See, no one is expecting subtlety here. Or even originality. So, when a “Grand” Ramayana show is presented as a ppt deck with a Wikipedia-page-like narrative, you roll your eyes and move on. You are even warned of parallels between the mythological epic and the story at hand. But when these parallels are shoved down your throat it begins to reek of of insecurity. And you feel slightly sorry for them; and your patience. But the real test of endurance is when you see they somehow manage the mangle up the parallels—arguably the one thing that would distinguish Singham Again from any of the other films in this “COPverse” franchise.

So much slow motion! A slo-mo chase…a visual oxymoron of sorts?

Repeatedly, you are reminded that Singham (Ajay Devgn) is Ram, his wife, Avni (Kareena Kapoor) is Sita, Zubair (Arjun Kapoor) is Zubair (:/). What’s that? Did you forget who’s who? No worries. Let me remind you, Singham = Ram, Avni = Sita, Zubair = Ravan. Ooops, you lost the plot again because there was some segue into a lecture and mockery of Gen Z lingo? No problem. Singham means Ram, a random 90s-style comic-relief scene, Avni means Sita….you get the drift, right? No? Singha…Ha ha ha ha…Okay, I’ll stop. But let me warn you, they don’t. And just in case you are wondering this is done for Laxman and Hanuman too.

AND THEN. And then…they go ahead and bring in two Garuds!

No, not two birds. That would have been okay, right? At least, some creativity. Two characters at different points in the film are shown as Garud. I burst out laughing. But hey, what do I know, right? Maybe they had to justify the cost of the appalling quality of CGI by increasing the number of times they use it.

Of course, all of this is happening, in slow-motion. Ok fine, I am exaggerating, not all of it, but felt like at least 90%. Ajay Devgn blinks…slo-mo. Some lady cries…slo-mo. Villains looking for a person in a chase. They spot him. Slo-mo. Hero finds villain he has been chasing for the last five minutes of screen time…AND…freeze frame, move in slo-mo. A slo-mo chase…a visual oxymoron of sorts?

Also, there isn’t much going on in the acting department either. Maybe, just maybe, we can call Arjun Kapoor’s Zubair aka Danger Lanka, a good step away from his norm. But, as menacing as his acts of chopping of throats are, he is not. The rest of the actors are just giving you more of the same.

Obviously, the story, the narrative choices are all just fillers for the action. But in this world for ALL the action, there is very little creativity to show for it. Not to say there isn’t any, some bits in the final action sequence are interesting. But too little, too late.

AND THEN. And then…they go ahead and bring in two Garuds! Oh, the incompetence!

Especially because until then you have jingoism that claims to provide proof that mythology is reality while assigning “kehte hain” (it is believed) disclaimers to them. I guess we ought to be thankful that they believe that there is a need for some room for doubt. I also guess, we could also be thankful to them for not making an entire country and/or community the evil ones. Yep, clearly we are grasping at straws here.

- meeta, a part of the audience