Singh is Kinng poster

Singh is Kinng

wogma rating: Watch if you have nothing better to do (?)

quick review:

Punjabi is queenn. Wit is Jack. Plot & logic are thrown out of the deck. So, the viewers are ace jokers! But, who am I to stop Akshay-Katrina fans from rushing to the theaters?

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Director: Anees Bazmee
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif
Running time: 135 minutes
Genres: Slapstick
More Movie Info

Singh is Kinng - Preview

NOT A REVIEW - Just wondering how many 'n's maketh a king?

I don't remember the last time I've been so bothered by the title of a movie. I think it must have been Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.. Singh is Kinng got the wrong side of my nerve endings from the word go -

  • Having Singh in the title implies it's going to be about Punjab's saundhi mitti, sarso da saag, and makai di roti (aromatic soil, mustard curry, and corn flour flat bread - this sounds so non-poetic in English!). Anyways, I love all of these, but to have them being repeated by yet another loud, dressed-in-bright-pink aunt-like-figure is not something I'm looking forward to. I'm weary of stereotypes, what can I do?
  • King is spelt Kinng. Changing a language for the selfish reason of bringing good luck to yourself is not nice. Okay, the extra 'n' could just be to emphasize the Punjabi accent, but wouldn’t the stress have to be more on the 'g'? Never mind!
  • Singh obviously is the protagonist here. And guess what? He is pompous and calls himself King. Liking pompous characters doesn't come easily to me.

So, turns out the only problem I don't have with the title is the word 'is'. Oh well...

To top it off, I didn't like the title song that radio jockeys seem to be in love with. And all these fears are confirmed by a glance through the 'crew' section of the official site.

About the writer/director -

Some say Anees Bazmee is learning English through the titles of his films. After his last two hits, No Entry and Welcome, he's finally completed a sentence with Singh is Kinng!

And how?!

About the producer. Vipul Amrutlal Shah -

...he discovered through box office collections that Punjab exists in India but as well as other parts of the world! Singh is Kinng is ... his tribute to a community that lives life king-size.

Oh! It's this understanding of the community that makes all Punjabi loud and garish. See kings have to be over-the-top to rule. Come on, I know a few Punjabis who are subtle and sober. Would it be so wrong to see their stories on screen? Hmmm...

Turns out that fellow blogger, Honhar Goonda shares my skepticism -

...So he (Anees Bazmi) has a knack of producing hilarious scenes but can he make a film with 90% of quality scenes?... ...And he (Akshay Kumar) is playing a Sardar in this film. So the film is already a hit in UK... ...But Katrina Kaif will be looking gorgeous in that Black Sari and Pink skirt. She won’t have much to say in the film. She is just there to look gorgeous and dance. The film should have been titled as ‘Kaur Is Prinncess!'...

Oh well...what's in a name? Also, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie with a fairly obnoxious name...so looking forward to be surprised...

- meeta, a part of the audience

  • Pre-emptive Note 1: Akshay Kumar fans - this review is not for you, so bugger off and come back with the brickbats after you've seen the movie! We're warm to one and all around here.
  • Pre-emptive Note 2: This reviewer has a brain which she refuses to leave behind any more. I am a part of the masses that take pride in using their intellect - pseudo or not!
    • * * * Phewww! That felt good!!* * *
    So, you pretty much know where I'm headed with this one, right? But, let's be fair and talk about the nice things first. The wit induced in the charming-yet-rugged Punjabi-inflicted-Hindi dialect brings smiles. Akshay Kumar does dutiful justice to his Mr. goody-two-shoes, flat character, like he's been doing for ages - be nice, dance, preach, dance, and dance some more. At least the character is consistent! Puneet's character played by Ranveer Shorey is a refreshing change from the regular loser, third person in a love triangle. After a long time in Hindi cinema, this third person has a spine. He actually seems worthy of our darling heroine. I also enjoyed Sonu Sood's dead look. And yes of course, Katrina Kaif looks her charming self. Period. Period to good things that can be said. Dubbing must be one of the most difficult things an actor has to do and that's why I admire it when most of our actors manage it so well. But, Katrina is just so off! We all know the lady can't speak Hindi. But, she doesn't even attempt to lip-sync in the songs!! Not to mention, the songs themselves are off. The lyrics sound like random Panjabi lines strung together. I didn't enjoy the music or the choreography. The picturization of a couple of songs are like bad tourism ads for Egypt. The raw beauty of those places has not been captured, only an attempt has been made to glamorize them. I always thought the camera, the sound, the background score are supposed to add to the charm, the ambience of the scene. They are supposed to produce a rhythm, work in tune with each other. But, here they are merely performing a function as if their usage wasn't given more than a single thought. So all they end up adding is chaos to the mayhem. I digest that a woman travels all the way from Australia to Cairo to study criminal law. I try my best not to question the umpteen inconsistent side-characters who change their view according to the need of that particular scene. And I give the same treatment to police bringing an underworld Don's friend to him in Australia. I don't question the gravity defying parachute. I accept Superman flying, so I welcome a super-villain who can make the parachute take a u-turn. I even smile at a person holding electrical wire in his bare hands while he's electrocuting others. I satisfy myself with just raising my brow when people are consuming alcohol openly *while riding* in a convertible in a pre-dominantly Muslim country. Egypt is relatively liberal, I say, because I'm supposed to sit back and enjoy. Enjoy what? One person pissing on another's face? A table fan threatening a crotch? A random scene with people playing cricket patchily edited and forced in between two other random scenes - just so that the third person in the love triangle can get all jealous when a couple end up lying on each other while trying to grab a catch? The opening disclaimers included lines to the effect that, "The hen in the hen chase scene is digitally crafted, no cruelty has been imposed on animals for the shoot of that scene." Uhh...what about the cruelty inflicted upon us the humans who watched this tripe in the name of 'mass entertainment'?

