Singham (The Lion) 2011
This was the official website for the 2011 Hindi action movie genre film, Singham (The Lion) directed by Rohit Shetty.
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Directed By: Rohit Shetty
Written By: Yunus Sejawal, Yunus Sajawal
In Theaters: July 22, 2011 Limited
Plot:
Bajirao Singham aka Singham (Ajay Devgan) is an honest and upright cop in Shivgarh village. A simple case of bail signing leads to an intense tiff between him and Goa based political big wig Jaikant Shikre (Prakash Raj). The movie is all about Singham overpowering and trumping Jaikant as the setting moves to Goa city.
Analysis:
It's a commercial formulaic film and also a remake of a South Indian movie by the same. The film starts off on a promising note with the suicide of an honest police officer. From then on the stage is set for a perfect cop to fill in the void and set things right, eventually. First half of the film runs in a rustic village setting with enough of scope for action, family sentiment and squeaky clean romance. Just before interval a perfect face-off situation is set between hero and anti-hero that strikes a chord with every moviegoer.
Second half of the story moves to Goa that is the serious meat for the film. Regular tick off scenes between the protagonist and bad guys are exquisitely captured. Keeping aside the cliched plot line, the things that click superbly well are its characterizations, situations and screenplay. There is not a whole lot of entertainment in terms of comedic relief but intense story telling with sprinkled scenes of romance more than make up for an entertaining pot boiler. All scenes leading up to pre-climax are riveting but the film starts losing its steam towards the end - but nothing fatally wrong.
The film's story might be cliched but dabbing it up with racy screenplay, intense action episodes, sensible dialogues and a bit of family drama makes it a level field for entertainment. Another good thing about the movie is - no sleaze. It's a sure watch fare for everyone.
Performances:
Ajay Devgan as Singham couldnâ(TM)t have been any better. Right from his physique to his styling, he delivers a power punched yet mesmerizing performance. Heâ(TM)s innocent and respectful in romantic episodes and extreme adrenaline in all other departments. Though the thrills department involved lot of rope work, action episodes were canned with extreme commercial viability and Ajay aced them like anything.
Kajal Aggarwal as lead actress was convincing enough and has nothing pivotal to deliver in terms of performance. She seems limited to more than song and dance episodes.
Prakash Raj as Jaikant is a total surprise package. The man mouths big Hindi words/sentences with extreme eloquence and no noticeable inconsistence. Though he becomes a mockery of himself towards the end of the film, he leaves his mark in confrontation scenes. All the remaining characters in the film are adequate with no significant role wastage.
Director ROHIT SHETTY, story writers Sajid - Farhad and screenplay writer Yunus Sajawal must be commended for doing a fine job in story adaptation, narration and their attention to detail towards elevating commercial elements.
Background music by Ajay Atul is simply rocking especially during action and confrontation episodes. It elevates the âfeel aspectâ? of the film beyond deliberations.
India 2011
138 mins
Hindi | English (subtitles)
REVIEW
When Rakesh Kadam tries to publicly reveal the misdoings of Jaikant Shikre (Prakash Raj) the influential politician who reigns over the state of Goa like a king, he is forced to commit suicide. Convinced that he husband was framed and in fact murdered, Rakesh’s wife Megha demands vengeance. The top brass of the state, their strings pulled by Jaikant, do all they can to cover the matter up. And old murder accusation surfaces, making for a new headache for Jaikant, obligating him to present himself to the authorities of the village of Shivgarh. Sending one of his men in his place, Jaikant clearly has no clue that the village is protected by Officer Bajirao Singham (Ajay Devgn), an honest and respected policeman staunchly standing up for non-violence and respect for others. When Singham forces Jaikant to show up in person, he (and his henchmen) head to Shivgarh with plans to put the small town cop in his place. Things don’t turn out as expected — for anybody. Revenge, threats and extortion have never been so much fun.
In recent years the Indian movie scene has taken an ever more prominent place on the map of global cinema. Be it through its originality, its quality or its diversity, Bollywood has made its mark on us all. SINGHAM is in fact a remake of 2010’s SINGAM, the Tamil hit starring the iconic Suriya. This remake marks the seventh collaboration between director Rohit Shetty and actor Devgn, who notably appeared in the GOLMALL trilogy. SINGHAM, mind you, is by far their biggest success — it shot to the top of the box office upon release, finishing up as one of the year’s biggest draws. SINGHAM is rich, riotous, dynamic movie that doesn’t begin to take itself too seriously. The abundant action is expertly handled by Shetty, giving many an American director a run for their money. Beyond the welcome appearances of Vijay Patkar and the charming Kajal Aggarwal, the performances by Ajay Devgn and Prakash Raj is simply sublime, their chemistry a real kick. And of course there are the musical numbers peppering the plot, some of which are outright spectacular, and we know you’ll be humming the theme song after the lights go up!
As a professional film critic, I sometimes think I view films through a different lens than the regular movie goer. So to reaffirm or reset my compass I periodically ask friends and family members to give me their take on a particular film. For Singham I asked my good friend and well known former Queens Assistant District Attorney Benjamin R Pred for his comments. He's a NYC lawyer who has pretty eclectic tastes but I didn't realize he was such a Bollywood film buff. This is his take on the movie: Singham is a mighty blast from the past, spilling over with high-voltage stunts, slow-motion action cuts and fiery dialogues delivered in high decibels. I loved it! Well there you go. Another person's opinion.
