If I am asked to evaluate Prabhudeva's credentials as a director, I would say the box office outcomes of two of his last outings - Rowdy Rathore and Action Jackson has made him smart.One was an uproarious hit and the latter was excruciatingly disastrous. Singh is Bliing which marks the second collaboration of Akshay Kumar and Prabhudeva, has the right recipe for raking the moolah with smart placement of mindless humor, silly jokes, exotic locales, NRI heroine and of course the hero, playing a Sardar, with immense crowd-pull.
And he certainly knows how to maneuver Akshay in his comfortable space.Give him a hollow script and challenge him a bit.Your job is mostly done! So Singh is Bliing sees him playing Raftaar Singh, a slacker who spends all his time either dancing to the tunes of 'Tung Tung' or performing stunts or wrestling for fun.In a sequence involving a lion in the cage , Prabhudeva brings out the disarming goofiness of the good-natured simpleton,who has such extreme reverence for his Bauji(Yograj Singh) that whenever he appears, Raftaar squats. Fed up with his good-for-nothing son, he sends him off to Goa to work for his friend, Kripal(Pradeep Rawat)who runs a casino. The plot switches to Romania where we see two dons at loggerheads,Kunal Shashi Kapoor who has a beautiful daughter Sara(Amy Jackson) and Marc(Kay Kay).Marc has a roving eye for Sara and therefore her dad sends her to Goa, Kripal's den. Upon her arrival, Raftaar is asked to provide her 24X7 security but the problem arises when he learns that Sara doesn't know Hindi and Raftaar can neither understand nor speak English.He appoints a translator,Emily(Lara Dutta)to make the job easy but on the contrary, there ensues a comedy of errors with Raftaar's bumbling buddy duo(Arfi Lamba and Anil Mange) and some hilarious situations.
The first half of the film is breezy and Prabhudeva whips up the wafer-thin plot with 'Punjabi' tadka and generous dose of humor which include some wacky pieces of comedy and sexist jokes.However, they don't appear vulgar and are not meant to be.He employs a myriad stereotypes but presents the colorful vignettes of the hinterland which captures the various flavors and fervor of the Punjabis.We see Raftar's gang of 'balle-balle' friends appearing from nowhere and dancing in revelry whenever he gets down from train, a stern father who is soft from within , and a mother sharing warmth and eye-ticks with his son.The lush greeneries,wide-angle shots of the mustard fields of Punjab, the exquisite landscape of Goa and Romania play to the film's cinematic benefits.Its the amateurish writing that plagues the second half.This is further jeopardized by some unnecessary songs acting as speed bumps.Amy's search for her long- lost mom doesn't evoke any sentiments because it is so flimsy and I was shocked with disbelief when Akshay survives Kay Kay's bullet below his chest in the climax.No logic provided!
Prabhu has utilized the star cast prudently, concealing their limitations. Example,Amy who plays Akshay's love interest, is shown as a martial-art champ decimating the goons to pulp, much more proficiently than Akshay does.Lara Dutta's comic timing is exploited judiciously. The supporting cast comprising of Yograj Singh,Rati Agnihotri and Kunal Shashi Kapoor( seen after a hiatus) does a decent job who are relatively understated among the crowd of actors who perform over-the-top.Kay Kay Menon is completely miscast in the role of the mafioso, and it's a shame to watch the actor in such a cardboard caricature uttering the seemingly cool punchlines repeatedly ,"I am too good na" or "Easy is boring!". He certainly deserves better as per his acting prowess. Yet the film is not unwatchable because of the sheer energy that Akshay Kumar projects on the screen. His tomfoolery is infectious,his antics are endearing and he is the cool Punjab-da- puttar donning the turban and the vibrant costumes.
It's agreeably a film with very low IQ, but strong EQ. Definitely , not boring.
