Acting upon a totally unbelievable script at some points, Kangana’s Simran makes us fear for the YouTube channels that publish loopholes of a movie. It will be a long night for their creative teams. The actors are all good, but somehow just end up looking out of place beside each other. Kangana gives a stellar performance, but we would rather re-watch Queen, than sit in a session of Simran. Hansal Mehta has given us such masterpieces like Aligarh, City Lights, and Shahid, that you almost don’t recognize Simran to be his work. We just wish Kangana stops with the rant about her exes and focuses more on her movies, for this might bring the actress to an end in Bollywood.

Kangana Ranaut tries her best to lend Praful the kind of eccentricities and 'character flaws' that she deserves. At the end of the film, the only thing you exit the theatre with is Kangana's effortless performance. But maybe that is where Simran falls short of expectations. After 2014's brilliant Queen that helped Kangana turn her career around, we have mostly seen her in roles that have been replete with Kangana-isms, so much so that Kangana ended up overshadowing say, a Tanuja Trivedi (Tanu Weds Manu Returns) or an Alka Singh (Revolver Rani). The same holds true for her role in Simran too. Praful Patel is so drenched in the mannerisms that we have come to associate with Kangana post Queen, that it is difficult to look at this Gujarati divorcee as a complete person on her own without letting Ranaut take over. But having said that, Simran is elevated above strictly average by Kangana's performance. If you are willing to sign up for only that when you go into the theatre, you might have a good time. But Simran is hardly a Queen. The story is dealt with with adequate humour. But it soon veers towards darker territories. Simran starts faltering. It was touted as a thriller. But Simran comes across as neither taut, edge-of-the-seat stuff, nor does it pass off as a light comic caper a la Queen. The performance of the lead actor in Simran is top notch. The film rests on Kangana's shoulders and she doesn't disappoint. She is in form from the word go. But the same cannot be said about the rest of the cast. Everyone else in the film is overshadowed by Kangana, the way director Hansal Mehta might have willed it. Simran is a Kangana film, understood. But it suffers from the lack of a strong supporting cast. Sohum Shah is barely passable as Praful's could-be husband Sameer. He tries hard but cannot hold a frame with Kangana in it. The music in Simran is used mostly to steer the story forward. The songs don't make any impact otherwise. Kangana's Queen made you want to fly to Amsterdam right from the theatre. There is nothing that you want to do after Simran, save go back home. Watch the film if you swear by Kangana Ranaut. She spreads her wings like the tiny butterflies in her stomach and flies, but Simran does not take off.

Kangana Ranaut is on the top of her game. If anyone had any doubt that an Indian leading lady cannot carry a full-fledged film, they can banish that thought at once. In Simran, Kangana Ranaut drives from the front seat, keeping her feet firmly on the accelerator, and everyone else in the cast follows. While that is an entirely wonderful thing because Ranaut is in top form, it also becomes a failing, and ultimately prevents the film from becoming a stand-out. And that’s because there’s altogether too much of Ranaut without adequate support from the plot, which runs off in all directions in order to keep her in every frame (ironically, the leading lady has a script-and-additional-dialogues credit), and it all becomes too much of a good thing. But the plot gets into a loop, and her slide into another avatar — the gambler and thief– becomes tiresome. The Americans who play the bad guys are caricatures; the cops are buffoons. What begins well, meanders. And it is tonally confused, seguing back and forth between too much seriousness and too much jokeyness. But Kangana keeps us watching. With her plain unvarnished face, and mobile features, she comes across as a real, solid, complex woman, someone you can reach out and touch. When she’s on the top of her game, helping us ignore so many of the film’s loopholes, she’s glorious. It’s a pity her own story lets her down.

The nice thing about Simran is that it ventures into an area where the Bollywood heroine offers no defence for being a badass. The protagonist, a woman with an undaunted spirit, lives and loves by her own set of rules. She doesn't think twice about slipping into a life of crime just to support her `character flaws'. So far so good. refuses to have 'sex without protection' and is constantly up for adventure. She doesn't think twice about slipping into a life of crime just to support her `character flaws'. So far so good.  Besides the premise, everything else about the film is improbable. The writing falters in parts and naturally the execution follows. 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. However, there are occasions when even she gets carried away with the constant focus. But then again, is she really to be blamed? The filmmaker doesn't even have another noteworthy star on celluloid to share the limelight. Simran's parents and her fiancee, Sameer (Sohum) and other actors--foreign and desi--don't quite add up. Frankly, you can't emotionally invest in Simran or root for her as much as you might want to. But when you watch the film, you will find yourself warming up to her occasionally, because she's all you've got. Let's give Kangana her due.