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Desi-Box was invited to the critics screening at the Leicester Empire Square for the viewing of Reliance's Singham. Here's what we thought.

Despite the uber success of the Golamaal series Rohit Shetty decided to sway away from comedy and decided to remake the Tamil film Singham. And for those of you who have seen the Tamil version [starred Suriya] will agree with me that it was a blockbuster for a reason. Unfortunately I can’t say the same about this one.

Like Wanted and Dabangg, Singham is also similar to a 1980’s masala entertainer; the film stars Ajay Devgan, Kajal Aggarwal and Prakash Raj in lead roles. Singham is the story of an honest police officer Bajirao Singham [Ajay Devgn] and his battle against a tarnished and corrupted character, a business man-turned-politician Jaykant Shikre [Prakash Raj]. Bajirao Singham is a righteous cop of Shivgad a small village on the Maharastra-Goa border, he is adored and respected by the locals because of his idealistic and upright thoughts and on the flip side Jaykant Shikre who is a foul-mouth and uncouth businessman living in Goa.

Despite being a business man he earns his living from kidnappings. However the police and ministers turn a blind eye to his brutal behaviour due to fear and his connections. The story moves further when Singham and the scandalous business man turned politician Jaykant Shikre come face to face. Jaykant defy’s Singham’s every move in every which way.

The screen-play [Yunus Sajawal] is fast-paced and the scenes; the masses will most appreciate are the one's whereby both Singham and Jaykant have there war of words. The first half of the film predominately gears the audiences and establishes the characters of the film and the general setting. For those of you who like the romance side of the films, some charming scenes are created between Kavya [Kajal Agarwal who enacts the role of Singhams girlfriend] and Singham.

The dialogues [Farhad-Sajid] in the film were excellent, just what you need for a masala entertainer, and it drew applauses from many of the critics sitting through the film. Naturally being a Rohit Shetty film we as audiences would expect some comedy in the film and I can assure you, there most definitely is. Bar some of the mind-boggling and funny dialogues you will giggle almost in disgust at some far-fetched action scenes. One particular action scene that is definitely worth a mention is when Singham jumps and hits a crook on his forehead with his palm. The guy spins in the
air; falls on the ground face first, bounces back up spinning in the air, and again falls on his back. With scenes like these, Singham is so bad that it's almost is too good to be true.

Ajay Devgn suited the role of this idealistic cop, not that he hasn’t done it before [Gangajaal]. As an actor he justified the character very well, his performances including the romantic scenes with Kajal Aggarwal were all measured. His beefed up look in the film advocated the lion in him; if you are a die-hard Ajay Devgn fan – this film is for you. Prakash Raj who plays the baddie was exceptional, not only is it a very well written character but it epitomizes the clichéd villain in a masala hindi movie which is what the masses desire to see. Kajal Aggarwal who plays Ajay Devgn’s love interest gives a good performance and stood high amidst other talented actors in the film. Sachin Khedekar is delightful to watch especially his comic scenes. Sonali Kulkarni one of the most under-rated actresses we have plays the wife of Rakesh Kadaam [Sudhanshu Pandey] gives a calm and composed performance.

There were three songs in the film, Singham being the title track, Maula Maula and Saathiya. All three were picturised well and worth listening too.

Lastly the last few climax scenes were amusing however some what predictable.

Final Verdict : 2/5

Despite being entertaining in some portions and some marvellous performances, as a whole this film was just not up to the mark. The film will do well at the box office as it will appeal to the masses and Ajay Devgn fans. For those who want to see something exceptional – this just didn’t do it for me.

By Supriya Davda