With SINGHAM sons of two famous action masters of Bollywood return to their original genre in style. Veeru Devgun (Ajay's father) and Shetty (Rohit's father) were known for their own class in the Industry few decades before and now their proud sons return to the same genre, with which they had started.
But sadly the attempt remains a visibly polished product only having few weak associations in the narrative which don't really give you a DABANGIAN kind of entertainment on the whole. Still it cannot be called a bad film for sure because it does have some great moments to offer and a winner climax which scores a clear six at the end, acting as its big savior.
It's an Official remake of Tamil Hit Movie SINGAM and is all about an honest cop fighting against a mafia don and his empire based on strong political connections. Being a remake it has got all the ingredients of a typical south masala film which are just there to add some extra flavors into the film and nothing else. For instance, there is a love affair track going along with the Cop's fight which has no value of its own in the script, as usual there is a deliberately created comedy track around the pet name of a character which successfully generates some laughs in the start but later on becomes annoying. And as seen before, there exists the same eccentric kind of villain working against the Cop, whose dialogues become comical towards the end, played once again by the one & only Prakash Raj.
The film starts off well with an impressive sequence revolving around the expressive eyes of a small child. But post that for about 1 long hour, it offers nothing as per the expectations raised, until the scene where Ajay and Prakash meet for the first time. The LION actually starts roaring at this very moment and then keeps roaring post interval till the climax in gaps.
Hence the first half is not that effective as compared to the second one since it keeps focusing on various other subplots in the script, which do not register at all. The romance track falls flat and so does the family comedy angle forced into the proceedings to provide some relief moments. Though SINGHAM scores high in its technical department such as Cinematography and Action, but it fails completely in its soundtrack. Ajay-Atul's music works just as a filler with nothing worth listening. And its really annoying to hear another title song inspired from the cult Vishal Bhardwaj's track "Omkara", sung by Sukhwinder. Moreover the Background Score is both effective as well as noisy at times with excess of loud arrangements in all those slow motion sequences.
Apart from Ajay Devgan and Prakash Raj, only Sudhanshu Pandey and Sonali Kulkarni are able to make an impact on the viewer and rest all work under the shadow of its two main giants. The debutant Kaajal looks fresh and bubbly but in absence of anything special written for her, she is not able to prove her talent in any of her scenes. Ajay Devgan once again proves his versatility, returning to the action genre after a string of comical hits. His body language, specifically his eyes seem to be just perfect for such roles and he comes up like a winner all through the film. Prakash Raj though is splendid in his typical negative role but this time it looked like repetitive to me towards the climax. Yet he is immensely watchable with Ajay on the screen. In short the film completely belongs to Ajay and Prakash Raj who generate such kind of mighty impact in their scenes together that the single screen theaters are bound to go full of whistles, claps and thundering applause.
In fact, the main reason behind the probable success of this film has to be these particular scenes (including the one with the Neta Ji) where Ajay answers his powerful enemies with fiery dialogues and strong punches along with its worth watching action sequences which have been shot with élan. However, at times the action also seems to be too unbelievable with some impossible kind of stunts. In the writing department, I particularly liked the thought of the National Emblem being given to the cops to wear it in their caps but not to the Country's top political leaders to use it in their dresses. Plus the icing on the cake, for all the viewers loving such kind of over the top, masala cinema, should be its well written climax which really needs to be applauded for its thoughtful idea and brilliant execution.
So, overall SINGHAM does have its merits in the form of some worth watching confrontation sequences and superb action. But if you are looking for something fresh or novel then you are sure going to be disappointed with its routine kind of content. The film is not consistent enough in its narration as the real action starts after almost 45 minutes into the movie and it also becomes a bit repetitive towards the end. Yet, for all Ajay Devgan's fans its festival time in the theaters. However the last half an hour of the film forced me to think about its original makers of the South.
To be specific, it struck me that if South Films are able to think of such great climax and other similar interesting plots in their own movies which in turn inspire Bollywood to make their remakes, then certainly the SOUTH CINEMA is miles ahead of Hindi CINEMA in film-making. May be the Hindi Film Industry is enjoying more success due to their over-popular stars and glamour but if studied in real sense then South Cinema is undoubtedly more important, experimental and bold which needs to be recognized at the earliest as an essential part of Indian CINEMA.
