be interesting to see if Ranveer can manage that.
On Tue, Dec 4, 2018 at 1:04 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Also Sonu Sood – looks the same in every movie. Decent actor, but very limited. Here it feels like he walked out of Dabangg into this. Rohit Shetty needs better villains. Tired of seeing Prakash Raj and Sonu Sood.
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Is it just me or did it seem like Ranveer had no screen presence in this? I was obviously comparing Ranveer to more experienced actors like Jr. NTR and Ajay Devgn but I thought he would be more impressive than he comes off. I did expect this version to be more goofy/silly compared to Jr NTR’s more serious character in Temper due to it being a Rohit Shetty movie but there was something off about Ranveer. I know I’m being biased when I say this but I feel like Varun would have really worked better for this version based off what we’ve seen from him in Main Tera Hero and Judwaa 2.
I liked that Rohit Shetty connected Ajay Devgn’s Singham to this. The original Singam movies and Temper are not related at all but I thought it was a clever touch for Simmba. I honestly liked the Ajay Devgn parts of the trailer more than anything else.
Kajal didn’t really have an interesting or significant role in Temper and it doesn’t seem like anything’s changed much for Sara Ali Khan. I do hope there are multiple fun songs for her though. I think Temper had like 5 songs and Kajal was in 3 of them.
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I think Varun might have worked well too, but more because of Dishoom. I love Dishoom, and he was perfect jumping between action hero and goofball and serious emotions scene to scene. Ranveer, I’m not sure he can so easily keep it light and keep it moving.
On Tue, Dec 4, 2018 at 1:47 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Oh, yeah! I knew I was forgetting something. Dishoom was really good at balancing the emotions.
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I forgot Sonu Sood is in this, and had a nice surprise when I saw him. He’s good, and looking hot as always. And I agree, Ajay outshines everybody in this last scene of the trailer.
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I mean, you put Ajay in a police uniform, he is always going to outshine everything.
There was an interview I read with him about 5-6 years ago asking something about why he kept making action movies and he said for a role like this “you need a man, not a boy”. And it’s true. There’s something about Ajay onscreen (and Akshay and some of the others now that they are in the 40s-50s) that feels like a Man, not a boy. And I’m not sure if Ranveer is there yet. He was in Bajirao, but I don’t know if he can keep it up.
On Tue, Dec 4, 2018 at 2:23 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Exactly! Ranveer is not yet a “man” in his films. In the SLB films, he was a goofy/emo playboy, a playacting king, and a sociopath. In none of them did I think he was a mature, manly presence. And looking at the rest of his films, there isn’t one where you can say that he’s not in some way a petulant boy. Now I that I think of it, Ranbir deserves more credit for having more shades than Ranveer!
I think in the back of my mind I was hoping this would be the film where we would see some of Ajay’s kind of manliness reflected in Ranveer’s performance since it was a Rohit Shetty film, now he’ll probably just pale in comparison to the Ajay cameo. I hope I’m wrong.
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Yep, that was my hope too. That this would be the moment Ranveer transitions fully into a Masala hero, able to play every role in every film. But based on the trailer, I’m just not seeing it. Of course we aren’t seeing everything in the trailer, it is leaning heavily on the Ajay cameos and on Ranveer as a fun not-Ajay naughty boy kind of police officer. They could be saving the reveal of second-half Ranveer, serious dedicated cop, for the film itself.
On Tue, Dec 4, 2018 at 10:08 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I’m thinking about Tevar’s trailer with Arjun Kapoor . It’s southern remake too, and in my opinion Arjun looks much more as a masala hero there than Ranveer here.
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I had my friend Dina over last night and I was telling her about you. In the context of her saying “Blech! who would like Arjun, Maddy, and Nivin now that they are all gross and big?” and I had to tell her that there is a person in the world that actually prefers Arjun now to Arjun in the past. Or at least finds them equal.
And this is actually related to your point! For the “Man” kind of action hero, there’s a certain kind of physicality that is expected. Or at least is part of the performance. Akshay and Ajay definitely lean into this sort of muscle-y dominating the screen feeling. Vijay in Tamil, I’ve really liked how he sort of works against that, playing up his baby face and sharp clothes and then surprising with the action scenes. But Ranveer, at least from what we have seen so far, isn’t going for “boyish hero who surprises with his fighting skills” but instead “naturally dominating the screen” hero. And I think he may be missing the mark on the dominating part of it, and size really is part of that. Height and also beefy muscles, not just 6 packs.
On Tue, Dec 4, 2018 at 2:31 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I like Arjun either way, of course. I prefer him skinnier because it brings out his sexy face more, but I think his frame isn’t meant to be skinny. He even pointed this out himself in an interview. I agree with Angie that his looks suit the masala hero so much more than Ranveer. Too bad Tevar didn’t work…I’m hoping India’s Most Wanted will at least give him a shot at some decent action sequences again.
I still think Ranveer looks hot in the trailer, especially in that brief moment towards the end where he looks like he’s staring down Sonu’s villain. From the right angle he really is so handsome. It’s possible the second half will surprise us and he’ll pull off the muscle and the commanding masculinity in it? He definitely beefed up for the role…must have been on the Rohit Shetty diet and work out plan. That guy’s head is tiny compared to his shoulders and chest:)
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Ranveer has never been impressive outside his Bhansali movies. Simmba looks awful but more than that, it exposes Ranveer’s flaws. His voice is weak and ruins most of his lines. Compared to Ajay, his screen presence is very lacking too. Bhansali is somehow able to extract something more from him but that isn’t the case anywhere else.
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I liked Ranveer in Befikre and BBB, but he definitely had a “chocolate hero” vibe in those. Promising, but not yet a true star. For me, Simmba will be the true test of his star power, if he can carry a film all by himself, not just a light small romance with a strong co-star but a real action movie.
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