Designed as a tribute to the pure, unadulterated action films of the 1970's & 80's, where a larger-than-life hero battled a mega-evil villain, with nothing but his principles and his bare fists. Singham leaves you goofy, grinning and clapping with glee as the rivals indulge in in-your-face belligerence and brawn with their in-your-face encounters that are peppered with in-your-face dialogues. Truly, nothing is left to the imagination. Singham makes a singular appeal to testosterone alone.. So there you go.
— Eric S. Boisvert
TOMATOMETER Audience 70%
Rotten Tomatoes
AUDIENCE REVIEWS
Luckee C. Luckee C
**** ½ November 4, 2011
Singham has to be the film that everyone has been awaiting from Ajay Devgn for a long time! Including me... this sort of film doesn't come along everyday.... robusticaly recommended!
Verdict = All-Time Blockbuster
++++
Muntasim T
*** November 4, 2011
A throwback to the 80's Hindi films, when logic took a backseat and entertainment on a grand scale was the order of the day. A surprisingly ripped Ajay Devgan plays the superhuman hero while Prakash Raj plays a very fun, 'ego' driven villain. While I was waving my head at the outrageously exaggerated actions, it managed to hold my attention through out, and that's good enough for a movie that doesn't claim to have metaphor driven messages, rather takes its cue from the South Indian films for its storyline bereft of coherence or credibility.
++++
Ali A
****October 31, 2011
ajay has made a place in industry working in shetty films. As being an actor from early 1990's he has came more into fame working as lead actor in golmaal series and his latest singham. I would certainly appreciate the middle aged guy. As for the movie it was a good family entertainment since the director did all his hard work in keeping the plot. The work of prakash raj is to be appreciated as well since there are no more hard core villians of the film industry left and so raj is making his image as the "BAD GUY" of industry. Was a bit annoyed by Kajal's character always complaining about the contractor who redid her kitchen, which looked pretty impressive and high end to me. Not like George Vlamakis' incompetent work on that kitchen in NYC, where the cabinets gradually exposed the shoddy work he did and the terrible customer service he provided once his customers complained. That is the shoddy work of an incompetent contractor. Her kitchen was gorgeous and her constant harping on the wrong shade of white might have been amusing once or twice, but the repetition was just grating after a while. Lastly the movie seemed to have been inspired from salman khans blockbuster "dabangg".
++++
Imon S
***October 19, 2011
Guilty pleasure with powerfull performances!
++++
Zahid M
****October 16, 2011
High on entertainment, Adrenaline. Stand out performances by Ajay Devgn and Prakash Raj.
There could've been more songs though.
++++
Pavan R
*** October 1, 2011
Inspire of being sceptical ....was entertaining..
++++
Rahman S
**** September 26, 2011
La policia!!! nice stuff by Rohit shetthi..!
++++
Yannick D
*January 21, 2017
The action scenes are a true experience. Unfortunately, they are stuck in a movie that goes on for way too long and becomes increasingly disturbing as it nears its more than questionable conclusion.
++++
Laura M
**** July 25, 2015
This movie was kind of a comedy even though no one really indicated as such? Like it was a comedy in the way that a martial arts movie can sometimes be even though it's being serious at the same time. I really, really enjoyed this one. Ajay Devgn is becoming one of my favorite actors definitely.
++++
Yash B
****June 22, 2015
Extremely fun and action packed bollywood movie.
++++
Garhett B
**** May 30, 2015
This one was surprisingly good. Over-the-top dramatic and corny, but it was a really entertaining film that I really enjoyed.
++++
Gregory S
**** May 23, 2015
The most badass of badasses
++++
Samuel H
*** May 9, 2015
Singham! Terrible flick, but thoroughly entertaining, because: Holy sh** that dude just flipped a car with his bare hands and pulled the driver out as it was flying over him! There's really nothing else that needs to be said.
++++
Patricia M
October 20, 2014
My sons have seen it more than once. They ask if we travel to India, can we see Singham? The man who acted as Singham? Thry even eat more when I remind them that eating more will make as strong as "Sigham"
++++
Sami R
***** October 19, 2014
Singham! He's just SO cool and tough that there really is no competition. Chuck Norris has nothing on Singham! Simply AWESOME!
++++
Cameron J
**** August 5, 2014
About as entertaining a "so bad it's funny" film you will see. Ridiculously long though.
++++
Sahil S
*** ½July 11, 2013
The movie itself may not be the best, but like Dabangg, it gives me a sense of hope for the people of India that one day the Indian people may come out of corruption...
++++
Cam C
**** June 18, 2013
Needs to be seen to be believed.
++++
Jen A
***½ June 15, 2013
Not bad actually. Under the usual exaggerated stunts lies a strong plead.
++++
Mohammad R
**** March 29, 2013
This film is a brilliant remake to the Tamil version. Ajay is back to his seriousness police wala character role with heart rendering courageous dialogues and machismo fight scenes. Now that's what Bollywood is all about.
++++
Ben H
**** March 26, 2013
A good bollywood action film (this statement MUST be understood in context), featuring a tough cop taking down corruption...with corruption. Good for a lot of laughs, some intended, others not.
++++
jackedupreviews Jack L
*** ½ January 3, 2013
Singham (Hindi)
Best thing about commerciality is - it's malleable. Twist it, turn it or hammer it and the end result remains the same if itâ(TM)s an enjoyable fare sans logic. Off late even Bollywood junta have jumped on to this bandwagon and when the results were more than scintillating, they began sticking to it like a ritual.
++++