    - meeta, a part of the audience

50 reviewers(?) - 21 yays 13 so-so 16 nays

Warning: clicking on "full review" will take you to an external website that could contain spoilers.

Thumbs up, by Sanskriti Media, AOL INDIA : ...Singh Is Kinng is based on a slice thin plot which could crumble as soon as you removed Akshay Kumar from it... full review

Thumbs up, by N K Deoshi, Apun Ka Choice : ...the movie doesn’t ask you to use your brain, nor does it proclaim to have one itself.... full review

Thumbs up, by Gaurav Sharma, Bollywood Mantra : ...Music by Pritam is ear-soothing; Sanjay Gupta’s cinematography is first-class. Anees Bazmee’s direction is extra-ordinary.... full review

Thumbs up, by Rony D'Costa, BOXOFFICE INDIA : ...The dialogues suit the characters & film to the T... full review

Thumbs up, by Hetal Adesara, Business of Cinema : ...Singh is Kinng is packed with some hilarious scenes and dialouges and has the right ingredients for a masala entertainer.... full review

Thumbs up, by Manasi Paresh Kumar, Deccan Herald : ...The most disjointed narrative set among insanely unbelieveable situations and yet... the fillum is fultoo paisa vasool.... full review

Thumbs up, desi hits : ...snoop dogg song - the green screen graphic background and the way it was left as an after thought when the film was over, was a bit disappointing... full review

Thumbs up, eTalkIndia : ...Surely there is nothing to do with Sikhs but director has used intentionally to attract the whole Punjabi crowed all around the world.... full review

Thumbs up, by Martin D'souza, Glamsham.com : ...the characters incorporated and the treatment given on a lavish scale is what tilts the balance in the film's favour... full review

Thumbs up, by Taran Adarsh, IndiaFM : ...SINGH IS KINNG is not for the intellectuals or those pretending to be one. It's not for the hard-nosed critics either.... full review

Thumbs up, by Harshita Kohli, indya.com : ...Acting wise Akshay Kumar comes up trumps as is expected. Katrina is loving her place at the top of Bollywood and it shows... full review

Thumbs up, Intermission, The Bookeazy Blog : ...Everyone has made jokes about Sardars in their movie, but this movie tries to bring out the humorous side in the right sense.... full review

Thumbs up, Movie Talkies : ...Ranvir Shorey plays a slightly negative role and is very impressive indeed.... full review

Thumbs up, by Mayank Shekhar, Mumbai Mirror : ...his is your archetype, 'few antics spared' Akshay Kumar action-comedy. I mean to only compliment and not offend here.... full review

Thumbs up, musicNmovies.info : ...Though the movie burst into unwanted songs intermittently, you don’t feel bore due to its cinematography and choreography... full review

Thumbs up, by Anupama Chopra, NDTV : ...And it’s this un-embarrassed, undisguised, undiluted intention to provide a good time that actually makes Singh is Kinng a fun ride.... full review

Thumbs up, by Prateek Verma, Newspost Online : ...Watch it to celebrate Akshay Kumar’s success....Watch the movie for its storyline...Watch the movie for Katrina Kaif.... full review

Thumbs up, by Shruti Bhasin, Planet Bollywood : ...Anees Bazmee is a funny storyteller and as time goes on, we all should look forward to more outrageous movies to come from him.... full review

Thumbs up, by Goher Iqbal Punn, Radio Sargam : ...Katrina Kaif looks as usual pretty gorgeous and enacts the role with conviction.... full review

