Singham

Cast: Ajay Devgn, Kajal Aggarwal, Prakash Raj, Ashok Saraf, Sachin Khedekar, Sonali Kulkarni, Anant Jog, Vijay Patkar,

Jayant Sawarkar, Ashok Samarth, Kishore Nandlaskar, Ravindra Berde, Hemu Adhikari, Agasthya Dhanorkar, Suchitra, Bandekar, Suhasini Deshpande, Meghna Vaidya, Pradeep Welankar

Director: Rohit Shetty

Ever since 'Zanjeer' there have been quite a few cop dramas that have been made in Bollywood. Since then every superstar hero starting from Amitabh Bachchan to Vinod Khanna to Jeetendra to Dharmendra to Mithun Chakravorty to Sanjay Dutt to Anil Kapoor was seen in movies that required them to don the uniform. And then started the musical phase of the 90s and the multiplex era of 2000s that such action affairs took the backseat. Well, all of that can pretty much be expected to change now with 'Singham' where Ajay Devgn and Prakash Raj get one of the most definitive action dramas in place. In one line, the story is about right versus wrong and it is the constant see-saw between Ajay and Prakash which forms the backbone of the film since there are several sequences where a viewer gets an impression that one is more powerful than the other. (Spoilers ahead) It is Round One for Ajay when he and his village throw Prakash out of the police station. It is back to Prakash calling the shots when Ajay gets transferred to Goa. With Prakash letting loose his goons on Ajay, it continues to be a miserable situation for Ajay. But then when Ajay accepts Prakash's challenge and hits back his goons, the power equation fluctuates back to him.

Despite 'Singham' being an official remake of the namesake Tamil film, Rohit brings how own twist to the tale and changes the entire last 45 minutes. In fact it won't be wrong to say that the pre-climax and the climax, which are entirely different from the original, are in fact the highlights of 'Singham' that makes one try to look far deeper into the ground level issues faced by the cops than just leaving it all on the peripherals. I must add though that the first 20-25 minutes of the film just about pass muster. Entire goody-goody gestures of Ajay when it comes to defending his villagers just end up making one impatient to watch the real drama. Yes, the sequences are important to further establish Ajay's show of strength but still you are not really hooked on to screen by the second. The romantic track thankfully is abridged though it is nice for those few minutes that it plays. Also, the song 'Maula' (arriving in the second half) is totally unwarranted and this is the only time during the film when one gets a break to check the cellphone. However as stated earlier, it is the momentum built towards the interval and then the entire second half which is the 'jaan' of the film. Ajay's first interaction with the corrupt politician (Anant Jog) where he is ridiculed to the second where he takes him 'back on', his open challenge to Prakash Raj, the confrontation scene with the senior (Murli Sharma), the scene at the Police party (the best of the lot) and the 'big plan' - all of these are executed with such panache by Rohit that they end up surpassing some very good stunts executed all through the film.

Now all of this wouldn't have been possible had the villain been any lesser. Prakash Jha gives a wonderful account of himself all over again after 'Wanted' and 'Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap' and this indeed is his best performance ever in a Hindi film. Another factor that makes 'Singham' all the more powerful is the background score by Amar Mohile. Ajay of course lives the role and is simply flawless. 'Singham' could well be termed as his modern day homage to 'Ardh Satya'. Kajal is confident and her experience in films down South shows even though this is her debut film. She has a very good screen presence and can now be expected to be seen more often in Bollywood. Other supporting actors do well to. Right from Ashok Saraf to Ashok Samarth (playing Prakash's right hand man) to Murli Sharma to Anant Jog to the actors playing Ajay's colleagues and super-boss make the characters look right and believable.

Till a day before the release of 'Singham' the common saying was that when it comes to cop dramas, it was 'Wanted' and 'Dabangg' that started it all. However these films were more 'all around star driven entertainers' and relied on Salman's screen presence rather than the written word on paper. And this is where 'Singham' turns out to be more entertaining than the likes of 'Dabangg' since instead of several item sequences driving the show forward, it is a strong story with several twists and a superstar at the helm of affairs that results in a constant escalation in momentum, hence ensuring 'seeti maar' moments that are aplenty. As simple as that, 'Singham' is easily the most adrenalin pumping movie to have hit the screens this year. Go, get entertained! It’s his signature move. The hero, in a massive leap of faith, rises up in the air, flings his legs out, thumps his palm on top of villains’ bobbing heads. Victims fall flat to the ground. They could be buried six feet under, with the same thudding sound. At one point, for lack of a better weapon, he yanks off a street lamppost, goes charging against a bunch of goons zipping off in their topless jeep. Which is unnecessary. His hands (“gaon-wallah haath”) alone could do the job. As they often do: dozens lick dust, in one fell swoop.

