Singh Is Kinng

Infobox_Film
name = Singh Is Kinng


starring = Akshay Kumar
Katrina Kaif
Ranvir Shorey
Neha Dhupia
Javed Jaffrey
Sonu Sood
producer = Vipul Amrutlal Shah
director = Anees Bazmee
music = Pritam
Line Producer = [(Instinct India)]
distributor = Adlabs
Blockbuster Movie Entertainment
released = August 8, 2008
language = Hindi
country = flagicon|India India
budget = Rs.50 crores
gross revenue = Rs.62 crores
imdb_id = 1146325 | website = http://singhiskinng.com

"Singh Is Kinng"sic (Hindi: सिंह इज़ किंग, Urdu: سنگھ از کنگ, Punjabi: ਸਿੰਘ ਇਜ਼ ਕਿੰਗ) is a Hindi film starring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif in lead roles. About 75% of the movie was shot in Australia, around the Gold Coast region and Brisbane using an Australian production team (Instinct India). The film was released on August 8, 2008. [cite web |url=http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movies/cast/13720/index.html |title=Singh Is Kinng |accessdate=2008-08-30 |work=Bollywood Hungama]

The spelling of the word "king" in the film's title with an additional letter "n" was based on advice provided by a numerologist, [cite news |title=Akshay reveals curious tale of how Singh became 'kinng' |url=http://www.thetimes.co.za/PrintEdition/News/Article.aspx?id=796406 |work=The Times |location=Johannesburg |date=2008-07-06 |accessdate=2008-08-30] a practice which has become routine in Bollywood. [cite news |first=Nikhil |last=Agarwal |title=Bollywood plays the numbers game |url=http://www.thetimes.co.za/PrintEdition/News/Article.aspx?id=823301 |work=The Times |location=Johannesburg |date=2008-08-17 |accessdate=2008-08-30]

Synopsis

Lakhan "Lucky" Singh (Sonu Sood) is the "king" of the Australian underworld, a position which he reaches after being jailed for a crime he didn't commit. Someone hides drugs in Lucky Singh's bag, and as soon as he reaches Australia, he is caught and jailed. He takes his revenge after completing the jail term by killing those involved, and eventually he becomes the king, accompanied by his associates (played by Javed Jaffrey, Neha Dhupia, Sudhanshu Pandey, Manoj Pawa and Yashpal Sharma). Back in India, Happy Singh (Akshay Kumar) promises to bring Lakhan Singh back to his village. However, his boarding pass gets mixed up with someone else's and he ends up in Egypt, where he meets Sonia (Katrina Kaif) whom he falls in love with. After he reaches Australia, a series of comic misadventures leaves Happy without any money. He finds Lucky's house, but Lucky tells him that he cannot come back to India leaving his business and throws him out. Happy is fortunate to find warmth and affection in a elderly lady (Kirron Kher) whom Happy treats like his mother. In a strange turn of events, Lucky is saved from a life-threatening attack when Happy risks his own life, but Lucky is paralyzed and Happy becomes the new "king".When he becomes the king he tries to help Lucky's Gang turn good.

The elderly lady comes back to Happy saying that her daughter is coming back to Australia. However, her daughter does not know that, after the death of her father some time back, her mother had lost everything that they had, and is now a poor lady surviving by selling flowers. Happy gives her a home and finds out that her daughter is Sonia and that she is engaged to Puneet (Ranvir Shorey). Puneet finds out that Happy is the king of the underworld and tells Sonia, who is disappointed by this because of her hatred for criminals. Puneet hires Mika Singh (Javed Jaffrey), Lucky's brother, who is hungry to become the "king" (the only thing stopping him is his partial blindness and deafness) to kill Happy. Mika tells one of his men to kill the paralyzed Lucky, while he will kill Happy at Puneet's and Sonia's wedding after he recives his specially ordered hearing and eyesight aid. When the hitman attemts to kill Lucky, Lucky snaps out of paralysis. At the wedding, when Mika's men attack, the cowering Puneet runs away and leaves Sonia alone. Mika's men try to grab her but Happy protects her and fights them and at the end, the priest unknowingly declares Happy and Sonia married. Happy tries to ask for forgiveness for this mistake and Sonia accepts him as her husband. while they are leaving Mika encounters them, now with his aid. Lucky then comes and shocks them all. Happy tells Mika that being the "king" is no great thing. Lucky always found sadness being the king, because a true king doesn't fight for himself but for others. He also says that there is only one true king, who is God. Mika then cries and hugs his brother. A scene during the closing credits shows that Happy brings Lucky back to India.

The film's plot has been compared to that of Frank Capra's films "Lady for a Day" (1934) and "Pocketful of Miracles" (1961), as well as Jackie Chan's "Miracles" (1989), [cite news |first=Joe |last=Leydon |title=Singh Is Kinng |url=http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117937971.html?categoryid=31&cs=1 |work=Variety |date=2008-08-13 |accessdate=2008-08-30 ] each of which also portrays a gangster who helps a poor woman pose as wealthy to impress her daughter and her daughter's fiance.