Thumbs up, by Raja Sen, Rediff : ...Remember....Namak Halaal, a complete mess of a movie in terms of script and plot, but a film revered indulgently today as a classic comedy. Simply because of that one man in the middle of it all... full review

Thumbs up, SmasHits.com : ...Since this is a combination of comedy, romance, action and drama, well synchronised in the duration of 2.10 hours, it has come out as very entertaining movie.... full review

So-So, by Nita, A Wide Angle View of India : ...It was nice to see that there were no sexist jokes in the movie! Perhaps that was why I found this comedy very relaxing.... full review

So-So, by Preeti Arora, Buzz18 : ...Once you’re clear that this film is not one of the director’s masterpieces and you are not likely to see it again and again (as you did with No Entry) you can put your feet up... full review

So-So, by Devang Ghia, DearCinema : ...We are not yet tired seeing his brand of comedy... full review

So-So, by Deep, Deep's Home : ...it started off with array of bad scenes...then it became pretty impressive till the interval...2nd half is more of typical stuff.. .... full review

So-So, by Samrat Sharma, fullhyd.com : ...This is the usual mishmash of jokes, off-kilter characters and ludicrous situations that Bazmee excels at, and it isn't even that funny, really. That's the reason it needs Akshay.... full review

So-So, Indicine : ...Singh is King is a perfect example of a great first half ruined by an average second.... full review

So-So, by Vijay, MovieWalah : ...Yes for Akshay Kumar, No for the overall movie.... full review

So-So, by Subhash K Jha, Now Running.com : ...The film, its plot and characters are a crazy, adrenaline-induced rush of caricatures and other spaced-out creatures.... full review

So-So, by Vivek Kumar, Passion for Cinema : ...I am wearing the cap of the front bencher, “aam audience,” today and for that it does not bore you, while not entertaining you to death either.... full review

So-So, by Aseem Chabbra, Rediff : ...In the song Kumar seems to be defining the word cool for Bollywood... full review

So-So, by Sonia Chopra, Sify Movies : ...The premise is as plausible as Salman Khan running a shelter for battered women (forgive the crassness)... full review

So-So, by Arshiya Kapadiya, Times Now : ...The agenda is simple - make a time pass, family film and get in Akshay's die hard fans to do the rest.... full review

So-So, by Nikhat Kazmi, Times of India : ...corny comedy that breeze across the screen in a string of unstoppable gaffes, demanding nothing from you, other than a bunch of goofy grins.... full review

Thumbs down, by Amodini, Amodini's Movie Reviews : ...“Singh is King’s” scriptwriter reminds me of my son. There are similarities, in that the scriptwriter’s seem like they are making up the story on the fly.... full review

Thumbs down, by Baradwaj Rangan, Blogical Conclusion, The New Sunday Express : ...But who cares about good writing anymore, especially in a moviegoing culture where brain-dead films are considered the same as brain-dead filmmaking?... full review

Thumbs down, by Salima Kassam, Bolly Spice : ...You obviously don’t expect something deep and philosophical, but it should at least make sense right?... full review

Thumbs down, by Aniruddha Guha, DNA : ...If only the script had given Akshay half as much assistance, especially in the second half... full review

Thumbs down, by Khalid Mohamed, Hindustan Times : ...you’re just looking for ‘time-pass’ but this isn’t worth your car fuel or cola-corn double whammy. It’s just bilge.... full review

Thumbs down, by Rajeev Masand, IBN Live : ...Singh Is Kinng is not so much a film as it is a clever money-making racket.... full review

Thumbs down, by Gaurav Malani, indiatimes : ...Thankfully the film doesn’t sermonize on Indian culture and values and steers away from patriotic connotations... full review

Thumbs down, by Mr. Inkenti, Mr. Inketis Weblog : ...The most interesting bits of story in SiK, has already been shown in the trailers; beyond that there is no story, no plots/sub-plots, and nothing interesting happening.... full review

Thumbs down, by Jahan Bakshi, Now Running.com : ...indulgent, vain and messy film that is so full of itself that it can't help but burst from its seams.... full review

Thumbs down, by kartik krishnan, Passion for Cinema : ...Akshay kumar does an Amitabh bachchan of the 80s where even a random bad movie starring him would be a BIG Hit …... full review

Thumbs down, by rusted rick, Passion for Cinema : ...I would consider myself as a part of these aam admi’s you are targeting...your films neither entertains nor satisfies me in any way.... full review

Thumbs down, SearchIndia.com : ...A perilous journey into the arctic gulag that’s fraught with relentless assaults on the eyeballs and eardrums every second.... full review

Thumbs down, by Nova, The World As I See It : ...Music by Pritam is below average. The title song gets on your nerves after a while. Bad attempt over all.... full review

Thumbs down, by Saakshi Juneja, To Each Its Own : ...We’re at a stage in our viewing pattern where the bigger and more grandiose a movie seems, the more viewable we automatically think it is.... full review

Thumbs down, Upper Stall : ...Perhaps the makers knew they already had bumper profits on the table itself on announcement of the film... full review

Twitter reviews for this movie are not available.

