The much awaited Singh is Kinng begins with the visual treat of the breathtaking beaches of Australia where Lakhanpal aka Lucky aka the King (played by Sonu Sood) the deadly Punjabi gangster is celebrating his birthday. We are introduced to his gang of top aides that range from the perennially tragic Pankaj Udaas (Yashpal Sharma) to the wannabe Bollywood star Julie (Neha Dhupia). The rest of the gang includes Raftaar (Sudhanshu Pandey) , Guruji (Kamal Chopra), (Manoj Pahwa) and the blind-half deaf older brother Mika (Javed Jaffrey). The birthday party is disrupted by gunshots and a chase around the city to prove just how invincible the King is.
The frame then moves to India - where Happy Singh (Akshay Kumar) is the happy go lucky guy who with even the best intentions ends up causing disasters in his entire village through a comedy of errors. All that is fine but the entire village is fed up of Happy’s regular destruction in the name of goodness and they plot to get rid of him by emotionally persuading him to bring Lucky back home to his village figuring Lucky would never return and they would be rid of Happy Singh.
What follows is the movie - Singh is Kinng with Happy’s detour to Egypt and encounter with his lady bhim err lady love Sonia (Katrina Kaif) and subsequently his arrival in Australia where an unexpected turn of events puts Happy in the position of King.
To say that the film is not an entertainer would be wrong. The film entertains from the word go. Each character has its own quirks and trademark style. The comic timing of every actor is top notch and there is not a stretch longer than 5 minutes in the entire film where you don’t laugh. The entire film is a visual rib-tickling treat. Kudos to cinematographers Sanjay Gupta and Ben Nott for their splendid work. The music was already a hit and the picturisation does not disappoint at all. The title track Bas Ek King could be the only thing I saw in the movie and I would have still come out happy. Oh and by the way, what was up with the Daler Mehndi track of Bhootni Ke being replaced by Mika’s remix track in the film? Total letdown! I was actually looking forward to the song and Daler Mehndi sounds so much better than Mika in that song.
Having said all that, the film in its entirety is not King. There are many many gaping holes that the director did not mend. The concept and the premise are good, the message is worth noting but where is the story, the direction, and the proper helming of what could have been both a madcap comedy and a decent film. Yes yes, I know the leave your brains behind concept, and I did exactly that which is probably why I thought Singh is Kinng was a top notch entertainer but the script that is abrupt at times with some unnecessary tracks within the movie just makes you cringe a bit and I cannot help but thinking if what worked in this film was not there, it would not have been too far from being a Tashan or any other Govinda movie. The songs play out of nowhere, the emotions are high drama, things happen as you bat your eyelids and have no time to think why they happened, and ofcourse the people running and firing like crazy during the climax before a predictable end.
Akshay Kumar is what works because he is Happy Singh to the T. There is no other who could have played this character like Akshay did. He doesn’t take any big leaps of jumps as far as acting is concerned but does his part well. Controlled when he needed to be and crazy when that was needed. His gang of supporters he inherits from Lucky are complimentary to Akshay’s characters. Yashpal Sharma as Pankaj Udaas is hilarious. Om Puri, Sudhanshu Pandey, Kamal Chopra, and Manoj Pahwa do well but don’t have much scope to show off their talents. Javed Jaffrey as Mika is as good as usual but why would he do this role when he is capable of so much more? Kirron Kher is fabulous as usual being the Ma but looks tired in parts. Ranvir Shorey as the obnoxious lover Puneet is good. Yes, as much as I like him he is not fabulous like he was in Bheja Fry or Khosla Ka Ghosla. He is good. I actually enjoyed watching Neha Dhupia quite a bit. She has fabulous comic timing and her look is very well put together in the film right from the clothes to the matching glasses and high heels. She was my favorite from the entire gang. Katrina Kaif does what she is supposed to. Looks pretty, dances, cries a bit, giggles when she needs to, looks absolutely ravishing in every frame, and even speaks Hindi (I may have missed some Punjabi). But really, thats all she does. Infact, Neha Dhupia leaves a better impact than she does.
Sonu Sood. What was he doing in the film? Taran Adarsh of IndiaFM says “Sonu Sood is another actor who’s finally getting his due in Hindi films.” I beg to differ! No way! He is a much better actor than one to be relegated to a wheel chair through most of the film.
Anees Bazmee could have done better with manning his ship. The comic dialogues and the timing of each of the actors plus the great visuals and songs makes this film worth a watch. If you are looking for a fun weekend night out this would be the movie to watch, then go for dinner, and blast to the title track while you finish off with dessert and drinks. Nothing more.
My rating: 2.5/5
I will gather reviews from the major critics and put excerpts up soon. Stay tuned for more.
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