Singh Is Bliing Review {3.5/5} & Review Rating
In Bollywood, there have been many films that have been made focusing a particular community. The last time we saw a popular film that was made on the 'Singh' community was SINGH IS KINNG that starred the superhit jodi of Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif. This week sees the film titled SINGH IS BLIING starring Akshay Kumar in lead alongwith Amy Jackson. Will SINGH IS BLIING shine at the box-office the way it's 'predecessor' SINGH IS KINNG... let's analyze.
SINGH IS BLIING starts off in the town of Bassi Patna in Punjab, which is followed by a 'musical introduction' of Raftaar Singh (Akshay Kumar), who is basically a good for nothing careless lad and is the quintessential pet boy of his mother (Rati Agnihotri). Raftaar is famous for his goof ups and even when his father forces him to get a job of a security guard in a zoo, he goofs up yet again setting the zoo lion free. Fed up with his antics, his father gives him two options. While the first option is to marry his friend's (obese) daughter, the second option is to go to Goa and help his friend in his business. Needless to say, Raftaar goes to Goa and wins his boss' heart with his simplicity and 'obedient nature'. On the other hand, the film takes us to Romania, which is the domain of Sara (Amy Jackson), the only daughter of the multi millionaire don (Kunal Kapoor, in a comeback of sorts). Due to the threat to her life from evil-minded don Mark (Kay Kay Menon), Sara goes to Goa to be with her father's friend, who is Raftaar's boss. Sara also has a secret intention of finding her long lost mother, who lives somewhere in Goa. When Sara lands up in Goa, Raftaar Singh is given the responsibility of being her 'Man Friday'. Raftaar however can't speak English, while Sara doesn't know Hindi. Hence they hire a Goa based English tutor Emily (Lara Dutta), who works as their translator. Emily's intentional wrong translations however lead to comedy of errors. Romance starts brewing between Raftaar and Sara, when Raftaar sees Sara beating down the villains with her bare hands, while Sara notices the good natured, loving and caring side of Raftaar. Raftaar also helps unite Sara's parents and bring her family together. However, just when things seem to be going uphill, the evil Mark finds Sara and threatens to kill her family is she doesn't marry him. Will Sara be able to protect her family, does she really love Raftaar Singh, will Raftaar manage to win the love of his life, will his father ever be proud of him... forms the rest of the story.
Prabhu Dheva's last film at the box-office was ACTION JACKSON, which did not fare well at the box-office. With SINGH IS BLIING however, he seems to have hit the right chord. Prabhu has packaged everything that is needed in a slapstick comedy aimed at the masses. Be it the funny one liners, religious sentiments, emotions, action etc, SINGH IS BLIING has it all. While the first half of the film is hilarious to the core loaded with pranks and funny episodes, the film's second half, though slow, is high on emotions and drama. Though the film has a weak storyline which gets clearer only in the second half, it's the funny antics of Akshay Kumar and his side-kicks that keep you rolling in your seat with laughter.
Akshay Kumar steals the show from the first frame as he gets into the skin of his character perfectly well. One can't image any other actor playing the role of Raftaar Singh with Akshay's style and outstanding comic timing. Walking shoulder to shoulder with him, is the surprise package (read 'revelation') of the film: Amy Jackson. Even though she hardly has any Hindi dialogue in the film, she manages to play the Bollywood lead actress with full conviction. Amy has a number of action scenes in the film, in which she excels and how. Her swift action moves while beating the bad guys are very impressive. Lara Dutta, who features mainly in the first half, surprises with her very strong comic timing. Kay Kay Menon is decent as an evil but funny villain. Anil Mange and Arfi Lamba are hilarious as Akshay's side-kicks.
The music (Sajid Wajid, Meet Bros Anjjan, Manj Musik, Sneha Khanwalkar) of the film is decent and goes with the film's narrative, though certain songs seem forced. 'Tunga tunga' is a catchy track amongst others. The film's background score is decent. The film's dialogues (Chintan Gandhi) are funny. With a few moments notwithstanding, the film has got its editing (Steven Benardi) in place. On the other hand, the film's cinematography (Dudley) is very impressive. A special mention to the film's costume designer (Esha Amin) for dressing up the stars in stylish wear.
On the whole, SINGH IS BLIING is a slapstick comedy that offers paisa-vasool entertainment. Surely a 'must-watch' for this long weekend.