1 readers - 1 yays 0 so-so 0 nays

Yay! Thumbs Up, by Consumer Goods

This page has additional observations, other than the ones noted in the main review.

Plot Summary

Happy Singh (Akshay Kumar) is a brash simpleton from a small village in Punjab. Lucky Singh (Sonu Sood) hails from the same village and has moved to Australia where he has turned into a goon. Happy sets out to make Lucky mend his ways and bring him back to his parents.

What Worked

  • The graphically generated hen looked pretty believable.
  • In the title song just before the interval, there's the typical choreography with foreign women dancing all over our main hero, viz., Happy Singh. He actually asks a girl not to touch him while he's dancing. I thought it was very cute to have that in, which is consistent with his character in the rest of the movie.
  • Innovativeness of casting Ranvir Shorey opposite Katrina Kaif.
  • Katrina Kaif green dressing gown in the 'talli' song.
  • The whole idea of having the sidekicks of the real don go through a change of heart before the Don. If only it was not executed so perfunctorily.
  • The sequence where Lucky on his wheelchair was being used as a turntable on a dining table.

What did not

Note: This section simply lists the things that I did not like in this movie. This is not the overall impression about this movie. Please read the full review here

  • In the introductory action sequence, Neha Dhupia looked like she had never held a gun in her life.
  • The execution of the said action sequence. It was badly put together and thus didn't look as cool as it could have been. The close-ups edited into the rest of the sequences didn't quite work.
  • Why is Happy in the hospital with Lucky before his other aides!?
  • Why was Lucky dressed in a way to be readily camouflaged into a sadhu?!
  • The stand-off scene between Puneet (Ranveer Shorey) and Sonia (Katrina Kaif). The dialogue is muted to give way to generic background music. Almost as if the writers got bored of writing a standard fight scene or as if they were told to cut down on Katrina's dialogues!
  • Uhhh...why the double role for Javed Jaffrey?

Nitty-Gritty

This section lists things that I think are not important to the overall impact of the movie. In most cases, it could be explained away by something like, "we noticed the glitch after the scene was shot and there were schedule/budget issues and thus we could not re-shoot it". I like giving the makers the benefit of doubt, but I am amused nevertheless. Hopefully, they will tickle you too.

  • Kirron Kher for some reason is carrying a couple of dead roses in her hand in one shot, and in the following shot a bright red rose appears. Is that a symbolic way of saying the person she's talking to had brought life into her life?

Parental Guidance:

  • Violence: Gang war type gun-fights sprinkled through the movie.
  • Sexual content: Nothing more than skimpily clad women making random appearances in songs, etc.
  • Concept: The basic idea is to make criminals change their ways and win hearts by being good. So, though it's silly, the motivations are right.
  • General Look and Feel: It's a bright, lively environment.

Singh is Kinng - Cast, crew, links

Official Sites:
Website Facebook[Facebook page of Singh is Kinng] Wikipedia[Wikipedia page of Singh is Kinng] IMDB[IMDB Page of Singh is Kinng]
Banner:
Adlabs
Producer:
Vipul Shah
Director:
Anees Bazmee
Lead Cast:
Akshay Kumar[Akshay Kumar twitter account], Katrina Kaif
Story:
Anees Bazmee
Screenplay:
Suresh Nair, Anees Bazmee
Dialogues:
Anees Bazmee, Sudhir Nair, Vipul Binjola, Rishi Virmani
Cinematography:
Sanjay F Gupta, Ben Nott
Editor:
Amitabh Shukla, Prashant Singh Rathore
Background Score:
Salim Merchant[Salim Merchant twitter account], Sulaiman Merchant[Sulaiman Merchant twitter account]
Action Choreography:
Danny Baldwin, Franz Spillhaus
Music Director:
Pritam Chakraborty[Pritam Chakraborty twitter account]
Lyrics:
Mayur Puri[Mayur Puri twitter account]
Art Direction:
Adam Head
Running time:
135 minutes
Reviewer:
meeta
Language:
Hindi
Country:
India
Genres:
Slapstick

Comments (18)

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meetu

Thank you ji!

