Punit Malhotra, of 'I Hate Love Stories' fame, has directed this Kareena Kapoor and Imran Khan starrer.
In
2004 there was a scientist called Mohan who flies down to a small
village in India to meet his grandmother Kaveri. The village stands in a
poor state, in that it lacks the basic amenities like electricity,
while the villagers continue to live in the dark. Literally. This is
where Mohan comes in.
Enter architect Sriram Venkat (Imran Khan)
from America, who also lands up in a small village in India. His reason
to land up here? His ex-love Dia (Kareena Kapoor) an NGO type, who's in
this little viallge in Gujarat to help the poor and the helpless.
Sriram feels the only way to win his love back is to build a bridge in
the village, and to her heart. And as time moves on, he comes face to
face with a corrupt collector.
The story unravels in a
constricted space. Not only did Kareena stick to a mere six costumes
thoughout the film, the film's set too seemed small.
Moving on,
Dia is the kind of girl who wants to do something for the poor, while
Sriram finds such talk to be fake. He, in fact, feels Dia need to
'chill' a little more in life. This is what eventually leads to a break
up. Enter another beautiful girl who's set to marry Sriram. Turns out,
this new girl is already in love with a Punjabi boy.
Imran
Khan's acting in the movie is enough to put an entire audience to sleep.
Kareena did okay comparatively. But there's no one else really in a big
role, to pit her acting skills against. Isha Gupta, did a fine job, and
it seems she's here to stay in Bollywood.
All in all, the story
is weak. Direction is poor too. Had Puneet stuck to a different kind of
film perhaps, one that catered more to generation Z's rich tastes, then
that film would've definitely fared better. Vishal-Shekhar have
composed the music in the film, and when heard otherwise, the songs seem
nice.
Watch the movie if you have to, if you like to watch big
stars on the big screen. For the rest, skipping this movie would be a
wise decision.
Singh Saab The Great Review
Singh Saab The Great Movie Poster
Rating: 3/5 Stars (Three Stars)
Star cast: Sunny Deol, Prakash Raj, Amrita Rao, Johnny Lever, Urvashi Rautela.
Director: Anil Sharma
What’s Good: Sunny Deol and Prakash Raj give exceptionally interesting performances.
What’s Bad: Tacky camera work, a drabby second half and an uninteresting romance angle are spoilers.
Loo break: Few.
Watch or Not?: Singh Saab The Great
is perhaps one of recent times’ most novel masala films. Despite a
multitude of grave hitches, the film is surprisingly original and
intense. Being fed on a host of extremely trashy and mediocre masala
films which have become Bollywood’s staple these days, Anil Sharma gives
us a welcome change. Sunny Deol and Prakash Raj make the film worth a
watch for their earnestness and ardour at portraying their respective
roles. I won’t call this fantastic or thrilling but for its sheer
unconventionality, the film had me impressed.
User Rating:
191 Votes
Collector Karanjit Talwar (Sunny Deol) is known for his honesty in
the political circles. His life comes to a standstill following a
posting to Bhadori where the corrupt Bhudev Singh’s (Prakaj Raj) words
is the law of the land. As Talwar tries to stop the area’s malpractices
with his strict norms, the man faces the brunt of his good deeds as the
villain victimized his family.
It is not long before Talwar loses his dear ones and lands up in jail
framed under charges of crimes he hasn’t even committed. But the
determined man maintains his will power and mental strength emerging as a
social worker under the name of Singh Saab and fights Bhudev’s
intricate web of evil doings. The film retells how Singh Saab reforms
Bhudev and takes a unique revenge on the guy.
Sunny Deol in a still from Singh Saab The Great
Singh Saab The Great Review: Script Analysis
It isn’t a supremely brilliant script but something about the story
ensures it has his heart in the right place. The film traces the story
of Singh Saab, who was formerly the Collector of a small town in North
India. Somehow his life sees a drastic shift when the man is posted in
Bhadori. The topsy turvy change of events lands him in jail, which kicks
of the vigorous chain of events.
