- Nikhil Bhagwat
Simran: The Queen looses her Crown!
Movie Review: Simran
The Queen looses her Crown!
Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Sohum Shah, Kishori Shahane Vij and others
Direction: Hansal Mehta
Run time: 2 Hours 4 Minutes (124 Minutes)
Nikhil’s Rating **1/2
Imagine this one-line for a plot: A divorced woman who’s working in the hotel industry gets addicted to gambling and stealing! It sound interesting, doesn’t it? Well, yes it does.
But Hansal Mehta’s new film Simran takes this line and makes a mess of it. While it is an unconventional story, the kind that the industry rarely taps into, this film bored me right from the start.
The story, which is apparently inspired by true events, explores themes of the harsh realities of the addiction of gambling and its side effects on the human mind, but never really coasts along, as it should have. In addition, the pacing of the movie fluctuates. As a result it feels way longer than 2 Hours and 4 Minutes.
To give credit where it is due, the casting of the film is top-notch. Kangana Ranaut as Praful Patel, the lead, delivers a performance that is very difficult and nuanced. Sohum Shah, as Sameer gets the most screen-time and also lends able support. Kishori Shahane Vij, as Praful’s mother, is also very good. Though not mentioned in the cast above, Praful’s father delivers a performance that is also of a high standard.
There will be inevitable comparisons with Ranaut’s last character in Queen, which also was similar to her Praful Patel. Rani was also the carefree and independent woman. The Vikas Bahl film had some genuine moments of interest and was worth a patron’s time overall.
In Simran, the novel plot never really translates into a coherent screenplay, as it should have. Patrons will definitely notice some glaring loopholes in the screenplay especially in the second half. The climax of the film is clichéd and defies all logic. I never expected the American Police force to behave like the police force in Hindi films ! At least, I went home laughing!
Hansal Mehta has not done justice to the novelty of the plot. He has extracted good performances from all the cast, but hasn’t quite delivered a watchable film. The editing of the film by Antara Lahiri is not great. The camerawork by Anuj Rakesh Dhawan is good. The music is forgettable.
Overall this film is a disappointment. If one has to watch it, wait for it to come on television. A very generous 2.5 rating for this one
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