Simmba

About the film

Simmba is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film directed by Rohit Shetty and produced by Rohit Shetty Picturez, Reliance Entertainment and Dharma Productions. The third installment of Shetty's Cop Universe, it stars Ranveer Singh, Sonu Sood and Sara Ali Khan with Ajay Devgn reprising his role of Singham in a cameo role. A remake of the 2015 Telugu film Temper, the film follows Sangram "Simmba" Bhalerao, a corrupt police officer hailing from the same town as Singham, who is forced to lead a more righteous path after tragedy strikes those near him.

Principal photography began in June 2018 with most scenes filmed in Goa and Kolhapur; the remaining were shot at Hyderabad and Mehboob Studios in Mumbai. The shooting was wrapped up by early December in the same year. The film's soundtrack was composed by Tanishk Bagchi, Lijo George – DJ Chetas and S. Thaman, with lyrics written by Shabbir Ahmed, Rashmi Virag, Kumaar and Kunaal Verma. The soundtrack features remakes of two 1996 songs: "Aankh Marey" originally from the film Tere Mere Sapne, and the qawwali song "Tere Bin" by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Plot

Sangram "Simmba" Bhalerao is an antiheroic orphan from Shivgad, the same town where Bajirao Singham was raised, where he observes how policemen make money in the form of bribes, finds himself motivated to become a police officer, and succeeds. Getting bribes from some local thieves and a jeweller, Simmba enjoys and takes full advantage of the lifestyle of a corrupt cop.

Simmba is soon transferred to the Miramar police station in Goa by Home Minister Vinayak Dutta, where he sees Shagun Sathe and falls in love with her at first sight. He meets his fellow policemen and one of his juniors, Nityanand Mohile, who is an honest constable, hesitates to salute Simmba as he's a corrupt cop. To prove his worth in Miramar, he interrupts a pub party run by an influential gangster named Durva Yashwant Ranade and his brothers, Sadashiv "Sada" and Gaurav "Giri" and demands more money from them, whilst promising that he will let them continue with their illegal activities.

Durva agrees and uses Simmba to seize the land of an old person named Vaman Rao, who is forced to sign the papers by Simmba. Meanwhile, Simmba develops motherly and sisterly bonds with several women and girls, one of whom happens to be Aakruti Dave, a young woman who reminds Simmba of his teacher. Aakruti files a complaint against Sada and Giri for dealing illicit drugs in their pub and using children as peddlers. Simmba initially ignores this after being pacified by Durva, and Shagun.

Production

It is a remake of the Telugu-language film Temper (2015). Shetty said, "We wanted to take four-five scenes from Temper but... thought it's better to buy the rights". In March 2018, R. Madhavan opted out of his role as the film's antagaonist after suffering a shoulder injury, and was replaced by Sonu Sood. The film has an estimated production budget of ₹80 crore (US$11.7 million).

Principal photography for Simmba began in June 2018. It was mainly filmed in Goa and Kolhapur, with some filming in Hyderabad and extra sequences filmed at Mehboob Studios in Mumbai.

On 29 June 2018, the crew filmed the song, "Simmba Aala Re Aala Simmba Aala", at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad. On Instagram, Singh noted the large scale of the production and said that it was the biggest song of his career.

Soundtrack

The songs are composed by Tanishk Bagchi, Lijo George – DJ Chetas and S. Thaman while the lyrics are written by Shabbir Ahmed, Rashmi Virag, Kumaar and Kunaal Vermaa. The soundtrack album was released on 27 December 2018.

Marketing and release

Simmba was released in countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council on 27 December 2018. It was released in India and other countries on 28 December. It was shown on 4020 screens in India and 963 screens overseas, for a worldwide screen total of 4983 screens.

On 6 June 2018, the producers announced the start of principal photography with a skit video featuring actors Singh and Khan, director Shetty, and producer Johar.

On 6 December 2018, the first song from the film was released, titled "Aankh Marey," a remake of the original song from the 1996 hit film Tere Mere Sapne. It is sung by Kumar Sanu (who also sung the original with Kavita Krishnamurthy), Mika Singh, and Neha Kakkar. Actor Arshad Warsi, whose film and song debut was with the original, appeared again in the video for the Simmba remake, along with several actors from another film from director Rohit Shetty, Golmaal: Kunal Khemu, Shreyas Talpade, and Tusshar Kapoor. The release date for the remake was specifically chosen to coincide with the release date of the original 22 years earlier (6 December 1996).

Reception

Ambica Schin of Khaleej Times gave the film four stars out of five and sums up, "If you are on the lookout for a totally masala, paisa vasool movie to end the year with a bang, we recommend you watch Simmba. The melodramatic, over-the-top film is sure to leave you on a high." Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama declared it a "winner" with four stars out of five, writing, "Rohit borrows the essence from Temper, but modifies a major chunk of that film... What eventually unfolds on screen is so different, in a positive way." Anwesha Madhukalya of Business Today wrote, "It is indeed time to rejoice for the young star's fans for Simmba has announced the arrival of Ranveer Singh in the big league".

Key details