I Am Singh

Indian Express rating:*

An old lady sitting on a bench,near Ground Zero in New York,flashes back to the bad days just after 9/11 to how her family had to bear the brunt of the aftermath. A panicky phonecall wakes up a ‘hatta katta’ Sikh ‘naujawan’ in Chandigarh : his father is in hospital,one brother is dead,the other is missing.

This could have been a perfectly acceptable film,presumably meant to release around the tenth anniversary of 9/11. In Puneet Issar’s hands,it becomes a series of unintentionally hilarious scenes.

The hero (Chahal) lands in Ontario. We know this because the airport has a sign stating it to be thus. From hereonafter,the city is referred to as America (Canada being a US borough,of course). The fellows who targeted the family are all beefy bald white guys who flare their nostrils and mouth such lines as : go home,you evil Moslems! The victims refer to them as those ‘Racist Goondas’. An old-time cop (Issar),who looks as if he could out-beef the Racist Goondas,and who has been thrown out of service because he refuses to take off his turban,gives lectures on Hate Crimes. Good-looking female lawyers fight their case,while a bunch of Good Moslems arrive to show solidarity with the brave Sikhs.

Daler Mehendi shows up as well,to sing a song.

shubhra.gupta@expressindia.com