Despite massive Diwali opening, is Singham Again paying the price for banking on huge star cast?

Singham Again has everyone—Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar, Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Kareena Kapoor, Tiger Shroff, Arjun Kapoor and Salman Khan. All A-listers. Actors rather stars who define the box office edge of mainstream films. It’s the kind of project which makes distributors and exhibitors happy as they know the crowd pulling abilities of these huge stars.

This is not the first time Rohit Shetty has done it. He has always worked with stars. It gives his films legitimacy in the eyes of financiers and cinema chain owners. Who wouldn’t want to see mega stars on the big screen! After all, these stars are hyped by their fans only. So, why not! But is this a good ploy when you already have a set storyline and relatively appealing central characters from before?

Singham released in 2011, and through many films, is a set franchise in 2024. It established a connect with the audience from the very first film. The way Ajay Devgn played the titular role in the first and second film, it resonated with the common masses. It changed the popular perception of the Indian cops more than any other film, which mostly showed them as corrupt. The villains—Jaikant Shikre or Babaji—were the people who had a base in the general crowd. They came out of the same strata that Bajirao Singham came. The conflict was visible and relatable. It made the Singham franchise everyone’s film. They wanted the cops to win.

With Simmba, Rohit Shetty somehow managed to maintain the distinction. Sangram Bhalerao came from a humble background and had a godfather in a feudal lord. It was still a story of a common boy’s triumph over adversaries.

It started wavering away with Sooryavanshi which made the milieu international, something Rohit Shetty didn’t do it earlier. His cop was willing to operate on the foreign soil. This is where his direction skills were tested. He wasn’t as comfortable as he was handling the developments on the Indian soil.

The canvas has got much bigger in Singham Again and Rohit Shetty’s skills are put to test again. He seems to be banking too much in the stars’ favour than making Singham’s incredible journey the highlight of the show. So many stars have joined in now that the original plot line has become the most obscure part of the franchise. In a nut-shell, the stars have stolen Singham’s originality and innovative plot.

READ | Singham Again review: A solid Ajay Devgn headlines Rohit Shetty's biggest entertainer