THE 3 CASES: TEMPER | SIMMBA | AYOGYA
Temper (2015), Simmba (2018), and Ayogya (2019) are Indian movies based on one storyline told from 3 different perspectives. Each with its own structure leading to 3 different endings.
The basic storyline is about a corrupt cop who drastically changes his ways after getting involved in a case of sexual assault. He goes out of his way to make sure the abusers get their deserved punishment by the justice system. A challenging task to complete. Further, all 3 films have musical numbers (sing and dance sequences) that either display the mood of the characters at the moment or are placed solely to entertain.
Temper and Ayogya are very similar, almost carbon copies of each other. Simmba also takes scenes from Temper during the first half but delivers them significantly differently. In addition to that, Singham knows very well how the law works as shown in Singham Returns, yet he has a different attitude in Simmba. The ending of Temper has a similar vibe to that of Singham Returns. The hero makes sure that the villain gets punished.
Now how did I find these movies? I wanted to watch Sooryavaanshi which has Singham and Simmba in its trailer. I watched the 2 Singham movies and was curious how they would integrate the world together. Sooryavaanshi seemed a more serious film. Simmba, I heard about it, but I didn’t care to watch it. Now for comparison purposes, I have to. So, I watched Simmba first, then Temper, and finally Ayogya.
CASE #1: TEMPER (2015)
Temper is a 2015 Indian Telugu-language (Tollywood) drama-action-thriller musical film written by Vaikuntha and directed by Puri Jagannath and produced by Bandla Ganesh under the Parameswara Art Productions banner. The main cast consists of N. T. Rama Rao Jr. (NTR Jr.), Kajal Aggarwal, Prakash Raj, and Posani Krishna Murali.
The film tells the story of Daya, a recently transferred corrupt police inspector in Visakhapatnam, whose life changes after his new girlfriend gets kidnapped by the men of the local Don Waltair Vasu who he befriended. That incident eventually leads to him stumbling upon a rape-and-murder case.
The title of the film signifies the protagonist’s character has an attitude, arrogance, and is defiant. The film has a difficult theme that has been very common but is not inspired by anyone in real life in particular. The confrontation scene in the courtroom shows N. T. R. Jr. delivering dialogues that ridicule the current judicial system and police hierarchy.
The Hindi translation of the film is available to watch on the Goldmines official YouTube channel, but it has no English subtitles. The Telegu version with English subtitles is on Amazon prime but is geo-restricted in some regions.
My Rating: 7/10
CASE #2: SIMMBA (2018)
Simmba is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language (Bollywood) action-comedy musical film written by Yunus Sajawal and Sajid-Farhad and directed by Rohit Shetty. The film is the third installment of Shetty’s Cop Universe film franchise. The film was produced by Shetty and Reliance Entertainment/Picturez and Dharma Productions. The main cast consists of Ranveer Singh, Sonu Sood, and Sara Ali Khan, along with Ajay Devgn who has a cameo as Bajirao Singham. The hero role he played in Singham (2011) and Singham Returns (2014). Singham was a remake of the 2010 Tamil film of the same title.
The film tells the story of Sangram “Simmba” Bhalerao, a recently transfer corrupt police inspector to the Miramar police station who was raised in the same town as Singham, is forced to change after a young woman he is considered as his sister becomes the victim of sexual assault by people who he facilitated the way to perform their illegal activities in the region. She eventually dies.
Simmba’s purpose is to entertain I just wished it wasn’t a remake of Temper. The comedy, overacting and bombasticness takes away from the serious theme of sexual assault, murder, and the use of children for criminal activities, and makes it look like the justice system works in favor of the victim and that just a simple dialogue will change the mind of those men that are disrespectful towards women.
Simmba was available on Netflix for some time but I don’t see it anymore (at least not in my region). Singham and Sooryavanshi are available on the platform.
My Rating: 6.5/10
CASE #3: AYOGYA (2019)
Ayogya is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language (Kollywood) drama-action musical film written and directed by Venkat Mohan. Produced by B. Madhu through his company Light House Movie Makers. The main cast consists of Vishal in the lead role along with Raashi Khanna, R. Parthiban, K. S. Ravikumar, Pavithra Lokesh, Yogi Babu, Anandaraj, and Pooja Devariya.
The film is an official remake of the 2015 Telugu-language film Temper. The film’s soundtrack was composed by Sam C. S. The cinematography was handled by V. I. Karthik and editing was done by Livingston Antony Ruben. Ayogya is more or less the same as Temper, however, there are a few minor changes made to the characters and locations. The hero’s name is Karnan. The showstopper is the climax and ending.
The Tamil version of the film is available to watch on YouTube but the version I found has no English subtitles. The Tamil version with English subtitles is free to watch on Amazon Prime.
