I'll be frank. I really, really liked Simha. As an action film, it works. As a great piece of drama, it falls short. However, there is something there to recommend the film. The cinematography is impressive, the actors perform well in their roles, limited though their development may be, and when the shit hits the fan, you can count on the fight scenes delivering.
Simha is the brainchild of Telugu action film director Boyapati Sreenu. Sreenu is the producer, director, and writer. In Indian film terms he wrote the script and the dialogues, which means the story and the, um, dialogue. Everything about this film has Sreenu's touch, including the seething performance from aging Tollywood hero, Nandumuri Balakrishna. Balakrishna's performance is not nuanced, his characters are not particularly well-drawn, and there is little to no character development. However, in the role of the classic patriotic, no-nonsense hero, he works. Many South Indian films play like westerns, and if you think of it that way, Balakrishna definitely wears the white hat, and he never takes it off.
I really thought about trying to add a plot synopsis to this review, but decided against it. I'll sketch the characters, but anything more than that oversells the plot of the story, which is paper thin, and really only an excuse to string together various fights, songs, and punch dialogues (monologues given by the hero directly before be beats the ever-loving shit out of someone).
Balakrishna plays two characters, the first is 30-something college professor Srimanarayana. Sri is a college professor and pure soul who, according to the press, "cannot tolerate injustice before his eyes". This translates to mass whuppings for even the slightest transgressions. He beats his students so badly that they are hospitalized for smoking dope on school grounds, among other things. He is such a badass that students flee at the sight of him, for fear of accidentally doing something wrong. The second character essayed by Balakrishna is Dr. Narasimha. Narasimha is Srimanarayana's father, who appears in the second half of the film in a flashback sporting a mean mustache that shows that he means business. The good doctor shares his son's distaste for bullies, only he doesn't share his son's restraint and is regularly beating rowdies (gangster thugs) to death in the streets in front of adoring crowds.
Vying for Srimanarayana's heart are two characters, Sneha Ullal as Janaki, a young college student who goes from thinking Sri is a creep to playing up to his granny in the hopes of arranging a marriage; and Tollywood item girl extraordinaire Namitha, a fellow professor at the college looking to snatch Sri up for her own. They both have to get through Sri's grandmother, played by KR Vijaya in both the present and past tenses.
That's really all you need to know, as I mentioned above, this plot, and really any other plot related movements in the film are only excuses to get to the next fight, and this is where the film excels.
Simha took a lot of shit in the Telugu press for its violence and gore, many of the reviews mentioned that the gore would keep the film from being successful, however, the box office didn't bear that out, as Simha was one of the top grossing films of the year. Let me tell you, the fighting is intense. I have never seen an Indian film this violent, and they typically don't skimp on the violence.
Srimanarayana lets the audience know who's boss in the first ten minutes by tearing apart about a dozen thugs with one hand literally in his pocket. The premise for this fight is a bit ludicrous by western standards, but it really doesn't matter because the fight itself is epic. Sri has been called into action by a damsel in distress who is being threatened with an acid attack by a failed suitor. This is what the film is about, bringing Andra Pradesh into the 21st century. The fact that this is even a feasible excuse for an action sequence kind of shocked me, but sure enough, in the scene following the fight, another character suggests that perhaps the girl deserved it. With a straight face. So, you can see that the cultural chasm is large, and this takes a bit of getting used to. You, as an audience, have to simply accept that the causes are valid and buy in, or you will never enjoy this film.
Like I said, Simha ain't an easy sell, but the fights really do deliver. Generally when I rewatch Indian films, I look first to the songs, but as I've been rewatching Simha trying to get a grasp on what I want to say, I find myself repeatedly rewatching the action sequences. They are beautifully shot, well choreographed, and spectacularly explosive! The CG leaves a lot to be desired, and the believability quotient is very low, but the entertainment value goes through the roof. There are severed limbs, decapitations, explosions, car chases, impalings, multiple ax hackings, and diabolical mustaches galore.
After re-reading my review that is riddled with caveats, it is kind of difficult to tell that I'm recommending Simha, but I really and truly am! Balakrishna is an angel of death, a god of vengeance that makes the Punisher look like a Jr. High Hall Monitor, he literally radiates white light while hacking his enemies into tiny bits.
And the crowd loves it. That is one of the things that strikes me about this as a western viewer. Dr. Narasimha does all of his dirty work in broad daylight in front of large crowds, and at the end of the day, as the bodies of villains lay strewn about the streets, none of the citizens are scared of him. No one stops to say, "Hey, do you think this guy might have an anger management problem?", or, "Hey, don't you think someone should call the police?" Instead, they egg him on, insisting that he finish off the wounded ones. This is treated with complete seriousness. It makes me wonder about the actual situation in Andhra Pradesh, are things really this bad? Seriously? It makes for a rousing film and tons of entertainment, but it does leave questions behind.
Simha does not fail to bring the crazy or the action. It is wildly entertaining, and if you are able to suspend your disbelief, you will be rewarded.
The Blu-ray edition of Simha, released back in December by Bhavani DVD in Virginia is a fine effort. The video is nice and sharp, there is an appropriate about of grain, and the fine detail is outstanding. Perhaps a bit too outstanding when it comes to some of the dodgy CG effects, but nonetheless, well-rendered. I'm confident that the director and cinematographer's visions are accurately portrayed, and perhaps this even looks better than it did in theaters. The sound is even better than the video. The disc features two audio tracks, an adequate Telugu Dolby Digital 5.1 track, and an outstanding Telugu Uncompressed LPCM 5.1 track. The LPCM track is amazing, the surround are very active, the dialogue is clear and crisp, and watch out during the action sequences! I actually ducked a few times during Simha, it is that good!
As is typical of Indian video releases, there is a separate menu for Chapters and one for Songs. Unfortunately, the songs, when played from their dedicated menu, don't seem to be as good as they are in the movie for some reason, that could be me, but I thought I saw more dirt and specks when the songs are played apart from the film, than they are inside the film. The only other extra, apart from the songs, is an SD presentation of Simha's 50 Days celebration. It is customary for Indian films to have celebrations at every opportunity, often there are parties for the release of the soundtrack, for the release of the trailer, for the release of new posters, any excuse, there is a party. This party was to celebrate Simha's 50th day in cinemas, that is pretty impressive. Unfortunately there are no English subtitles for this feature, which runs about a half an hour.
Overall, I do recommend this film to our more adventurous readers. Simha is over two hours long, and with as little plot as it may have, there is still a lot to recommend if you are an action fan. Go in with your expectations appropriately moderated, and you will have a blast. I know I have, I've watched the film 3 times since receiving this disc for review, and I enjoy it more each time.
Besides, any film that includes the sequence below is worth a few bucks and 2 hours of my time any day of the week!