Singh Saab The Great Movie Review by FilmsOfIndia

Film Review: Sunny gives a power-packed performance in Singh Saab The Great

Sunny Deol and director Anil Sharma have been a winning combination for three films so far- Gadar, The Hero: Love Story of a Spy and Apne. This time they’re back with a bang with Singh Saab The Great (SSTG) where Sunny reprises the role of an honest and upright Collector Saranjit Singh Talwar and his attempts to bring about a change in society. The motto of the movie is “Badla Nahin, Badlav” and the story is about a simple man, who has immense pride in his honesty, finds joy in little day to day things, is driven by love for his family and believes in always doing what is morally correct. This however leads to clashes with the unsavory Bhoodev Singh (Prakash Raj), ultimately leading to the point where Saranjit is unfairly accused of bribery. Saranjit decides to fight this injustice and also corruption at large but not by taking revenge but by trying to bring about a change in society at large because he believes greatness is in forgiveness and not revenge.

Sing Saab The Great is choc-a-block with action, drama, humour, romance, emotions that manages to strike a chord with the audience. Its strength lies in the fact that it not only relates to today’s corrupt times but shows a way out. It gives a very apt message of Change not Revenge. SSTG has some gripping and thunderous dialogues which should in the coming days, become a trend with the audience . There’s that killer punchline: “Lekin tum sab ke liye toh mera haath hi kaafi hai.” And of course “Sardar jab dushman ko pakad leta hai na, toh uski hadiyaan thadthadaane lagti hain…thad… thad… thad..” Now the baddies are gonna be toast and you will rejoice and cheer for the protagonist Saranjit.

Sunny Deol gives yet another power-packed performance, leaving you speechless with the range of emotions he showcases just with his eyes. SSTG is wholly and solely his as he makes the character his own with poignant sincerity. There never is and never will be another action star like him, when he clobbers the baddies, it is real, it is believable. Newbie Urvashi Rautela is a refreshing change and shows promise. Amrita Rao gives a credible performance. Prakash Raj has honed the talent of portraying evil. Anjali Abrol and the rest of the cast turn in a good show.

Director Anil Sharma is a master in the genre of action and drama and this time too succeeds in entertaining the audience. Music by Anand Raj Anand and Sonu Nigam weaves itself into the plot, lending itself to the storyline. Action by Tinnu Verma and Kanal Kannan is stupendous and high-adrenalin, fitting in very well with the narrative.

With Singh Saab The Great we are once again treated to the fabulous pairing of Sunny Deol and Anil Sharma. The duo has given us super hits before and the 4 star Singh Saab The Great seems to be another winner on their hands.

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8 Comments
  1. Author
    narad_muni 10 years ago

    Sunny Paa ji rocks – time to see the real Action star

  2. Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

    For a moment I thought I landed up on the old forum 😛 (the way title is written)

  3. Saurabh 10 years ago

    Tad tad tad tad dialogue made my day. Cheesy as hell. But that’s the point.

  4. sputnik 10 years ago

    Please post all reviews for Singh Saab The Great in this post.

  5. yakuza 10 years ago
  6. Prem 10 years ago

    There’s a spate of desi entertainers of late. All starring top league actors and helmed by reputable names. Now Anil Sharma, whose body of work consists of desi entertainers like HUKUMAT, ELAAN-E-JUNG, FARISHTAY, TEHELKA, GADAR – EK PREM KATHA, APNE and VEER, helms yet another big ticket film with a desi angle to it — SINGH SAAB THE GREAT.

    When Anil Sharma joins hands with Sunny Deol — the jodi has delivered one of the biggest hits of Hindi cinema in GADAR – EK PREM KATHA — one expects the duo to recreate the epic success in their new outing. Clapworthy dialogue, fiery confrontations, hi-octane drama and of course, Sunny’s dhaai kilo ka haath to vanquish the oppressors… the mandatory requirements have to be in place. And SINGH SAAB THE GREAT has it all in trademark Anil Sharma style.

    SINGH SAAB THE GREAT narrates the story of Singh Saab [Sunny Deol], an honest Collector, who believes in carrying out his duties diligently. However, the crooked and shady Bhoodev [Prakash Raj] falsely implicates him in a case of bribery and gets him imprisoned. Even though Singh Saab is seething with anger, he decides to settle scores with Bhoodev differently, by bringing about change instead of revenge [badla nahin badlaav]. The ground is set for a confrontation between the honest and corrupt forces…

    With not much to look to forward to in the storyline, the challenge lies in making the screenplay captivating and spellbinding and Anil Sharma and writer Shaktimaan attempt to package the film with ingredients that connect instantly with the masses. The character portrayed by Sunny is like any other character we may have witnessed in several films, but when Sunny roars, bashes the villain black and blue or pulls a tree with its roots, it appears bona fide. The larger than life character suits him and Anil Sharma and Shaktimaan make sure they capitalize on this actuality.

