Simran - Raise a toast to Kangana



To call Simran an attempt just to showcase Kangana Ranaut's acting calibre would be grossly unfair. She, of course, stands tall and elevates the film with an outstanding performance. But Simran is also a fresh, breezy tale about a headstrong woman and her quest to build an identity of her own. What works is the treatment, the relatable characters and most importantly, Kangana.

A Gujarati NRI working as a housekeeping staff with a reputed hotel in Atlanta, Kangana wants to buy a house of her own mainly to distance herself from her nagging parents. They want their divorced daughter to remarry, but she is happy with the freedom she enjoys, including the joy of flirting with cute men. 

A chance trip takes her to Las Vegas where the 'sin' of gambling that she commits earns her lots of money, enough to buy a house and a lot more, including fancy dresses whose price tags kept her away from them till then. It soon turns into an addiction, but the results are not always favourable. She loses all that she had and a lot more. Some loan sharks come to her rescue, but not without their demons.

What follows is an unplanned robbery at a grocery store and then planned ones at banks with a note written in lipstick on a sheet of paper and without any weapon. Amid all this, she spends time with a potential suitor who accepts her with all her flaws. 

Simran is a straightforward story, but is appealing because of the way it is shot and the various layers that the lead character goes through. It may seem unbelievable to rob a bank with a wig and a hoodie, but it's happened in real life. If you ignore such deep questioning, the movie is enjoyable and holds your attention throughout. Also, in a rare instance in Indian cinema, the lead character is a woman with imperfections and yet a charming personality you feel for. 

Hansal Mehta comes up with a fine entertainer after having made several serious movies. The writing too is good and the music catchy though the songs could have been picturised and placed better. The supporting staff is decent but nothing to write home about. 

The star, without a doubt, is Kangana Ranaut. Enacting a character grappling with contradictions, complications and compromises, she comes up trumps in every frame which is almost the entire duration of the movie. She puts up another marvellous performance and decodes the many layers of Simran with aplomb. She holds her own and carries the film ably on her shoulders. In what is one of her finest portrayals on screen, she does not falter even once. She's truly at the zenith of her career and her own competition. Kangana deserves praise for sticking her neck out and opting for brave choices when the world is at her feet.

Simran is not Kangana's best film, but certainly one of the better offerings of 2017. It's another feather in Kangana's illustrious cap. Watch it just for her. 

 - Kunal Purandare

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