Singham Movie Review – A Rocking Masala Film

Posted by admin on Jul 23rd, 2011 | 0 comments

Masala entertainers have been breathing fire at the box office since the successful “Wanted” and the cult movie “Dabangg”. The larger than life hero who bashes 50 people with one fist and sends them flying in the air is still very much entertaining; a feat that has been immortalized by Salman Khan in this decade. However, he will soon be sharing this position with Ajay Devgn who has pulled a potential box-office whammy with Singham.

Story of Singham:

Fundamentally, true to the core of any masala film, this Tamil adopted movie is the fight between the good and the bad. The story is based in Shivgad, a little village on the periphery of Maharashtra. There is an honest police inspector Bajirao Singham (Ajay Devgn) who has his own principles and ethics while dealing with injustice and malpractices. Circumstances force Singham against a vile and powerful criminal politican called Jaykant Shirke (Prakash Raj) who has a totally different set of beliefs. He creates a nightmare out of Singham’s life. He has support in the form of a loving girlfriend called Kavya (Kajal Aggarwal). A chance tryst with Sonali Kulkarni who happens to be the wife of the slain Rakesh Kadam changes Singham’s perspective and he decide to eliminate the root cause of wall woes Jaykant Shirke .

What works for Singham:

Singham is a throwback to the 70s generation known for death defying action scenes and valor but on a much slicker note. The actions scenes are cleverly choreographed. So we get to see raw power marshaled by stylishly adapted thrills of South Indian films. Before one watches Singham, he or she is bound to make comparisons of the film with Dabangg. But apart from the protagnoist’s heroism and the fact that they are police offices, there is nothing common between the two films.

Take a bow, Rohit Shetty, it is the director’s best film yet. The Rohit Shetty-Ajay Devgn partnership remains one of the strongest actor-director partnerships in the industry. Though the story is something that one has seen before in terms of the good versus bad drama, there is not a moment for boredom. The treatment is slick and the dialogues zippy. The director has shown that he is as gifted in action films and can do them as effectively as he directs a comic caper.

The screenplay by Yunus Sajawal is purely aimed for the masses, Farhad-Sajid’s dialogue work smoothly and goes for a kill during the confrontational scenes. The background score by Amar Mohile is superb.

What does not work for Singham:

The chemistry between Ajay and Kajal Aggarwal is missing and what’s more, it actually becomes an impediment to the narrative. The romance between Salman and Sonakshi that was quite charming does not have that zing in Singham. But then to be fair to the movie, the drama is so potent that you do not want the romance to intervene and play spoilsport. The sound-track in the movie is also not that catchy, considering it has been done by Ajay-Atul who came up with a winner for the Marathi film, Natarang. The title track by Sukhvinder however, does have its moments.

Best scenes in Singham:

Ajay Devgn’s confrontation with the minister Anant Jog.
Ajay bashing the goods who misbehave with Kajal in the movie theater.
The finale.

Performances in Singham:

Ajay is truly the heart of Singham (Lion). He plays the righteous cope with a larger than life persona very well. Always known to underplay his part, Ajay goes over the top for this one and we do not mind it at all. Simply said, this is one of Ajay Devgn’ best performances ever and considering he has a long list of amazing performances, this one is another feather to his cap. Prakash Raj as the maverick villain is as powerful as Ajay during the dramatic scenes. A sheer genius, you just love to hate him in the film. Kajal Aggarwal is reduced to a side-kick in the film and one cannot really say that this is a good debut film for her if she is looking for Bollywood as a comeback (she had already worked in Kyon..Ho Gaya Na, 7 years ago). There are other actors like Govind Namdeo, Anant Jog, Sonali Kulkarni, Murli Sharma and Sudanshu Pandey who register quite an impact in their cameos

Conclusion:

Singham is a masala film peppered with raw heroism, larger than life action scenes, amazing drama and the power of the reliable trio-Ajay Devgn, Rohit Shetty and Prakash Raj. If you are looking for a massively entertaining film, you cannot miss out on Singham.

Ratings: ****(Very Good)