    Anil Sharma’s movies, generally, have an undercurrent of emotions. In fact, his biggest victories have stressed on emotions [his directorial debut SHRADDHANJALI, GADAR and APNE in particular] and SINGH SAAB THE GREAT too maintains an iron grip on emotions and sentiments. Like GADAR, the emotional chord is between the couple [Sunny-Urvashi Rautela] and also between the brother-sister [Sunny-Anjali Abrol] this time. But what weighs the film down is the conflict with the antagonist. It’s predictable and one feels that the issue of an honest citizen waging a war against the corrupt has been done to death. Sure, a few confrontations are fiery, especially the one when Sunny and Prakash Raj meet for the first time or the one when Sunny throws Prakash Raj in the fire, but the sting operation and the fight to finish towards the climax tend to get monotonous. Besides, the intimate scenes between Sunny and Urvashi look odd after a point.

    SINGH SAAB THE GREAT overstays its welcome by a good 10/15 minutes. A crisp, concise edit would’ve only facilitated a solid punch. The soundtrack tilts heavily towards the Punjabi flavor, with the theme song staying on your lips. It’s full of vigour and vivacity. ‘Daaru Bandh Kal Se’ [which has surprise cameos by Dharmendra and Bobby Deol] is hummable and gels well in the context of things. Dialogue are sure to be loved by the strata of audience they are targeted at [the masses]. In fact, the single screen audience in particular will relish and applaud the jibes and retorts for certain.

    Sunny Deol looks most fitting for the part. Also, the certainty and conviction with which he interprets his character is worthy of note. In addition, like I stated earlier, he looks most apt for roles where he has to illustrate muscle power. The masses should go into raptures as he delivers dynamic dialogue in his distinctive trademark style. Enacting the role of a news reporter, Amrita Rao manages to leave a strong impact, despite the fact that the film belongs to Sunny. Urvashi Rautela looks photogenic and though she’s a first-timer, she seems confident in several sequences. Post WANTED and SINGHAM, Prakash Raj seems to be getting typecast in similar roles. Not his fault, but I wish to add that the gifted actor enacts his part with gusto and fervor. He matches Sunny at every step. Anjali Abrol does well.

    Johny Lever is as lively as ever. Rajit Kapoor, Sanjay Mishra, Yashpal Sharma and Manoj Pahwa don’t get much scope to put across their talent. Shahbaaz Khan appears in a cameo. The kid enacting the part of Sunny’s nephew is cute.

    On the whole, SINGH SAAB THE GREAT is atypical Sunny Deol film that a section of the audience still enjoys. The clapworthy dialogue, the raw appeal, the undercurrent of emotions and of course, the dhaai kilo ka haath should appeal to those who relish desi fares, especially the single screen audience.

    https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/moviemicro/criticreview/id/549451

  7. aryan 10 years ago

    Singh Saab The Great Movie Review by Komal Nahta

    PEN, Alumbra Entertainment And Media Pvt. Ltd. and Shantketan Entertainments’ Singh Saab The Great (UA) is yet another film about a righteous man’s fight against corruption. Saranjit Talwar (Sunny Deol) is a collector posted in a town where Bhoodev’s (Prakash Raj) word is almost law. Saranjit is offered bribes by Bhoodev but since he is a principled collector, he does not accept them and, therefore, stops all illegal businesses of Bhoodev.

    Saranjit’s sister, Simar (newfind Anjali Abrol), is to be married, and to teach Saranjit a lesson, Bhoodev asks Simar’s to-be father-in-law to mix poison in the food his daughter-in-law would con­sume on the day of the wedding. The father-in-law is distraught but even before the new bride can be poisoned to death, the poison is mixed by Bhoodev’s man in the drink offered to Saranjit’s wife, Minni (Urvashi Rautela), at the wedding. She is rushed to hospital and an emergency operation is to be performed on her but Bhoodev has the surgeon’s son kidnapped so that he can’t come to the hospital for the surgery. Bhoodev forces Saranjit to sign on some papers to further his interest and only after Saranjit has done so, against his principles, does the surgeon arrive. Unfortunately, it is too late by then, and Minni dies in the hospital.

