Singham (2011)

The Hindi remake of the highly successful Tamil movie Singam starring Surya. There are some nativity changes that are obvious. Some portions have been modified while some have been retained. The punch of the original movie is there, importantly.

The plot as we know is a police officer, Bajirao Singham taking on a big goon, Jaikant Shikre singlehandedly. Goa is the scene of action while the initial portions are in Shivgad, a small village.

Ajay Devgn outshines Suriya thanks to his superior physicality and apt body language. His punch dialogs resonate. Prakash Raj is another solid highlight with his intensity. He is much better suited to this role than he was in the Tamil version. Such a versatile artist adept at any language. Kajal is also very pleasing and cute and is better than Anushka. Her decent clothes are classy.

The climax looks pretty lopsided after a solid first 2 hours. Thanks to a sermon, the entire police force reforms at the drop of a hat and they all decide to put an end to Shikre's hold once and for all.

There are some funny scenes involving Sachin Khedekar as 'Gotya'. The 2 sub-inspectors Abbas and Phadnis at the Goa station are fit and look the part. Head constable Savalkar keeps chipping in with his wisecracks and he also gives one nice poignant sermon on the police force.

There is also a subplot of a wife trying to prove the innocence of her husband, officer Kadam who commits suicide after being falsely accused of being corrupt. He tries in vain to bring down Shikre. Kadam's name is cleared in the end along with the death of Shikre.

The action scenes are as good as the original. They are over-the-top and imaginative. There are just 3 songs, each a winner. The title song is a scream. It comes at apt places in the movie to add the necessary heroism.

VERDICT: If only the final resolution had been better, this one would have been a solid police story. Nevertheless, a good one. 

Agneepath movie review

A remake of the 1990s movie of the same name. The treatment is also outdated. The only pluses are Hrithik Roshan's incredible looks and screen presence, Ajay-Atul's songs and the rich production design and sets.

It's a typical revenge saga and a blood bath. Vijay has to avenge the death of his father Master Deenanath Chauhan who is killed brutally by Kancha in front of the entire village (Mandwa) because Kancha's ways are opposed by the Master.

After 15 yrs Vijay completes his life's mission of revenge and joins his father in the afterlife. There is a love track, lots of blood, songs, an honest policeman, a corrupt politician, mother/sister sentiment and another gangster in the form of Rauf Lala who opposes Kancha. Stale remake.

Review

• The success of this movie proves that Bollywood is mostly just about a big hero, lots of hype, an item number and very little stuff. Sad state of affairs. Our audience is still welcoming such stale affairs purely believing the hype. Ra.One and now Agneepath, didn't deserve big success. 
• Sanjay Dutt looks seriously scary and overacts at times. Rishi Kapoor is a surprise casting in a negative role. Priyanka Chopra stands beside her man and looks pretty. She emotes well in one dragging scene prior to her marriage and death. Katrina Kaif dances as if she is possessed by a dancing spirit. Chikni Chameli rocks purely as a music video. The sister looks pretty and has some sister sentiment scenes with the Greek God. Om Puri is earnest as always. 
• Too much religious flavor in the songs. The music of the movie is a major plus though. 

VERDICT

Outdated revenge saga and a bloodbath at that. A movie that didn't deserve success. Our audience has been cheated by marketing hype once again. Sad!!!