Verdict: ***

In August 1982, Mumbai Police went on strike. The force which was #3 in whole world stopped working. You can only imagine the chaos and looting happened then. It was the period when police was the only force which had an image fear and respect. Later dispute was resolved within 2 days and city was back on-line. This tells us what Police can do if they actually mean, “Aata Mazi Satkali”.
Above mentioned scenario perfectly describes ‘Singham Returns’. Directed by Rohit Shetty, we can expect a so-called ‘No Brainer’ movie. But it looks like Rohit Shetty and Team has decided break the prejudice set against them. One might say, the Honest Cop drama is the oldest clichéd plot in the history of Indian Cinema. But question rises, why not to idolize a Non-Corrupt, rough n tough Police instead of a Pot-Smoking mafia? This entire preface was necessary so that audience will go inside the theater with a clean slate and no preconceived ideas about this film.
Moving to story, this film revolves around Mumbai Police DCP Bajirao Singham’s (Ajay Devgn) fight against corruption. The main antagonist is Satyraj Chander Baba (Amole Gupte ), an ex con turned ‘Baba’ helping politician Prakash Rao (Zakir Hussain) to hide black money. Guruji (Anupam Kher) is leader of leading party which has an alliance with Prakash Rao’s party. Guruji has firm stand on black money and is trying to recruit young, non corrupt faces in politics. This ignites spark between Guruji & Satyraj Baba. The later one attempts to kill Guruji and rest of the film is crafted with many more twists & turns.
Singham Returns carries a huge flag of anti corruption throughout the film. It slams media, it slams misguided youth. Protagonist of this film is not only DCP Bajirao Singham but the entire Mumbai Police Force. It is shown that Every Police is pure at heart; it is the system that makes them corrupt. Drawn from a real life inspiration, Satyaraj Baba’s character is a usual villain who is equally menacing to Singham.
Then there are a lot of secondary characters. Avani (Kareena Kapoor) plays the love interest of Singham. She carries the bearing of ‘Jab We Met’ and provides a little over the top comic relief. Mahesh Manjarekar plays CM of Maharashtra. Inspector Daya (Dayanand Shetty) plays the guy who we have known from CID. Then there is entire Mumbai Police force which is quite a visual.
Like every Rohit Shetty film, Singham Returns also has exaggerated fight sequences, cars flying and unending ammo but this time it is accompanied with quiet sensible story line. This time we get to see how nicely Rohit Shetty can handle an emotional scene. A particular scene where a slum-lady confronts Singham is just brilliant. Dialogue plays an important spice to make this film just about right. Sajid-Farhad has put some gems of wisdom throughout the film.
Script is almost good. Makers couldn’t resist the urge to put a romantic song and unnecessary comic scenes in first half. This harms the film as flow appears to be broken. Cinematography by Dudley is just awesome. Music is just average. But background score makes up for it as it complements high-octane fights and numerous walking, charging, marching sequences. Film never appears to be dull. It involves a lot of events. Audiences are clung to their seats to entirety of length which is almost 150 minutes. It offers what you expect like over the top action sequences, vehicles flying and a “Daya Darwaja Tod Do” moment. Film climaxes with ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ fashion which is cherry on top. Ajay Devgn carries Bajirao nicely. Amole Gupte is a new find to villains of Bollywood. Rest of characters shines in their respective roles.
It is not a brilliant film, but it is a film that needs to happen every few years. In a period where Cinema is mostly focused on glorifying the image of Cons, Mafias & Smugglers, this film gives you the clear distinction among Good & Evil. The film has no below the belt jokes, no double meaning dialogues. This is a family entertainer with a message and the message strikes hard. At least watch it once for the sake of 16 Lakh police officers who stay awake to make you sleep comfortably.