SINGH IS KING

Over the past couple of months, I have been hearing good things about this Hindi movie entitled Singh Is King. According to reports, as of this month, this movie became a bonafide worldwide blockbuster movie beating the previous record holder Om Shanti Om.
I'm not much of a Hindi filmgoer. In fact, the last Hindi movie which I paid to see was Dilse and the last Tamil movie - Sivaji The Boss. Both films I enjoyed tremendously, but nevertheless I don't make it a point to actually go out to see a Hindi movie. Mostly, I try to catch it on DVD when the English subtitles allow me to enjoy the movie better.
But I keep hearing good things about this Akshay Kumar movie.
So, yesterday, in between meetings, I had little much to do, so I went to the new Capital Square Cineplex in Kuala Lumpur to catch the movie.
Surprisingly, I enjoyed the movie. Don't get me wrong. Singh Is King is no cinematic masterpiece. It's not even in the same league as Lagaan or Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Nevertheless, it's worth your RM9.
Best of all, about 30 percent of this movie is in English. The clear English subtitles also helped.
The movie is simple enough. It tells the story of a happy go lucky (but reckless) Sikh by the name of Happy Singh. His village has had enough of him and conspired to get him out of the village by sending him to Australia to bring back another Sikh by the name of Lucky Singh, who has become an underworld King down under.
Upon reaching Australia (not without first having a slight detour to Egypt), he meets Lucky who laughs off Happy's attempts to bring him back home. In a sudden twist of fate, Lucky gets paralysed after an assassination attempt on his life from rival gangs. During the paralysis, the rest of the gang wrongly assume that Lucky appointed Happy as his replacement. Happy is now King.
The love interest in this movie is between Akshay (Happy) and gorgeous Katrina Kaif in the role of Sonia, the daughter of a florist named Rose.
Here, the plot is completed lifted from Jackie Chan's Mister Canton and Lady Rose. Sonia's mother, Rose, has been telling her daughter that they are still rich, but unfortunately during Sonia's long overseas stay, fortunes have not been good to her and now all she has is a small flower stand in Sydney (it could be Brisbane or Melbourne too).
So, Happy being the kind hearted 'gangster' allowed Madam Rose to use his mansion so that Sonia and her fiance Puneet still think that Rose is still filthy rich.
Well, the story can get convoluted but it is 2.5 hours of sheer fun and music.
Directed by Anees Bazmee, who's only previous credit worth mentioning is Dewangee, the movie has its own kinetic energy that allows you to just sit back and laugh and enjoy the events as it unfolds. The music, too, is fun - very R&B with lots of English lyrics.
Akshay is surprisingly good in his role. He looks like a Sikh version of Magnum PI star Tom Selleck.
But, what made my eyes glued to the screen was this beautiful actress named Katrina Kaif. I haven't seen any of her previous movies, but trust me, the minute after reaching home, I got online, I checked Youtube for more videos of this gorgeous creature.
I thought no one could be more beautiful than Juhi Chowla and then I saw Katrina.
Enuff said. Go catch the movie. It's great fun.
Oh by the way, stay on til the credits - Snoop Dog sings the theme song! Serious.
Below is the music video and another clip of Akshay and Katrina dancing amongst the Egyptian ruins.

SINGH IS KING THEME SONG FEATURING SNOOP DOG


AKSHAY AND KATRINA PERFORMING THE SONG JEE KARDA