Entertainment | Film & Cinema
Not much to sing about kinng
The film rides solely on Akshay Kumar's shoulders. It could have worked wonders at the box office, though, had more attention been paid to the script
- By Abdulla Mahmood, Special to Unwind
- Published: 23:58 August 15, 2008
Anees Bazmee is not a great filmmaker but is clever enough to know how to incorporate the necessary ingredients for a true Bollywood masala flick.
He got the packaging and commercial requisites right in No Entry and more or less in Welcome but in Singh is Kinng, he doesn't.
In fact, he has just let Akshay Kumar loose, allowing him to run the entire show, with glimpses of sporadic slapstick humour that hardly amuse.
Happy-go-Lucky
Happy Singh (Kumar) is the big-hearted, village bumpkin who is sent to Australia by his fellow villagers to bring back gangster Lucky Singh aka King (Sonu Sood) to his native village.
Happy is accompanied by Rangeela (Om Puri) and has an accidental stopover in Egypt, the sole purpose of which is to make our hero meet Sonia (Katrina Kaif), the love of his life, and sing a Punjabi duet with her.
In Australia, due to a sudden turn of events, Happy replaces Lucky as King and manages to make the gang members turn a new leaf.
He, at the same time, also helps an elderly lady (Kiron Kher), whose daughter turns out to be Sonia.
In the middle of this drama, there is also a lacklustre love triangle involving Happy, Sonia and Puneet (Ranvir Shorey), Sonia's fiancé.
Singh is Kinng was never expected to have intelligent humour but if it is supposed to be a madcap comedy, you expect it to at least be an out-and-out entertainer.
This is where the film fails, as it isn't half as entertaining as Bazmee's previous comedies.
The film breezes along in the first half, with not much happening, but thanks to the lead pair's screen presence, you don't complain much.
But in the second half, the proceedings are peppered with too many baseless subplots and the script has many gaping loopholes. The film is a typical star-driven Bollywood flick with substantial cinematic liberties.
If the film works at any point, it is mainly due to Kumar's charismatic screen presence.
His flair for comic scenes and the way he carries the film on his shoulders remind of Govinda in the 1990s, when he regularly dished out one-man shows.
Eye-candy Kaif
Kaif serves only as eye candy but is worth every penny for her glamorous looks.
She, however, still has a long way to go to be called a good actress. Neha Dhupia fills in with her oomph factor wherever Kaif is missing in action.
Puri is in his element while Jaaved Jaffery, as the half-blind, half-deaf Mika, starts off well but disappoints overall.
Moreover, he has a double role in the movie, for which there seems to be no reason. Poor Shorey is wasted in a role that doesn't suit him. Kher is, as usual, over-the-top with her loud performance. Sood is the film's surprise element— he is impressive.
Supporting credibility
The remaining supporting cast comprising Yashpal Sharma, Manoj Pahwa, Sudanshu Pandey and Kamal Chopra add credibility despite shoddy writing.
Pritam's music is energetic and Ben Nott's and Sanjay Gupta's cinematography adds to the grand packaging. However, the action scenes are passable.
Had producer Vipul Shah paid more attention to the script, he could have done wonders with this film. But Singh is Kinng ends up being only for Kumar fans or those who still like brainless Bollywood comedies.
— Abdulla Mahmood is a UAE-based freelance writer
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