In Simran, Kangana Ranaut plays a Gujarati housekeeper — Praful Patel — who sometimes dabbles in a bit of gambling and stealing. She’s a divorcee, who is upfront about her flaws and likes to live life to the fullest.
When her father asks her, “Why do you want an apartment of your own? Do you want to bring your boyfriends there?”, pat comes her reply, “Yeah, I will call my boyfriends.” Simran is breezy, cheeky and someone who is not shy of speaking her mind.
Cops chase her, she chases men, the camera chases her — the two and a half minute trailer is racy, funny, quirky. It also hints at a sadness behind this spunky, fearless woman. She compares freedom to butterflies and sunlight, says wooing men is an art, and yet, her words are not that of a light, carefree young woman.
Ranaut shows boundless energy but she is no manic pixie girl that Bollywood likes to show us so often. Praful is instead a flawed, real woman struggling to stay above the weight of her emotional issues.
There’s a thread of hysteria running throughout the trailer, and it lingers on one’s mind for long.
A friend on Facebook addressed Ranaut as India’s own khaleesi. This trailer, and the film hopefully, is proof enough.
Simran, directed by Hansal Mehta, releases on September 15.