    Still not content, Bhoodev gets Saranjit jailed but he is released from prison before serving his full term, due to his good behaviour.

    Rather than seeking revenge (badla), Saranjit adopts the path of bringing in change (badlaav). He soon becomes a public hero for heralding change and is respectfully referred to by the public as Singh Saab. Now with a turban and a full-grown beard, Saranjit comes to the same town and takes on Bhoodev with a view to reforming him. He exposes him on national television with the assistance of a TV reporter, Shikha Chaturvedi (Amrita Rao). Irked, Bhoodev now kidnaps Saranjit’s sister and little nephew. Not to be left behind, Saranjit kidnaps Bhoodev’s wife and daughter.

    It is now a fight to finish. Who wins the battle between good and evil?

    Shaktiman’s story is dated and although corruption is a perennial evil of society, it does not offer any new angle whatsoever. The point of change (badlaav) as against revenge (badla) is about the only novelty in the story but for some unexplained reason, the track of change takes a backseat mid-way through the drama and is brought back in the forefront only in the end. The film, therefore, becomes a routine revenge drama despite promising to be a unique fare. Shaktiman’s screenplay keeps reminding the viewers of Singham which turned out to be a landmark film on corruption in society. And since the screenplay is not half as good as that of Singham, the audience would feel let down because comparisons in their mind are unavoidable.

    The first half is terribly slow and boring. To add to the viewers’ woes, the hero, Sunny Deol, has not taken care of his looks and costumes before he sports a turban and beard. In some scenes, his unshaven look (with a suit) irritates the audience. The pace picks up after interval and the drama gains momentum. Although the second half also lacks in novelty, the action and confrontation scenes between Saranjit and Bhoodev keep the viewers interested to an extent.

    The upright Saranjit signing the papers under duress does not go down too well with the audience, more so because he is unable to save his wife’s life after compromising on his principles. In other words, his bending his principles may still have been digested if that could save his wife from the jaws of death, but when she dies, the compromise looks ridiculous. Besides, the entire drama looks oft-repeated. Also, Saranjit, Bhoodev and some of their cronies shout so much in the film that their confrontation scenes – which, incidentally, are the best thing in the film – will quite put off the multiplex audience. Even otherwise, the overdose of violence makes the film more for the masses and the single-screen cinema audience. There is hardly anything in it for the multiplex audience. Emotions are conspicuous by their absence. Shaktiman’s dialogues are better than his routine story and ordinary screenplay.

    Sunny Deol breathes fire in action scenes and acts ably in the other scenes. But he now needs to be extra-careful of his looks and clothes. Debutante Urvashi Rautela looks good and does a fair job. Her dances are graceful. Prakash Raj is extraordinary as Bhoodev. His acting is exemplary and his sense of timing, perfect. Amrita Rao leaves a mark. Anjali Abrol makes an impressive debut as Simar. Johny Lever, Sanjay Mishra, Yashpal Sharma, Manoj Pahwa, Raj Premi and Amit Behl get limited scopes and are okay. Aseem Merchant makes his presence felt. Newfind Simran Khan adds oomph with her sexy dance in the item song. Shahbaaz Khan and Rajit Kapur, both in special appearances, are effective. Dharmendra and Bobby Deol’s brief appearances in a song-dance are good gimmicks.

    Director Anil Sharma has ensured that the masses get their dose of action and to that extent, his direction is effective. But his choice of subject and lack of novelty in it and his over-emphasis on violence will keep the multiplex audience completely dissatisfied. Music (Anand Raaj Anand; title song composed by Sonu Nigam) is more functional than anything else. Sameer and Kumaar’s lyrics don’t add much to the songs. Rekha and Chinni Prakash’s choreography is okay. Monty Sharma’s background music is fair. Tinnu Verma and Kanal Kannan’s action and stunt scenes are targeted at the masses who will enjoy them thoroughly. S. Gopinath’s camerawork is fairly good. Jayant Deshmukh’s sets are okay. Editing (Ashfaque Makrani) is reasonably good after interval.

    On the whole, Singh Saab The Great is a routine action and revenge drama for the masses only and has some chance in the single-screen cinemas, more of Northern India. Its business in the multiplexes will be weak. In the final tally, it will entail losses to several of its distributors.

    https://komalsreviews.wordpress.com/2013/11/22/singh-saab-the-great/

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