Ultimate Bollywood » Bollywood Features » 2011Raj reviews Singham, Ajay "Where are the muscles?" Devgn's latest release.
by Raj S. Rangarajan
Yet another story about good versus evil emerges in this latest film entitled Singham. The movie tells the story of a straightforward, diligent police inspector from Shivgad, a small village on the border of Maharashtra and Goa, confronting a villain from the city of Colva in Goa. The cop this time is Bajirao Singham (Ajay Devgn), a man with a conscience who aspires to end corruption and blackmail. He vows to bring back the honor of his predecessor, Rakesh Kadam who had killed himself with a bullet to his own head after being framed.
In his village, Singham likes to settle disputes with his unique, patient style and words of wisdom, resorting to force only when it becomes absolutely necessary. More often than not, goons in the neighborhood are his problem. Extortionist, Jaykant Shikre (Prakash Raj, Mozhi in Tamil and several other hits) virtually rules Goa with his scheming ways and terrorizes rich families, which somehow seems woefully normal these days in India. The antagonist becomes a successful politician.
Fight scenes, while predictable, are original; for the first time, I saw the do-gooder (read: Ajay, the hero) slam-dunk the bad guys on their foreheads with his bare flat hand -– almost like Michael Jordan punching into the hoop and adding an exclamation point to the proceedings. The only thing missing was a chest thumping like the NBA player. Singham's move seems to be the signature shot.
The original Singham in Tamil was released in May 2010 and actor Suriya, who was promoted then as the "dude with 6-pack abs" had played the Ajay role. Reportedly, Ajay pumped a lot of iron and added extra upper body strength to play the role with greater conviction. "Singham", in Tamil, means lion.
The female leads in both Tamil and Hindi versions are tall and fetching, but lanky Anushka Shetty, known for her roles in Tamil and Telugu films, did a better job as the Singham boyfriend than Kavya Bhosle (Kajal Aggarwal) in Hindi. In one revealing moment, Kavya pleads with Bajirao, her Prince Charming, to go get the goons and vindicate his honor for his own sake and for the sake of the cop who died at his post. In amorous scenes with Kavya, Ajay had problems expressing himself. His fiery Mars character didn't send the right signals to Kavya, the Venus identity.
Prakash Raj has matured into a crafty villain, and there's little wonder that he is invariably busy in many languages these days. His Marathi needs polishing but when the villain can communicate better in the vernacular with the aid of guns, one needs no tonal affectations. As expected, the hero uses a white SUV while the bad guy "challenges the lion" with his black SUV. As Jaykant Shikre's sidekick, Ashok Samarth (Krantiveer) gets a lot of play and longish lines in a cell.
Ashok Saraf, the comedy element, as Prabhu Bhawalkar is spot-on with his "angry young man" spiel. His humorous delivery relieves the tension for Singham (Ajay), especially when the 3-striped cop, due to retire in six months, philosophizes about the nexus between cops, crooked politicians, and corruption. Apart from Familywala (Hindi) released last year and Pandu Havaldar (1974), Ashok has starred in television serials Yeh Choti Badi Baatein and Hum Paanch.
Sonali Kulkarni (Megha Kadam) as the wronged wife of the cop who kills himself on his office chair has a cameo appearance. She could have been asked to do more, especially since she is talented.
"Action romance" is the genre for the film but it had virtually no romance while, admittedly, maintaining loads of action. Director Rohit Shetty has taken care of the fights admirably but could have let us more into the picturesque scenery that Goa offers--an ideal getaway from reality if you can spare two hours or more. Gripping action scenes matched by snappy dialogue keep one wanting more.
