Life Of Navin

I recently was in Bhopal, and with a late night train to catch (at 1:10 AM!!). With nothing else to do, I decided to check out the night show (9 PM) show of the mega-blockbuster Akki starrer Singh is Kinng. Not a multiplex mind you, a theatre (the kind i thought were all dead in this day and age!!). So here's my take on the movie......

Just a word of caution before you watch this film: This movie is not for the intellectuals or those pretending to be one. You know the rules when you watch a leave-your-head-at-home flick: Just don't look for logic. If you do, too bad for you, for you would never enjoy a film of this genre and more specifically, Singh Is Kinng!! And just incase you wondered, the extra "n" in the title is for good luck......sheesh!!

The film starts off with a slick action sequence which sets the pace for the film at a birthday bash for Lucky Singh (Sonu Sood) aka King (should i add an extra "n" here as well??), who's an internationally renowned don based down under in Kangaroo land.Post the James Bond style chase, we cut to a not-so-Bond-ish chicken chase, in which Happy Singh (Akshay Kumar) is introduced to us as the large-hearted Sardar, who means well, but causes chaos everywhere he goes. Animal rights activists needn't worry, coz the movie actually starts off with a note that says the chicken chase scene was done using CGI and tht "No chicken was harmed in the shooting of the scene".

So getting back to the movie, the villagers conspire to rid the village of Happy and convince him to set off to Australia and bring back Lucky, who hails from the same place. And so, Happy goes to Lucky, with so called buddy Rangeela, played by a marvelous Om Puri. The duo end up in Egypt after a ticket mix-up (in filmy style), where Happy meets Sonia (Katrina Kaif) after yet another chase, to retrieve her empty hand-bag. Happy falls in love with Sonia but ends with with nothing more than a bunch of memories when she suddenly disappears - Amelia Earhart anyone??

Happy then departs for Down Under and along with Rangeela tries to persuade King to return to his parents in Punjab. If Lucky agreed, the movie would've probably ended within an hour but Lucky says Nahi, thus dragging on the story.

Happy roams the streets of OZ until a motherly rose-shop owner (Kirron Kher) gives him food and shelter. Happy decides to reform Lucky and ensure that his parents get to see him before they make their one-way trip to heaven. But before he can reform Lucky, an unexpected twist of events lands the underworld king into a wheelchair and Happy Singh on the throne of the king. Thereafter, the new king turns the whole functioning of the underworld upside down. Charity and compassion replace coercion and kidnapping. And the don’s henchmen end up getting new duties – like cutting vegetables in kitchen or watering flowers in the garden.

The first half of the movie thus goes by breezily. However, the second half becomes a drag when Sonia re-enters Happy’s life as Kiron Kher's daughter with her boyfriend Puneet (Ranvir Shorey). Once rich, Kher's husband died leaving her bankrupt. But daughter Sonia - who hasn't returned home in 3 years - has no clue of the family's misfortunes. Happy, who has now taken up all of Kirron's problems upon himself, and his henchmen maintain their maali-waiter-assistant-manager façade and try to get the lovers married. But then, ofcourse Sonia falls in love with Happy.The comedy in the second hour becomes a tad too deliberate as Bazmee adopts a no-holds-barred approach and pulls every possible string and tries every available trick to make the film funny.

The climax is fairly predictable in total Aneez Bazmee style, and definitely whacked-out to say the least!!

Performance wise, the movie belongs to Akshay Kumar and Om Puri. The first half is a laugh riot thanks to Mr. Puri alone!! The childish bickering between Yashpal Sharma and Sudhanshu Pandey is near-perfect. Manoj Pahwa is good in his role. Javed Jaffery's talents have been wasted. Katrina Kaif is pure eyecandy- Nothing more, Nothing less. Neha Dhupia is mostly OK-OK, but looks bad lip-synching Hard Kaur's songs. Kirron Kher is motherly as usual. Ranvir Shorey maintains his identity well.

The music of the movie by Pritam is pretty funky but badly placed in the film, and the Snoop Dogg track (which arrives with the end credits) is just, sort of, a launch for Dogg into Bollywood. Hard Kaur does her bit with the vocals but as I mentioned before, Neha Dhupia looks weird lipsynching them. 'Talli Hua' is simply a waste of film-reel. 'Bhootni Ke' certainly brought back the memories of the last few Punjabi 'shaadiyaan' I've attended. The cinematography of the song is absolutely illogical and nauseating, but at the same time brilliant as well.

All in all, Singh is Kinng is not intelligent, nor is it witty, nor is it inspiring!! But, it clearly has no pretensions of being so. On the other hand, it's loud, fast and at times even funny. At the BO, the film fetched a hurricane-like start shattering all known records for an Indian film. Somehow, the movie has managed to rule the hearts of the aam junta (whose verdict matters the most), which , sorry to say, once again pushes a nail into the coffin of logical yet profitable movie-making.

I'd recommend you wait for the movie to be broadcast on the telly. Go to a theater at most, (like the one I was in) but the movie isn't worth spending hard earned $$ in a multiplex.

My Rating: 2 Stars

Main toh sirf Bolta hoon, acchi toh baatein apne aap ho jaate hain -Happy Singh in Singh is Kinng

Related posts:

• My review of Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na (My rating: 4 Stars)
• My Review of Sarkar Raj (My rating: 5 Stars)