Singham review: "Ajay's turn for a Dabaang!!!"

We are into the second decade of the new millenium & it seems Bollywood have taken a sudden liking for the brand of action movies which was prevalent in 1970s & 80s. As a matter of fact,ever since "Wanted" hit the jackpot; the South Indian spice seems to be the most sought after flavour. The angry young man image immortalised by Big B is being revived, with every actor trying their hand & the latest to join the band-wagon is none other than Ajay Devgan. So this week witnessed the coming together of Rohit Shetty & Ajay, with their action masala "Singham". The question now is, will the duo enthrall the audience with the bulging biceps just as they did by tickling the funny bone in the "Golmaal" series.

Sivagad is a sleepy village on the border of Maharashtra & Goa, which is under the jurisdiction of the honest & upright police officer, Bajirao Singham (Ajay Devgan). This village suddenly becomes a topic of discussion when the dreaded criminal, Jaikant Shikre (Prakash Raj) is adviced by the Court to register his presence daily at the station, for a period of 15 days as part of a bail agreement. Shikre tries to take the easy way out by assigning an accomplice to pose as him at the station, which is detested by Bajirao. From here, starts the rivalry of the protagonists & how it all pans out in this battle of good versus evil forms the framework of the movie. 

It's already a well known fact, that the movie is the remake of Surya's blockbuster "Singam". Just as in the original, the hero is an embodiment of all virtues while the villain seems to have gathered all the negative vices available. Whenever this type of a story is concieved, it's all about how to get the pulse of audience racing & Hari seems to have got all those bases covered. Rohit Shetty has gone on to show that he can also tackle the action genre with as much ease as comedy. The major plus point is undoubtedly the raw power & action sequences by Jai Singh which reminds us of the South Indian flair. As for the downside, it's just a hardcore regular masala venture which might not whet the appetite of the so called lovers of meaningful cinema.

Ajay Devgan has always given his cent percent irrespective of whatever role he dons. Here too, it was all about delivering bombastic dialogues & bashing up the goons single handedly. In short, a comparatively easy role by his standards except for the fact that he has pumped in quite a bit of iron enabling him to have a well sculpted torso. Rubbing shoulders against him, is none other than the awesome Prakash Raj; who emotes his anger & frustrations as easily as the blink of an eye. Kajal Agarwal doesnt have much to do than look good & she definitely was gorgeous. The remaining cast were mainly pawns to add in some spice to the story.

Verdict: The movie will have an outstanding opening in the single screens while the Multiplexes are unlikely to garner much interest. It definitely has all the ingredients of a hit as it caters to the taste of the masses. In short, I am expecting it to be a hit; however I doubt many of you guys will relish it after all its just routine masala stuff & Surya was better in the original!!!

Regards...Ben