| Singh Is Kinng | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Anees Bazmee |
| Produced by | Vipul Amrutlal Shah |
| Screenplay by | Anees Bazmee Suresh Nair |
| Story by | Anees Bazmee |
| Starring | Akshay Kumar Katrina Kaif Ranvir Shorey Neha Dhupia Javed Jaffrey Sonu Sood |
| Music by | Pritam |
| Cinematography | Sanjay F. Gupta Ben Nott |
| Distributed by | Viacom 18 Motion Pictures Reliance Big Pictures Blockbuster Movie Entertainers |
| Release date(s) | 8 August 2008 |
| Running time | 2:16:08 |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi Punjabi |
| Budget | 50 crore (US$9.5 million)[1] |
| Box office | 124.89 crore (US$23.73 million)[2] |
Singh is Kinng (Hindi: सिंह इज़ किंग, Punjabi: ਸਿੰਘ ਇਜ਼ ਕਿੰਗ) is a 2008 Bollywood comedy film. The film is directed by Anees Bazmee and stars Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif, the film also featured a music video with Snoop Dogg. 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 8 August 2008.[3] Akshay Kumar has been nominated for Best Actor at the 3rd Asian Film Awards for his performance in the film.[4]
The spelling of the word "king" in the film's title with an additional letter "n" was based on advice provided by a numerologist,[5] a practice which has become routine in Bollywood.[6]
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Lakhan Singh (Sonu Sood), also called "Lucky," is the "kinng" of the Australian underworld, and is the first "Singh Is Kinng" of the film's title. He is accompanied by his associates, Julie (Neha Dhupia), Mika (Jaaved Jaffrey), Pankaj Udaas (Yashpal Sharma), Raftaar (Sudhanshu Pandey) and Dilbaugh Singh (Manoj Pahwa). In a small village in Punjab, the birthplace of Lucky, lives a criminal more notorious than Lucky himself—Happy Singh (Akshay Kumar). Happy has caused many problems and disastrous situations in the village, and the villagers are fed up with him. They decide to send Happy on a long trip to Australia with his friend Rangeela (Om Puri) to bring Lucky back to Punjab, which will keep Happy out of the village for some time and bring peace to the village.
But at the airport, Happy's and Rangeela's tickets to Australia are accidentally exchanged with that of a man named Puneet (Ranvir Shorey) who was hoping to use to fly to Egypt. In Egypt, Happy helps Sonia (Katrina Kaif) and falls deeply in love with her. But he does not express his love to her. Leaving her behind, he heads to Australia to meet Lucky. Lucky refuses to return to his hometown and throws Happy and Rangeela out of the house. Penniless, Happy finds warmth and affection in an elderly lady (Kirron Kher) who provides him with food in spite of being a stranger.
Lucky winds up in hospital, paralyzed, after a series of violent incidents that Happy causes. (In one of these incidents, his head is bumped severely, and the trauma from the resultant concussion is what paralyzes him.) Happy unexpectedly receives the title of Kinng—thereby becoming the other "Singh Is Kinng" of the film's title. Alas, Happy is not proud of his rank and is kind-hearted. The lady who helped Happy is really worried and depressed as her daughter is returning from Egypt with her wealthy boyfriend, Puneet. The daughter does not know that after the death of her father years ago, her mother became poverty-stricken and was reduced to work as a flower seller. Happy gives the flower-seller his spacious house and makes all his mafia associates work under her.
The lady's daughter arrives—and to Happy's horror, she is none other than Sonia. Happy, heart-broken, is forced to make a show of happiness to Sonia. Puneet says that he too would have had a good time with Happy and Sonia in Egypt had his ticket to Egypt not been exchanged in the airport, because of which he had ended up in Australia. Puneet had always been jealous of Sonia being with Happy. However, he doubts anything is going on between them. He and Sonia squabble about this topic; it is Happy who handles it.
In spite of herself, Sonia falls in love with Happy—and the truth becomes difficult to hide. Sonia becomes aware of her poverty. Puneet sets his heart to marry Sonia. Sonia gets trapped in an emotional tug-of-war between Puneet, who loves her, and Happy, whom she loves.
Puneet meets Mika, who is also the brother of the Kinng, and who agrees to kill Happy. Puneet's motives to kill Happy, however, differ from Mika's: Puneet wants to kill Happy to keep Sonia away from him, whereas Mika wants to kill Happy to make himself Kinng.
The wedding day dawns and there is firing (all because Julie drops some guns). Puneet hides while the pandit chants the mantras, his head totally covered by a pot, amidst gunfire all around, while Happy and Sonia are running together around the fire seven times. (During all this, Lucky's head is bumped, and the trauma-induced paralysis he had suffered from is relieved.) Happy and Sonia eventually get married. Suddenly, Mika turns up on the spot, ready to kill Happy, armed with a gang and his new special glasses and hearing aid. As he is about to shoot, Lucky steps up and stops him. Then a dialogue ensues between Mika, Happy, Lucky and the associates of the kinng (sic). Then Happy tells him that being the "king" is no great thing. Lucky confesses that he always found sadness being Kinng, because a true king does not fight for himself, but for others. Overcome with remorse, Mika drops his revolver. The movie ends happily, with Happy and Sonia's marriage.
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 8 June 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 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".[7]
| Singh is Kinng | |||||
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| Soundtrack album by Pritam | |||||
| Released | 8 June 2008 | ||||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | ||||
| Length | 51:94 | ||||
| Label |
Junglee Music
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| Producer | Vipul Shah | ||||
| Pritam chronology | |||||
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| RDB chronology | |||||
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The tracks from the film include:
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 18 June 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."[8]
But 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 if it wanted to see the film or not.[9]
On 1 August 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.[9] The main objection raised was that the film promos showed Akshay Kumar's character sporting a trimmed beard, which Sikhs found offensive as they believe that a Sikh should not trim his beard. 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, with which the filmmakers complied. As a result of the discussion, DSGMC gave a "clean chit" to the movie on 7 August 2008.[9]
The movie was well received as of early September 2008, with most theatres outside India reporting 95%–100% attendance. 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.Rediff gave it a 3.5/5. The film was showcased at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival.
Singh Is Kinng opened to a 95–100% occupancy in India and grossed Rs. 29 crore in its first weekend, breaking the previous record of Rs. 22 crore 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 netted INR 68.48 crore in India, and is currently the 16th highest-grossing film according to net collections. It did record breaking business in Delhi, Rajasthan and East Punjab whereas the rest of India it did 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 North America, it grossed $1.1 million USD in the first weekend. In the UK, it grossed approximately $1 million USD.
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