Cast

* Akshay Kumar as Happy Singh
* Katrina Kaif as Sonia
* Om Puri as Rangeela
* Kiron Kher as Rose Lady (Sonia's mum)
* Sonu Sood as Lucky Singh
* Ranvir Shorey as Puneet
* Javed Jaffrey as Mika Singh & Puneet's Father
* Neha Dhupia as Julie
* Yashpal Sharma (actor) as Pankaj Udaas
* Manoj Pahwa as Dilbah Singh
* Kamal Chopra as Guruji
* Eli Bernstein as Disco Dancer
* Peter Coates as the pilot
* James Foster as another pilot
* Amelia Shokar as a baby
* Reasat Selim as Vijay Singh
* Sudhanshu Pandey as Raftaar [ [http://singhiskinng.com/main-final.htm.html Official website] ]

Music

The music was composed by Pritam. The song "Singh Is Kinng" was composed by the British bhangra band RDB. The soundtrack was launched officially at the IIFA Awards in Bangkok on June 8, 2008, where Akshay Kumar and RDB performed two songs from the soundtrack.

The film's music received particular attention in the United States due to the involvement of rapper Snoop Dogg, who has a cameo in the film performing the title song. Snoop Dogg's performance has been described as "the first time that a mainstream American artist has performed on a Bollywood soundtrack". [cite news |first=Byron |last=Perry |title=Snoop Dogg's Bollywood cameo |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117989950.html?categoryid=1019&cs=1&nid=2562 |work=Variety |date=2008-08-01 |accessdate=2008-08-30]

The tracks from the film include:

Crew

*Directed by Anees Bazmee
*Produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah
*Distributed by Adlabs
*Music by Pritam and RDB
*Stunts by Allan Amin

Reaction from the Sikh community

Before the movie was released, it was reported that the Sikh community in Khar, Mumbai was very pleased with the portrayal of the Sikhs in the film. Vipul Shah, the producer of the film, was felicitated at the Khar Gurdwara on June 18 2008. He said, "Our intention was to portray the community in the right way and I am glad that we have managed to achieve it." [cite news |author=BollywoodHungamaNewsNetwork |title=Sikhs give thumbs up to Singh is Kinng |url=http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Sikhs-give-thumbs-up-to-iSingh-is-Kinng-i/324359/ |work=Expressindia |date=2008-06-18 |accessdate=2008-08-30]

However, some members of the Sikh community had expressed their displeasure over the portrayal of Sikhs in the movie. The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) announced that it was up to the audience to decide whether they want to watch the film or not.cite news |title='Singh is Kinng' gets clean chit from Delhi Gurdwara panel |url=http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20080807/914/ten-singh-is-kinng-gets-clean-chit-from.html |work=Yahoo! India News |date=2008-08-07 |accessdate=2008-08-30]

On August 1 2008, the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) sought a ban on the movie, saying that it 'ridiculed' the Sikh community. It wrote a letter to Sheila Dikshit, the chief minister of Delhi, asking her to ban the movie. The main objection raised was that the film promos showed Akshay Kumar's character sporting a trimmed beard, which some orthodox Sikhs found offensive. Akshay Kumar and Vipul Shah had a 50-minute discussion with the DSGMC authorities, in which they explained the positive message behind the film. The DSGMC members requested twelve changes, which the filmmakers complied with. Akshay Kumar also said that the film was aimed at portraying "how strong and brave Sikh community is." As a result of the discussion, DSGMC gave a clean chit to the movie on August 7 2008.

However, on the same day (August 7), the Sikh organization Damdami Taksal asked all sikhs to protest against the movie. The first showing of the movie in NM Cinema Hall of Amritsar on August 8, 2008 was disrupted by some Sikh protesters, who vandalized the hall and damaged property. [cite news |title=Singh is Kinng screening disrupted in Amritsar |url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Media__Entertainment_/Entertainment/Singh_is_King_screening_disrupted_in_Amritsar/rssarticleshow/3341830.cms |work=The Economic Times |date=2008-08-08 |accessdate=2008-08-30]

Review

The movie has been well received until now with most theatres outside India reporting 95%-100% attendance. Reviews have also been very favorable. Taran Adarsh, of indiafm.com stated, "SINGH IS KINNG lives up to the hype and hoopla. Want a joyride without taxing your brains? Board the SINGH IS KINNG wagon. At the box-office, the film will fetch a hurricane-like start. The paid previews, the opening weekend, the first week business, everything will be record-shattering. Notwithstanding the new oppositions in the weeks to come, SINGH IS KINNG will rule the hearts of the aam junta [whose verdict matters the most] as also the box-office, proving a record holder in the final tally." NDTV India gave the movie 2.5/5 stars. Hindustan Times gave the film a 2/5 stars. The film turned out to be such a great success that it was showcased at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival.

Box office

"Singh Is Kinng" had a record opening in India. It opened to 95-100% occupancy. Its weekend net gross was Rs. 29 crores breaking the previous record of Rs. 22 crores set by "Om Shanti Om". "Singh Is Kinng" went on to gross Rs. 43.77 crores in the first week in India alone. This broke the record for the highest opening week gross also previously held by "Om Shanti Om", which grossed Rs. 41 crores in first week in 2007. "Singh Is Kinng" has grossed over Rs. 73 crores in India as of 7th September. It's doing record breaking business in Delhi, Rajasthan and East Punjab whereas the rest of India is doing good business.

Worldwide, "Singh Is Kinng" had excellent opening. It shattered records in Pakistan. It has grossed over 2 crores in Pakistan in two weeks, which is a record for any Indian film. In the United States, it grossed $1.1 million USD in the first weekend. In the UK, it grossed approximately $1 million USD. "Singh Is Kinng" has been declared a blockbuster worldwide and a super hit in India.

References

External links

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