Singh is kinng - Review...

Punjabi is queenn. Wit is Jack. Plot & logic are thrown out of the deck. So, the viewers are ace jokers! But, who am I to stop Akshay-Katrina fans from rushing to the theaters?...

Sudhir Nair

Well..an expected review from u..what surprised me is that reviewers like Mayank Shekar and Raja Sen loved it..Will be watching it tomm myself..will be one of those movies that my wife will love and ill hate :-)

PS: Why is that u never write Angrezi flicks reviews? It's always done by Anand. Is it because u don't watch those flicks?

Sudhir Nair has posted 28 comments and has rated 0 movies. See Sudhir Nair's page for more details.
chavanni

well.u are correct in pointing out....
Akshay Kumar does dutiful justice to his Mr. goody-two-shoes, flat character, like he’s been doing for ages - be nice, dance, preach, dance, and dance some more. At least the character is consistent!
read ajay brahmatmaj review...
http://chavannichap.blogspot.com/2008/08/blog-post_08.html

chavanni has posted 23 comments and has rated 0 movies. See chavanni's page for more details.
meetu

Thanks Nareshallu!

Good luck, Sudhir and let us know what you think :) Of course, I watch the English movies just don't review them. I'm a little weary of reviewing too many movies :)

Rashid and Marc :)

Animesh Raj

Your review comes as a fresh whiff...u won't believe but i have read reviews on singh is kinng where the critic has called the movie Welcome a masterpiece!! Movies like Singh is Kinng are made for one purpose only- to make money, and it will do that pretty well. But I don't understand why the critics are going gaga over such mediocre comedy. How can a critic give both Chak De India and Singh is Kinng the same 4 out of 5 rating?

Animesh Raj has posted 1 comments and has rated 0 movies. See Animesh Raj's page for more details.
Zohaib

100% correct and very logical review!!!

my God.....what a tight slap on the face of this dabba movie!!

Zohaib has posted 1 comments and has rated 0 movies. See Zohaib's page for more details.
vimal

Do you remember the last time I commented that I took my friends for Race, and then for LS-2050, just to show them a good Hindi movie?

Well, I did the mistake the third time with this one. They have vowed never to see a Hindi movie recommended by me again. Do I need to say more???

vimmuuu has posted 11 comments and has rated 0 movies. See vimmuuu's page for more details.
meetu

@ all who loved the movie - great!

@ all who hated the movie - condolences...

@ vimal, of course, I remember! I must say your friends have a good taste in movies :P

@Anurag, welcome back! Well, I just didn't like the music, it annoyed me the first time I heard the title song. Usually many songs grow on me over time, but this one grew in annoyance-value. Om Puri and Kirron Kher were loud and their characters redundant/inconsistent...
"what else can one expect from singh is kinng"...so its okay...if we expect a good film, its trash! Hmmm...how do we sort the inconsistency?

meetu

Oh Sneha, how I agree with you...

vimal

There was an article in Bollywood Hungama(Indiafm.com) yesterday which claims that Vipul is planning for a sequel to SiK. It seems he is waiting for a story and once thats done, it would be finalised.
Story, huh? as if this had one!!!

vimmuuu has posted 11 comments and has rated 0 movies. See vimmuuu's page for more details.
meetu

ROFL, vimal! Another SiK...just can't stop laughing...see i was wrong, the movie was funny after all...

shaifali agrawal

rating:thumbs down
movie is totally unexpectable..its not about comedy rather is about a comdey on which one cant laugh...

shaifali agrawal has posted 1 comments and has rated 0 movies. See shaifali agrawal's page for more details.
subhashvans

i like movie so much tat i had watched 10 times, it is one of my favourite films!!!!

subhashvans has posted 3 comments and has rated 0 movies. See subhashvans's page for more details.
meetu

Yeah Saurabh,I think I almost always pick on spelling changes in hindi movies. Check out Rama Rama Kya Hai Dramaaa for your entertainment. Sometimes, I leave some out because I don't want to drag the same joke too long. And actually Saurabh, why does he call himself King in the movie, because...he's one of his kind in a pack of cards? We really don't know, do we? Even after we watch the movie

meetu

Isn't that sad about lyrics, Saurabh? I refuse to believe all Punjabi's are loud as a rule!
Yeah Saurabh, I'm sure I wouldn't have liked Jim Carrey do it either. Anyway, just because it's done 10000 miles away, it doesn't make it right. The thing is there are more and more director's out there who are respecting our intellect, I think we need to ask for more.
Thanks for stopping by again!!

meetu

shaifali - :)

Good for you, subhashvans!!

meetu

@lost in confusion may we retain our sanity!

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