Hi Folks,

Just wrapped up the screening of Singh is Kinng. For a movie that does not take itself too seriously and stays true to the we will entertain you, it does that fairly well. 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. If I were to rate it in the scale of entertainment, it is worse than Partner and better than a Welcome.

While the scripting is weak, the overall entertainment package is solid. Although it bears some uncanny resemblance to Namaste London, aka the biggest one being, country bumpkin Akshay trying to woo Katrina and then a climax which is somewhat similar, it does reach beyond it's scope of being a film only for the punjabis and the sikhs, but is entertaining enough for even pure "in it for 2 hrs of escapism," like myself.

While one wonders why an actor such as Ranveer Shorey took a part which any two legged person could play, one equally admires the overall acting of the crowd which includes Om Puri, Akshay, Sonu Soon, Javed Jaffry, Yashpal, Manoj Pahwa, Sudanshu Pandey, etc. Neha Dhuphia stands out for her acting and Katrina, while being acting challenged, does enough to keep the film going forward.

The pace is quick, the characterization somewhat flawed, e.g. Ranveer's character starts behaving in fits and pieces, for no particular reason, but the humour, while mundane is not necessarily boring.

It is a revelation so see Javed Jaffery dance, cause for the folks who have followed his carrier he is one of our finest dancers and makes a comeback to the dance floor in this film. Akshay is solid, although I think he is getting slightly predictable in his act, but for the most part remains consistently on the mark and at ease.

The script does seem forced at times, almost like the writer telling you "now this happens because I want it to happen," but then this is a film where too much analysis is probably not worth it and it says it will keep you in the theater and that it does.

I am not one who evaluates things like production values, cause I don't care, but overall Australia and Egypt is filmed well. The songs have a punjabi slant to it, but then this is SINGH's story so that is fine. Couple of good action sequences and the rap song with Snoop is fun, albeit at the end.

Overall the audience seemed to be enjoying the film, a slight lift from Borat, some very ordinary dialogues, but enough of everything to make it edible, perhaps not wholesome.

So if escapism from the reality is your need and also you are ok with not having to think too hard, then this is the film for you. I can wear both the serious audience and the one seeking fun cap and this one did keep me on my seat, in my latter state of mind.

It does try to put a little of everything in it and perhaps that works, but sometimes it seems to be trying to hard to fit that "commercialhouse" film mode.

The show which I saw, concluded with a few claps and the children seemed to enjoy it. The demographics of the audience in this show was 80% California Punjabis, so not sure if that was the factor, although overall nobody seemed to be to stressed and all seemed to be entertained enough on this Thursday night, with Happy Singh and his merry band.

Sincerely,

Vivek " entertained enough to be in a light mood" Kumar

vivek@saafa.org