You see. He’s the “sher”: there’s fair debate over whether that word is Hindi for tiger, or lion. In this case, it certainly means the latter – a loud one roars from the screen when the hero swaggers in. The filmmakers are clearly proud of their stunt scenes first. Not only is there an action director credited, the filmmaker (Rohit Shetty) takes separate billing for “action designer” in the opening credits. Minor mentions of other influences, say, the Bruce Willis starrer Red (for the swirling cop-car sequence) could’ve been grand gesture as well. The super-hero is called Singham. What kinda family name’s that? Well, it means the lion in Sanskrit, more importantly, is the title of a Tamil blockbuster this flick’s based on. Which is the way the cookie crumbles. “Jisme hai dam. Toh fakta Bajirao Singham.” You would’ve heard that in the promos, and wondered, the censors let pass the F-word? Haw. No. Fakta is ‘just’ or ‘only’, in Marathi. It’s Bajirao’s mother tongue. This is in every sense a dubbed regional film – though exhaustingly clichéd, even by South’s cookie-cutter, single-screen standards.

The leading man’s the macho, mustachioed, dark-skinned, young Rajnikanth. He serves a moral purpose for his sub-altern audiences. They pay for the movie ticket. He provides them an outlet: suitable place to vent their general, legitimate outrage against local gundas who pass off for regional politicians. Super-cop Singham holds the home minister by his neck. The neta bends. Everyone in the room, all of them cops, take turns to kick that fellow’s butt – one after another. Catharsis is complete. Later, the city's entire police force barges into a politician's living room to hack him off; they chase him down the streets, show him his true place of birth. Who else but a desi film hero could do this for us? Public feels vindicated. Did these semi-literate poetic justices, at some point, stop getting delivered in Hindi films? No. Never. You just didn’t go to watch Mehul Kumar’s Krantiveer 2 last year, now, did you? The budget was too low. It wasn’t hyped up enough. And there were no movie stars in it. They'd moved on.

The ‘80s ‘southern invasion’ though truly started again with Aamir Khan’s event-pic Ghajini (2008). Salman’s salesman Khan for this shirtless stuff. Currently. Ajay Devgn, undoubtedly, is a much superior actor. Salman’s the better looking; who’s also sanctified, beatified by some of the world’s looniest fans this side of Ozzy Osbourne’s den. And his films, lately (Wanted, Ready etc), are inevitably blessed with a first-rate soundtrack. None of which apply here. Devgn walks to beats similar to Salman’s Dabanng. He beats the crap out of ruffians outside a village theatre. He restores his woman's honour. Besotted, she chases him. Audiences think even more highly of the hero. He beats the crap some more. By Saturday (of the film’s release), the actor says in an interview to The Hindu, “I will forget Singham.” Good for him. It’s merely the first weekend’s collections the producers were looking at anyway.Nearly 40 minutes in the film the Minister of Goa yells at the cops for wasting his time and says out loud "Non-sense". Then and there you start relating to him as that's just what happens while watching Singham and you feel like saying the same words. For the nth time director Rohit Shetty teams up with Ajay Devgn but this time not for a madcap slapstick Golmaal series which he is known for. This time around it's all brawn and muscles as Rohit too jumps into the bandwagon of Heroism and South remakes with Singham. So call it an overdose of fight sequences, beefy actors and stunts or poor execution, Singham finds it hard to please the audience.

Set in Goa, Jaikant Shikhre (Prakash Raj) is a terror for every police man. A criminal with guns and power, Jaikant works the Goa law system his own way. Killing, extorting and getting away with it is the easiest thing for him. Cut to Shivgad, a small village on the border of Maharashtra and Goa, where an honest inspector Bajirao Singham (Ajay Devgn) fights against injustice and prejudice using his own ethics and principles. How the two cross paths, how Shikhre messes with Bajirao Singham and how the simple inspector turns into a roaring, agitated, revengeful Simha (Lion) is what follows through the rest of the plot. Singham is that brand of cinema that was prevalent in the '80s and '90s. It has a rone wali Maa, a bad villain, a revengeful wife, a heroine that provides all the dancing around the tress type of romance and high octane action between the hero and the villain. But it's the execution of it all that takes a beating. The film starts with a serious angle of an honest inspector committing suicide owing to the terror of Jaikant Shikhre. It then goes into a long tangent of introducing Ajay Devgn, his life, his supremely tedious romantic angle making you frustrated with the goings-on. 80 per cent of the first half seems needless and could very well be chopped off to give way to the drama that follows in the second half.

In a typical Rohit Shetty style there are a lot of cars blown up for providing the hardcore action feel. However, this time around the cinematography goes for a toss. The film is interspersed with bad shots which are glaringly obvious and out of focus scenes. The editing too isn't anything great. The best thing about Singham is its villain. Prakash Raj as the maniacal and egoistic criminal is befitting. His serious, ruthless character blended with timely humour keeps the audience glued to their seats. Another reason to watch this film is the drama between Prakash Raj and Ajay Devgn. Their battle against each other is interesting and offers a lot of drama. Ajay's look and characterisation is very good however, whenever he speaks in Marathi it looks very forced and fake. Wish something could've been done about this. Even the setting appears farcical. Kajal Aggarwal has over the top written all over her throughout the film. so if you thought Kareena Kapoor in Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham was OTT wait to see Kajal. Music too has nothing great to talk about.