My Rating: 7.5/10
THE NOTED SIMILARITIES AND CHANGES
None of the trailers of these movies are like each other. Simmba is sold as an entertaining film showing Simmba as the opposite of Singham. Temper is sold as an action-packed romance and makes sure you understand the initial nature of the hero. However, Ayogya has the best trailer, yes it has the action and romance, but it also includes the main theme of the film which is very important in my opinion to sell the film. Unfortunately, it seems to be the lesser-known out of the 3 movies.
The 3 movies have similar scenes each with a different execution of the scene including
- The “Pursuit” scene
- The “Refuse to Salute” scene
- The “Persuasion to sell land” scene
- The “Kidnapping” scene
- The “Reprimand” (finding a father) scene
- The “Rescue” scene
- The “Brother” Airport scene
- The “Finding the Body” scene
- The “Salute” scene
Simmba stands out as having similar scenes to Temper in the first half of the film then the story changes. In the beginning, you get the impression that Ayogya is almost a carbon copy of Temper but there are some differences they added to the characters’ dialogues to the story to completely change the ending of the film. Ayogya has similar scenes played in different locations, the use of similar animals, and presents different food.
During the kidnapping scene in Temper, the heroine gets visible wounds and bruises and is visibly shaken from the attack. The hero tries to console her and does his best to remain calm. In Ayogya the heroine behaves like the incident is nothing. It’s the hero that freaks out and takes her to the hospital.
The kidnapping scene in Temper and Ayogya becomes the turning point for the hero. It’s when he starts to realize his mistakes and become aware of the consequences that others had the bear from his actions. The change for me takes a little away from his motivation to become a better man.
In Temper and Ayogya, the impact of watching the sexual assault scene ignites a fire in the hero to seek justice for who he now considers as his deceased sister. Finding the body of who the hero considered as his sister motivates him more. In Simmba it is just a different story where there is no honest deep motivation compared to the other 2 films. Further making it part of the Singham universe takes away from the seriousness of the themes.
I think Singham is a different kind of character. I see him as a superhuman, and it is how I justify to myself how he is able to fight the way he does. I do find the sound effect of the fighting scenes quite annoying in his movies. Simmba is an entertaining film, which is not a bad thing, but it is not the vehicle to present such serious themes as sexual assault, drug use, and using children to perform criminal activities. If you look at the reviews of the general public almost anyone paid attention to them to make them topics of conversation and discussion.
Another significant change between the 3 movies is the nature of the criminal case and how it is handled at the courthouse. Temper and Ayogya deal with the murder/sexual assault case similarly, but the ending is different for the well-intended people. The villains get a significant punishment. Simmba deals with a drug/sexual assault case where you also have the use of children for the distribution of drugs.
The abusers get a similar sentence as those we see in real life for those who commit sexual assault. Low sentencing can’t compare to the brutality and scarring of all the crimes committed. There is no impactful ending.
There is a dialogue between Singham and Simmba where Singham encourages him to instill fear of law in the minds of men who do not respect women. But it is just words. Words don’t work if there is no respect for the law. And Singham knows it from what played in Singham Returns. If you leave it to a system that is corrupt the villain will always get low sentencing or be set free.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Having watched the 3 films I have to admit that each has its uniqueness if you go in with an open mind. In Temper and Ayogya the drama and fighting scenes are well presented but if I had to choose between the two Temper is the one that I will surely rewatch. Can’t help it, the final fight scene is so good and I appreciated the physical masculinity of the lead.
I admit I had trouble watching Simmba and found it quite annoying how the themes were presented. The overacting and over-the-top comedy make you forget that you are dealing with serious topics. But then I remembered that comedy could tackle everything and that maybe that was the intention in the first place: to have the themes there but keep it first and foremost a traditional entertaining Bollywood film. Even then I still have an issue with the ending, but I understood that it would be the politically correct thing to say in Bollywood were same as Hollywood sexual assault and drug use are open secrets of the industry.
If I have to say something about each film, I’ll say that Temper is emotionally satisfying. The hero decides to do something I believe no regular man would do in his place. Especially one that has a past such as him. The next important thing that leads to the satisfying ending is the action that took place by the family of the victim. She called every media and made sure that her message traveled from the U.S. to India at the right time.
Simmba as previously mentioned is politically correct. Unless you do something to make men afraid of disrespecting women and facilitate their bad behavior, they will not be afraid to commit these crimes. Ayogya was a dose of reality. It shows what happens when the victim’s family and the actors around the case (such as the hero’s subordinate) were too late to act. It reminded me of the saying “The Just will pay for the Sinners”.
These were 3 interesting films. I recommend watching Temper first, then Ayogya, and leaving Simmba for the last.
I’m staying on the lookout for more alternative entertainment: keeping an eye on foreign cinema. What about you?
All images in this publication belong to the original creators and are used as references under fair use.