There is something about stereotypical Bollywood heroes, the notions
of which are constantly shifting contours these days. Earlier they used
to reek of idealism and were heavily moralistic. Interestingly, Singh Saab The Great
reprises the same flavor of righteousness in the film and gets preachy
without hitting the wrong note. It is the return of the desi hero on
screen after a good long time.
The villain is an overbearing evil spawn of a human being who
destroys Karanjit Talwar’s life with a seething brutality. The film
makes a comment of how the worst of evils can’t overshadow the kindness
and goodness in the world. The last movie which came closest to this
theme was Prakash Jha’s Satyagraha
which lost plot despite being well intentioned. Anil Sharma, however,
uses a more layman method to reach out a similar message to the public. Singh Saab The Great wasn’t a sermon as from time to time the director remembers to give its audiences judicious dozes of action and masala.
I specifically like Sunny Deol’s Messiah Avatar. Despite spending
years in the jail after being falsely framed, he turns to the good path
with the same strength and potency. Singh Saab‘s story is
largely simplistic which makes its an easy feed for every kind of
audiences thus widening its reach. The story uses very stereotypical
props which comprises of an idealistic collector and a slimy plotting
villain. However, after watching a series of films which subtly glorify
criminals this one is surely a respite.
There are heavy hindrances in the plotline too. Sunny Deol’s romantic
angle and chemistry with his wife is dull. What saves the simplistic
story is the execution which is powerful and emphatic.
Singh Saab The Great Review: Star Performances
Sunny Deol syncs himself in an all powerful and strong avatar. In the
role of an intense and upright man, Deol fits perfectly with his gentle
eyes that reflects goodness. I would take the cue to mention that the
film has awfully believable stunts. When Sunny Deol thrashes someone
with that intensity it sounds more plausible unlike a lanky looking hero
beating goons to pulp. He is solemn is his role which becomes one of
the film’s strongest highlight points.
Urvashi Rautela is a misfit. Failing to bring out the chemistry with
Sunny Deol, I did not feel very bad when her role was unceremoniously
cut short in the film.
Amrita Rao is good in parts. Though I did not like her in Satyagraha, I can safely say this film is an improvement to her last one in which she was absolutely wasted.
Prakash Raj delivers a lip smackingly delicious evil performance. One of his best work since Singham, even with fewer clap traps, he manages to make you detest him.
Johny Lever and Sanjay Mishra are utterly unused as clownish side kicks which could have easily been left out.
Singh Saab The Great Review: Direction, Editing and Screenplay
Anil Sharma’s direction doesn’t get overtly heavy handed as it
manages to leave by a good impact, though it is important to chide the
director for making us bear through the statutory romantic track that
acts as an initial catalyst in creating the skeletal framework of the
story. It is a given that you’ll have to sit through the exhaustive
chemistry of Urvashi and Sunny to deserve the combustible teaming of
Prakash Raj and Sunny Deol.
The film’s tacky camerawork and terrible music with songs called
‘Palang Tod’ can all be excused for its flavorsome nifty action scenes.
The film’s over familiar story with the family angle and social welfare
theme doesn’t quite wear you out due to its satisfactory ending. This
isn’t Anil Sharma’s best work but it is watchable.
Singh Saab The Great Review: The Last Word
Singh Saab The Great is far from an impeccable film. Rather
it is an exclusively loud film but in an era where Bollywood is becoming
unusually predictable, here is a story which shows a flair of rare
novelty. For Sunny Deol and Prakash Raj’s pummeling duels, I found the
film satiating for its potent message. It is way better than the ranks
of awfully mediocre masala film we are compelled to watch week after
week. Just because Anil Sharma has dared to try his hand at anything
remotely fresh I am going with a 3/5 for this one. A strict
not-to-missed for Sunny Deol fans who are sure to have an enjoyable
time.
