Simran is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language heist drama film directed by Hansal Mehta in a screenplay written by Apurva Asrani. Loosely based on the real- life story of Sandeep Kaur, the film stars Kangana Ranaut as Praful Patel, a divorcee, who loses her savings in a gambling bout. She takes a loan in order to repair the damage but when she is unable to repay it, she finds herself drawn into a life of crime. Hiten Kumar, Kishori Shahane and Sohum Shah are featured in supporting roles.
Simran was released worldwide on 15 September 2017. The film was met with generally positive reviews from the film critics; Ranaut's performance was widely praised, though the film drew some mixed reviews and criticism for its screenplay and execution. Critics like Baradwaj Rangan and Stutee Ghosh listed Ranaut as the Best Actress of the year 2017 for her performance in Simran. It became a commercial failure grossing ₹27.25 crore globally against the budget of ₹28 crore. The film was deemed a box office disappointment owing to Ranaut's star power. For her performance, Ranaut received a nomination for the Screen Award for Best Actress.
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Plot
(Kangana Ranaut) is a young divorcee who lives with her parents and works in the housekeeping department in one of the five-star hotels of Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
She shares a bitter relationship with her dad who is always blaming her for her mistakes in the past, instead of giving her moral support; so now, Praful wants to move out and buy her own house.
She has applied for a loan and her loan gets pre-approved. In the meantime, Praful decides to go with her cousin on a trip to Las Vegas (her cousin pays for all tickets and accommodations).
In Las Vegas, she plays baccarat for the first time and wins big in her first few rounds. She quickly gets addicted to the game. The next day, she returns to the casino but ends up losing not only the money she won the previous day but a large chunk of her savings also.
Praful then returns to Atlanta after a week, only to find out that her bank application to the bank has been rejected as her credit rating is very low. Praful seeks her father's help but he insists that she should meet a young man named Sameer (Sohum Shah) who has been selected as her suitor.
After meeting with the suitor, she has mixed feelings about marriage and agrees to get engaged. However, her addiction to gambling takes a toll on her and Praful gives her last shot to gambling and goes back to Vegas.
Unfortunately, she ultimately loses all her savings so a private money lender spots Praful (who is now drunk) in the casino and offers her money. The drunk Praful – not in her right senses- takes $32,000 from the moneylender and in exchange gives him her driving license.
Praful loses all that borrowed money (along with her hard-earned savings) and has to return penniless to her home.
Praful tries to explain to her father her bad situation and needing his financial help, but in fear of retaliation and hostility, she is reluctant. Her parents want her to begin her wedding preparations and plans with Sameer, who by now gets impressed by her personality.
Cast
Kangana Ranaut as Praful Patel a.k.a. "Simran"– The Lipstick Bandit"
Hiten Kumar as Praful's father
Kishori Shahane as Praful's mother
Sohum Shah as Sameer Mehta
Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Sapeen
Rajiv Nema as Sameer's uncle
Monica Chitkara as Sameer's aunt
Usha Jarajani as Praful's maternal grandmother
Rupinder Nagra as Mike Mehndi
Karishma Tanna as Baggi
Aneesha Joshi as Amber
Esha Tewari as Salma
James Cole as Steven
Catherine Dyer as Cynthia
Mark Justice (actor) as Adam
Rusty Meyers as Michael
Jeff Rose as Robert
Timothy Ryan Hickernell as Joe
Maiya Boyd as Salma's daughter Malala
Jason Louder as Mr Bugs
Albert Roberts as Jerry
Nikhil Dhawan as Nikhil
Mona Mathews as Aunt
Production
Development
The official announcement of the film was announced in the second quarter of 2015. The title of the film was said to be Simran.
Filming
The principal photography of the film commenced sometime in May 2016. The film is shot in Atlanta, United States. Production began in March 2016 and principal photography commenced in October 2016 at Atlanta, United States.
Reception
Box office
The film opened to disastrous response from the audience, with occupancy being around 12 percent. During the first week, the film collected "almost ₹150 million." As of 5 October 2017, the film earned ₹27.62 crore worldwide on budget ₹ 170 million.
Critical response
Upon release, Simran was met with generally positive reviews from the film critics as well as audience; Ranaut's performance was widely praised, though the film drew some mixed reviews and criticism for its screenplay and execution. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 70% based on 10 reviews and an average rating of 5.6/10.
On the Indian film review aggregator website The Review Monk, Simran received an average score of 5.5/10 based on 22 reviews and 62% critics being in the favor.
Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave Simran 3 out of 5 stars, arguing that "There's ample meat in the story, yet the writing itself is weak. But it's a testament to Kangana's a full-liquified performance that Simran works despite these complaints."
Shubra Gupta of The Indian Express praised Ranaut's performance but criticized the storyline saying "With her plain unvarnished face, and mobile features, she comes across as a real, solid, complex woman, someone you can reach out and touch. It's a pity her own story lets her down." She gave the film 3 out of 5 stars. According to Meena Iyer of The Times of India, who gave Simran 3.5 out of 5 stars, "The only one who is having a good time here is Kangana. Whether she's docile or daring, the actress goes about her screen business with a flourish; getting her mannerisms pat." Anupama Chopra of Film Companion gave 2.5 out of 5 stars insisting that "the writing is the weakest part of the film." She described Ranaut's work as "Kangana's lack of vanity onscreen is among her many strengths. She isn't afraid to look unattractive or behave badly."
From Rediff.com, Vaihayasi Pande Daniel gave Simran 3 out of 5 stars "Simran is a light-hearted, time-pass film not attempting to explore any higher themes." Pointing to some contrivances Kunal Gupta of Mumbai Mirror gave 2.5 out of 5 stars slating the film's casual tone as distracting and desensitizing during the crime scenes. Umesh Punwani from Koimoi declared "Simran is all about Kangana Ranaut, 5 minutes into the film and you know this is going to be special. Where Hansal Mehta's last film Aligarh was a dark sky, Simran is a shining cloud in his sky." He rated the film 3 out of 5 stars.
Anita Iyer of Khaleej Times gave 3 out of 5 stars saying, "Hansal Mehta, known for his critically acclaimed films like 'Shahid' and 'Citylights', handles the subject with care and doesn't glorify the character."
Soundtrack
The music of the film have been composed by Sachin–Jigar while the lyrics have been penned by Priya Saraiya and Vayu. The first song titled as "Lagdi Hai Thaai" which is sung by Guru Randhawa and Jonita Gandhi was released on 11 August 2017. The second single to be released was "Pinjra Tod Ke" voiced by Sunidhi Chauhan was released on 18 August 2017. The soundtrack consists of 8 songs and was released by T-Series on 25 August 2017.