Singh is Kinng'

Overall Impressions:
This is a film I really wanted to dislike. The adverising had peeved me off. It looked cheesy as hell & was intentionally taking a dig at Shahrukh Khan and his national label of King Khan, but that's the promoters of the film, not the film. Akshay Kumar as an actor tends to be pretty flawless. I can't remember the last 'bad' performance he's given. Sure he's been in some bad films but he's done his part & done it well.

It's brought to us by the team behind Namastey London and Welcome, both of which I had enjoyed. I even forgive them for 'No Entry' which pained me. Having been mocked aplomb by films in the past, this one aims to put the people of Punjab in the limelight. That's the impression I had, but it's nothing that strong. There's no history lesson here per se, just a salute to the lovable folk.

So as far as marketing goes, they failed. All they managed to do right was tell me that an Akshay Kumar film is releasing, Katrina still looks hot & the title is Singh is Kinng, intentionally misspelt probably for reasons of Numerology, but cheesy none-the-less. Its saving grace then is that it is an entertainer, just like the above mentioned films from the same guys.

A simple story about a family above all else. It is a Punjabi Singh family (yes, they are the guys with the turbans) and that's the focus of Singh is Kinng. It has to be said it probably helped its chances in winning me over that it was less cheese than I expected.

It's quite sharply edited, well paced, just a little above 2 hours and it drips with morality & culture. It is one of those feel-good films that sells the better life of an Indian village and shakes ideals at you such as good over evil, law above crime, being charitable, etc, etc, but subtly & only where it forwards the plot. Okay so calling it a plot is questionable, but it is a stream of well woven moments that entertain, which is all I asked from it. My only suggested improvement would perhaps be it has 1 song too many in the first half.

The performances are good all round. It's good to see Sonu Sood get noticed in a larger role. Seeing Snoop Dogg bust a groove with Akki in the closing credits was a pleasant surprise. An 'interesting' alliance to say the least.

A feel-good entertainer. Its fast pace covers up the minor blemishes, making it worth your time. One I'll probably pick up when the DVD releases to watch again.