Movie Review : Singh is Kinng

 Singh is Kinng (comedy)
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Om Puri
Direction: Anees Bazmee
Critics rating:  
Blame it on the charisma of Akshay Kumar, but Singh is Kinng is going to find its audience despite being a no-brainer. And, the audience isn't going to be just the Singhs, spilling across the globe. It's going to be people like us who are suckers for corny comedy that breeze across the screen in a string of unstoppable gaffes, demanding nothing from you, other than a bunch of goofy grins. Of course, it does take the chutzpah of Akshay Kumar, the box office's current badshah , to make the bakwas bindaas . Catch him chasing stray chicks in his pind (read village) in Punjab or refusing to change his underwear, despite being in it for three days and you can't help say c-h-e-e-s-e. Or else, hear him introduce himself as 'Happy Singh' to a bunch of firangs , and you'll end up feeling happy too. Comedy does seem to flow effortlessly from this actor who seems to have taken over where Govinda left off...

Okay, so this one's truly cheesy with a Munnabhai heart at its core. ‘Happy Singh’ is the proverbial do-gooder who tries to help any and everyone, even if it means engaging with ruthless killers and mafia kingpins. He leaves his village and sets off for Australia to bring back a bunch of bonny sardarjis to their wailing moms and dads. So what if the Sardar brotherhood has metamorphosed into a mafia gang in distant shores, headed by two chalk-and-cheese brothers (Sonu Sood and Jaaved Jaffrey). Happy Singh is here to browbeat them onto the path of goodness, ek baar phir . One by one, the rogues undergo their life-changing experience -- calling for some rowdy fun and games - and end up reformed souls.

The magic of Munnabhai , this time in a turban, seems to have worked again. There, in distant Australia, with a short song-dance trek to Egypt, this desi joker win hearts and influences people with his rustic charms. The gangsters end up as good guys, the lonely flower seller (Kiron Kher) finds a foster son and the tattoo-flaunting law student (Katrina Kaif) finds a pucca Hindustani husband, a la Namastey London. Easy to understand why Akshay is proving to be King Midas at the box office. His rustic, anti-urbane heroics in film after film instantly raise the underdog on a pedestal and strike a chord with the aam janta , the way Govinda did in the 1990s with his red pants, purple jackets and nonsensical lyrics. (Remember 'what is mobile number?')

The film has an entertaining first half which sees some great camaraderie between the village boys, Om Puri and Akshay Kumar. The second half does get cluttered, clumsy and loose with loads of wasted talent in the likes of Ranvir Shorey, Javed Jaffrey and a side-lined Om Puri. Even some of the songs get deafening and inarticulate in a bid to celebrate Punjabiyat . But hey, there's that crackling chemical equation between the missy and the munda (Katrina and Akshay) to keep the hungama high, as they did in Namastey London and Welcome . Don't go looking for king-size entertainment and this King con might just end up as breezy time-pass.