Review: Akshay bags another winner, Kumar is truly the king

Pratik Dogra

Mumbai, Aug 08: `Singh is Kinng` is easily one of the most anticipated films of recent times. And why not? Riding on the ever rising popularity of its lead actor Akshay Kumar, with the film’s music topping popularity charts, and a title that has successfully struck an emotional chord with the entire North Indian audience, ‘Singh is Kinng’ was, for long, being touted by film pundits as the film to watch out for and was expected to arrest Bollywood’s dismal slide in 2008. And to an extent, it has managed to live up to its hype. The story predictably revolves around Akshay Kumar, who, not for the first time, effortlessly carries the movie on his able shoulders. Akshay is Happy Singh, a lovable but bungling village bumpkin with a heart of gold. Every time he tries to help someone he ends up creating trouble for others. Finally, sick of his misadventures, the villagers decide to pack him off to Australia on the pretext of bringing back Lakhan Singh or Lucky (Sonu Sood) an underworld don hailed as the King, to meet his ailing parents. Emotional at heart, Happy agrees to embark the journey with his friend Tony Singh (Om Puri) for company. True to his bungling nature, Happy lands up in Egypt instead of Australia, where in keeping with the Bollywood’s tradition, he gets to meet the ‘girl of his dreams’ Sonia (Katrina Kaif). One song later, he eventually reaches Australia. The movie follows Happy’s journey in which from being a homeless one day he becomes the King the next day by saving Lucky’s life. During his adventures, he encounters an affectionate elderly lady (Kirron Kher), Lucky and his ‘all Sikh gang’. He also manages to bring out the humane side of the gangsters at various stages before convincing them to clean up their acts and return home. Akshay Kumar is the heart and soul of the movie. It’s he, who breaths life into the film whenever it starts to drag. The inherent Punjabi flavour blends perfectly in various situations. Akshay’s brilliance in comedy is at ample display. His timing is as good as ever. Katrina Kaif yet again compliments his perfectly. With every passing film she is getting better. Every song is a chartbuster but the ‘Bas Ek King’ song and is greeted with special applause. The Snoop Dogg version of Singh is King, however, comes only towards the end during credits. The supporting cast also deserves a special mention. Om Puri is brilliant and his chemistry with Akshay Kumar is one of the highlights. Sonu Sood is impressive. Javed Jaffery is first-rate too but a tad under utilized. Ranvir Shorey in his brief cameo is pretty effective and so is Neha Dhupia. To direct such a star oriented movie doesn’t exactly need any special skills. Director Anees Bazmee does well by not going overboard. Keeping in mind Akshay’s fan base in NRI territories UK, Canada and US, besides India, the movie should certainly set the cash counters ringing.