Singham Movie Reviews

The trend of atypical masala entertainers began all over again with WANTED, which was effectively emulated by the super-successful DABANGG. The larger-than-life hero knocks down 50 thugs and sends them flying in the air with just one punch. He romances the heroine. Puts his life at stake by catching the bull by the horns. Emerges victorious in the finale... Come to think of it, the Indian audience is starved for true-blue masala entertainers

On the whole, SINGHAM is a full-on masala film that works big time for varied reasons: The energetic drama, the terrific confrontations, the raw stunts and of course, for the three ‘heroes’ — Ajay Devgn, Prakash Raj and director Rohit Shetty. It’s a complete package of entertainment for the masses and devoted fans of masala movies. This one is sure to roar at the box-office. It has Blockbuster written all over it!

Singham is such a mighty blast from the past, it leaves you reeling under its impact. Designed as a tribute to the pure, unadulterated action films of the Bachchan era, where a larger-than-life hero battled a mega-evil villain, with nothing but his principles and his bare fists, Rohit Shetty's retro film leaves you goofy, grinning and clapping with glee as the rivals indulge in in-your-face encounters, laced with in-your-face action, peppered with in-your-face dialogues

A certain degree of dramatic excess is only to be expected in a Bollywood action flick. But Singham, aimed at those who like their cinema stirred and shaken in familiar and simple ways, is a rare cop-and-crook drama that carries little excess baggage. But for a stray over-the-top scene here or a corny piece of dialogue there, it wears the look of a lean, mean and smartly packaged entertainer. For one, Rohit Shetty’s nifty reworking of the 2010 Tamil hit

Singham isn’t all retro stuff, since scam-tainted India finds a voice and a vision in this mainstream kitsch.

Singham is an old-fashioned but rousing Hindi commercial film that pretty much restores one’s faith in this often-maligned brand of cinema. It has super-duper hit written all over it. No matter how dismissive you might be of films that have no space for shades of grey, chances are that Singham will disarm you, if only for a bit.

‘Singham’ is a masala pot-boiler which draws applause and whistles. The film has raw energy which makes it instantly likeable, thereby beguiling you with its own unique charm. Watch out for the exhilarating performance of Ajay Devgn and Prakash Raj.

If plexes can give 3-D glasses at the theatre doors, why not earplugs and Google translators? Those are tools as necessary to watch a film like Singham as those dark eyepieces to watch a Transformers. You need the translator because more than half the film — especially all the punch lines — is in Marathi and when you can’t understand the language might as well safeguard your ears given the deafening Dolby drubbing it gets. Director Rohit Shetty

So while Singham does roar his loudest, it doesn’t always frighten.

A few minutes into 'Singham', Ajay Devgan emerges from a holy lake, dressed only in a red dhoti and flaunting his pumped-up physique. He walks into camera in slow motion, his torso still wet, that six-pack visible from as far as the Moon. This 80s-style actioner sees Devgan star as Bajirao 'Singham', an upright cop in a small village on the outskirts of Goa who dispenses his own unique brand of justice, which includes leaping in the air and landing a hard whack

Being a Goan, I often hear about the corrupt politicians in Goa and their bizarre ego-triggered actions. I often hear about the "white" tourists and the drug trade. Relatives who still live in Goa speak of corruption, but then who doesn’t in India? With some scams exposed in almost every state, and others, to the tune of thousands of crores, being brought to light at the Centre, the lack of faith in police in general make a favourable climate for a cop movie

Remember the phase that Bollywood suffered in the 80's? When action films were released with factory-like precision, each more mindless and insensitive than the other? Yes, the ones where the villains were uhm ¦ unattractive and threatened more and acted less. Heroes went around bashing up 20 goons at a time and came out staggering unscathed, and heroines did nothing better than looking pretty for the hero, when he took a break from fighting

In an action scene from SINGHAM, Bajirao Singham (Ajay Devgn) jumps and hits a baddie on his forehead with his palm. The guy spins, falls on the ground face first, bounces up a few feet in the air like a ball, and again falls on his back. With scenes like these, SINGHAM is so bad that it's almost good. The Tamil SINGHAM starring Suriya as a huge hit down South. But the adaptation for the Hindi audience, despite have its share of masala, isn't up to the mark

Ajay Devgn has always been an action star. That’s how he came into the movies, back when he was the unhoroscopically-challenged Devgan. He proved he could throw a mean punch. At which point he proceeded towards serious stuff, and soft soap. Then he discovered broad comedy, and stayed with it for a long while. This week, he’s back to where he started, with a ripped torso rising slo-mo to the beat of a thousand drums. In a post 'Dabangg' world

Rohit Shetty, we all know, likes Ajay Devgn, silly comedies and tossing cars in the air. He also likes tattoos, sequels, long-waisted girls and gangsters who talk gibberish. He has tried action before, but they have spurned him. Not this time. Singham is a swashbuckler and it is a hit. Which is not to say that I approve. I don’t. Let’s go into flashback: Rohit Shetty, having established his credentials as a filmmaker who makes people laugh

‘Singham’ works in bits and pieces, only when Devgn gets fully into his stride, squaring up to Raj as he hits the high notes. The rest is just stitched-up scenery.

It’s his signature move. The hero, in a massive leap of faith, rises up in the air, flings his legs out, thumps his palm on top of villains’ bobbing heads. Victims fall flat to the ground. They could be buried six feet under, with the same thudding sound. At one point, for lack of a better weapon, he yanks off a street lamppost, goes charging against a bunch of goons zipping off in their topless jeep. Which is unnecessary. His hands (“gaon-wallah haath”) alone

It's star-porn, really. Or even Devgnporn, if you will. The hero might not show off his privates in Rohit Shetty's new film, but a testosterone version of him strips off all pride to flaunt every ounce of his celebrity status. So we see shots that originate from Ajay Devgn's crotch and shots that linger blatantly on his khaki-clad bottom; we see him peel off his cop shirt in slow, slow motion, either to assault us with rippling biceps or alarmingly prominent nipples

One is now beginning to understand what the term ‘Paisa Vasool’ means. I used to think you could apply it to a case where, say, you order a pizza and end up saving enough for breakfast the next morning. However, with the tremendous box office business of films such as Singham it seems the term is to be equated with how many punches are thrown, how many cars are wrecked, and how many chances you can create to see Ajay Devgn buttoned down

Devgn walks to beats similar to Salman’s Dabanng. He beats the crap out of ruffians outside a village theatre. He restores his woman’s honour. Besotted, she chases him. Audiences think even more highly of the hero. He beats the crap some more.

All I can personally say about this trend of remaking one-note Southern hits as a viewer is that it’s an exhausting one. It is in the tiny victories that we must seek refuge after a film like this: I’m just glad the hero, so eager to peel off his uniform, left his pants on.

Singham review by Komal Nahta. Biz rating: 4.5 stars. Verdict: Singham is a surefire hit, packed with power-packed...