Singham

Reliance Entertainment

Director:

Rohit Shetty

Writers:

Hari,Yunus Sajawal,Farhad-Sajid

Cast:

Ajay Devgn,Kajal Aggarwal,Prakash Raj,Sonali Kulkarni,Ashok Saraf,Sachin Khedekar,Anant Jog,Vijay Patkar,Jayant Sawarkar,Ashok Samarth,Kishore Nandlaskar,Ravindra Berde,Hemu Adhikari,Agasthya Dhanorkar,Suchitra Bandekar,Suhasini Deshpande,Meghna Vaidya,Pradeep Welankar,Murli Sharma,Sudhanshu Pandey

The season of hits just got its latest addition. Hindi films are having a bumper run of late,with real cinema Delhi Belly,Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and by its standards even Chillar Party vying with classic Hindi entertainers like Ready still running,Double Dhamaal and Murder 2.

Singham narrates the story of Bajirao Singham Ajay Devgn,who is an ideal cop. He rules in Shivgadh,and his justice is quick and fair,Meanwhile in the nearby Goa town,Jaykant Shikre Prakash Raj is a one-man mafia who believes in extortion and murder when his ego is hurt,The crux comes when he has to go to Shivgadh regularly to register his presence in a case where he has got bail. Bajirao hurts his ego when he refuses to accept a proxy representative. He summons a furious Jaykant and humiliates him,blasting his ego to smithereens.

Jaykant retaliates by using his clout the politicians and cops are in his pocket and gets him posted in Goa,with a promise that he will destroy him slowly and kill him a bit day by day. But Singham proves to be a man of steel,and he even awakens the sleeping conscience of the local cops who are either corrupt or silent. And Jaykant gets his just desserts in the same way as he had destroyed the earlier honest cop Kadam Sudhanshu Pandey who had committed suicide. Singham thus becomes the means by which Megha Kadam Sonali Kulkarni avenges her husband and clears his name.

A side-plot is Singhams romantic angle with Kavya Kajal Aggarwal and there is some humour that is built into the serious film because of the romance.

Singham is a full-on action-packed entertainer and the stunts are more choreographed than real with people somersaulting in the air and so also cars and SUVs! At the same time,Ajays physique is the real muscular kind and not a six-pack show as there are hand-to-hand combat scenes as well. Action director Jai Singh Nijjar under the supervision of Rohit Shetty and cinematography Dudley are in their elements and the high production values are very obvious as the film is made on a grand scale. Shetty as director has his finger firmly on the pulse of his audience,and exhibits a skilled blend of his twin core strengthsaction and humour.

However,the South element comes in to dilute some sequences that seem forced,especially in the comic department. The romantic track is ill-developed. On the other hand,the novel idea of a criminal coming in to complain about a cop and the climax are fresh for Hindi cinema. Matters are helped by the pace of the film that does not give you time to think about flaws and the avoidable deficiences. The background score Amar Mohile is effective,but the songs Ajay-Atul are rather disappointing. The sequence where Singham asks uncomfortable questions at the policemens annual party or the old constable Ashok Sarafs outburst are highlights and take the film notches up with the incisive statement of problems faced by all cops,especially the honest ones,in the system.

This is a film tailored for Ajay Devgn and he delivers big-time. The sequence where he teaches Jaykant his first lesson in manners and when he takes on Jaykant at an electoral meeting stand out. Kajal Aggarwal is just about adequate and Sonali Kulkarni makes a mark. Prakash Raj is for the third time Wanted,Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap cast as the villain with a comic edge but he is fast getting predictable.

From the multiple Marathi actors who lend authenticity to the atmosphere,Ashok Samarth as Jaykants right-hand,Pradeep Velankar as the commissioner and the actor who plays Singhams most intense deputy are excellent. The rest are cast according to their images and personae and are effective.

Rating:

One star for the action,one for Ajay Devgn and one for the rest of the cast and crew.