PremiumSingham Returns turns 10: How Ajay Devgn and Rohit Shetty revolutionized the cop film genre
Celebrate Independence Day by streaming Singham Returns and get ready for the next chapter, releasing this Diwali.
Last Updated: 10.15 AM, Aug 15, 2024
It's been a decade since Ajay Devgn and Rohit Shetty came together for yet another cop film and delivered a blockbuster. Yes, we are talking about Singham Returns, the second installment in the filmmaker's Cop Universe. Kareena Kapoor Khan, who replaced Kajal Aggarwal as the female lead, joined the duo this time. Amole Gupte and Zakir Hussain played antagonists, while Devgn reprised his role as Bajirao Singham. In case you are planning to revisit the film on the occasion of Independence Day 2024, you can stream Singham Returns on JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar.
Bajirao Singham's mission in Mumbai
In this new chapter, India's beloved supercop (Devgn) takes on a formidable adversary in Mumbai in an effort to eradicate crime and ensure that the innocent face justice. With the hope of eradicating injustice, a loyal but vicious police officer returns to his position as Deputy Commissioner of Police in the wake of crimes linked to horrors comparable to black money.
Now serving as a DCP at the Mahim police station in Mumbai, Bajirao Singham leads an honest team that brings lawbreakers and criminals to their knees, including Inspector Daya (Dayanand Shetty) and policeman Mahesh Jadhav (Ganesh Yadav). Mahesh disappears without a trace, and his body, along with a substantial sum of money, turns up in a submerged ambulance near Bhoighat. After investigating, Singham learns that the ambulance actually belongs to fraudster Babaji, whose real name is Satyaraj Chandar (Gupte). Babaji runs all of his illicit businesses with the help of Prakash Rao (Hussain), the secretary of politician Guruji (Anupam Kher). Rao intends to blame Mahesh in the case, and with the support of Babaji's large following, he murders Guruji in response to their demands. Although Singham's family wants him to marry Avni (Kareena), he resigns from the service. He is actually in Shivgadh to uncover evidence against Babaji.
A record-breaking release
On the eve of India's Independence Day, August 15, 2014, the film had its world premiere in theatres. It shattered multiple opening-day records upon its release. The movie, which was made on a budget of ₹70 crore, was a commercial success, earning ₹219 crore worldwide and becoming one of the highest-grossing Indian films of 2014.
The subsequent films in the Cop Universe, Simmba (2018) and Sooryavanshi (2021), both have cameo appearances by Devgn, who reprised his character. The three-part series Singham Again commenced preproduction in December 2022, with a Diwali premiere scheduled for October 31, 2024.
Pre-production of Singham Again
Rohit Shetty eventually started pre-production on Singham Again, the third film in the Singham franchise, in December 2022, following years of planning. Ranveer Singh and Akshay Kumar return to their respective titular characters from Simmba and Sooryavanshi; Kareena will be reprising her role as Avni, and Deepika Padukone will play the female cop in the film. Omar Hafeez, played by Jackie Shroff in Sooryavanshi (2021), returns as the adversary. Tiger Shroff joined the crew as ACP Satya, and Arjun Kapoor plays the film's antagonist.
In April 2023, the movie announced its release date as 15 August 2024, which is precisely ten years after Singham Returns. However, they subsequently rescheduled the film's debut to coincide with Diwali 2024.