Sinngh Is Revoltinng
iView Author: Suprateek Chatterjee (Mumbai, India)
Email: supchats [at] gmail [dot] com
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Sinngh Is Revoltinng: Why Sinngh is King is the embodiment of everything that is currently wrong with Bollywood
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Content:
It was like eating dinner at a roadside stall after having lunch at a respectably expensive restaurant. Sometime last week, in a period of less than 12 hours, I saw “Rock On”, followed by an excruciating bus ride from Pune to Mumbai during which I was subjected to “Sinngh is King” (My apologies to the producers if I have, err, got the spelling wrong).
First and foremost, “Rock On” is by no means a masterpiece, despite what several crazed teenyboppers might proclaim on cyberspace. It is highly watch-able, yes, and it is a landmark film by Bollywood standards, but does suffer from uneven performances by some, some stilted dialogue (which is jarring given that the rest of the writing is actually pretty good) and good ol’ fashioned predictability. However, it is a winsome, sincere effort, strikes a genuine chord, featuring some very nicely shot concert scenes, great music, high levels of energy throughout, and some surprisingly good performances namely from Farhan Akhtar and Shahana Goswami.
Right, then. Now that we’ve got THAT out of the way.
Hey Bhagwan.What else can one infer from the way India’s most boisterous, clean-hearted, jovial and sporting community is depicted in its films? Barring a few notable exceptions which come somewhat close to depicting them accurately (Jab We Met perhaps, Boman Irani’s Lucky Singh are the ones I can remember off the top of my head), our sardars are often turned into loud caricatures, almost always synonymous with dim-witted humour and must ALWAYS be accompanied by dhols playing in the background. Apparently sardars can break into the bhangra anywhere, anytime.
Theek hai, theek hai, you say. After all SIK is made purely in the name of puerile entertainment. My question is – at what point will Indian audiences actually reject a film then? Of course, one may argue that for every SIK there are several other lame-brain flicks which fail miserably at the box-office. I ask you then, why did this particular lame-brain film succeed? For it has succeeded, and how, with shows still going strong in many centers. It is easily the biggest hit of the year and quite likely to remain so. That’s something to ponder about.
The following are what I think are the factors that lead to movies like SIK being mega-hits. Some of these may be both positive as well as negative factors, depending on your perspective.
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1) The Akshay Kumar Factor
Yup, having the country’s hottest mega-star in your movie helps. Just ask Vipul Shah, Priyadarshan, Anees Bazmee and a host of others. Akshay Kumar, who has commendably garnered a commanding presence at the B.O. despite the Khans, is a star who is immensely liked by millions. AK has succeeded in the industry despite not having a godfather backing him up, despite not having any previous training well, despite not having worked with the traditional big banners and names, and hell, despite the fact that for the longest time, the guy couldn’t really act.
Akshay Kumar has matured into a fine comic actor of late however, and his dashing good looks and enviable physique aren’t negative points either. However, is the presence of a star enough? SIK, to be honest, worked for the most part, when the star delivered his lines with his trademark sincerity, timing, not to mention that endearing gummy grin. However, a few well-timed moments does not a good movie make. Another case in point is the torturous “Bhool Bhulaiyya”, an atrocious film Akshay single-handedly rescued at the Box Office. In fact most of his recent hits – Namastey London, Bhool Bhulaiyya, and Welcome - were cinematic equivalents of crap, had it not been for him.
Dammit, he made nearly half an hour of “Tashan” bearable.
2) The Hit Jodi Factor
Several of Akshay Kumar’s latest hits had another thing in common – the unfairly gorgeous Katrina Kaif. The Hit Jodi factor is as old as Bollywood itself – from Raj-Nargis, to Amitabh-Rekha, to Anil-Madhuri, to SRK-Kajol – and so on. The ‘it’ pair of today is Akshay-Katrina of course, with both having extensive fan followings and an enviable number of communities on Orkut dedicated to them. So we have the dedicated legions of drooling fans trooping to the theatres, doling out outrageous amounts of money at overpriced multiplexes, following every move of their idols on screen, lapping up anything and everything they say or do, and wearing or aspiring to wear anything they wear.
I wish I could say this was limited to teenagers, but sadly in India it isn’t. Indian audiences, for the large part, are still Star-struck. When a movie comes out, people don’t ask what it’s about or who the director is (unless it’s a Yash Chopra or Karan Johar movie), the first thing they ask is who’s in it. Unlike Hollywood, where promising but relatively unknown faces can headline the cast of a multimillion dollar blockbuster (Remember “Titanic”? Yes, those two were pretty obscure back then. Sounds ludicrous but its true), in India, people are most likely going to disapprove. Tomorrow, say, if Karan Johar makes a movie which has Vinay Pathak or Irrfan Khan in the lead role, it’s most likely that people will not be too thrilled – “Serious type movie lag rahi hai… thhodi boring lag rahi hai”.
As for Katrina in SIK, she does her job well. That is, looking like a million bucks. Acting? Forget it. Teaching her to speak Hindi properly is probably tougher than teaching a politician to reject a bribe.
3) The Lowbrow Humor Factor
You know, with films like “Khosla Ka Ghosla” and “Bheja Fry” releasing and doing well, for a while I actually thought there was hope. I hoped that more films like these would be made so that our audiences would actually start appreciating good quality, subtle and situational humor. And the relative success of the above films really made me believe that. Alas, I forgot that certain directors who I’d mentioned above in Factor 1 and a smart combination of Factors 1 and 2 can result in instant dumbing-down-ness.
In SIK, where Akshay Kumar plays Happy Singh, we have to contend with Ranvir Sheorey mouthing cringe-worthy lines such as – “Happy hi tumhe happy rakh sakta hai”. We’re expected to laugh at Sonu Sood’s frustrated voice-overs when he’s immobilized and wet ourselves when we actually see his blood boiling in a bag which explodes. We’re supposed to laugh ourselves silly when Akshay and Katrina inadvertently take saat pheras while Akshay shoots at the bad guys and holds onto Katrina’s hand, while the pandit keeps reciting the shloks. That was one ridiculous climax, although I’m sure at the very least Priyadarshan found it hilarious.
4) The “Rocking” Soundtrack Factor AKA The Pritam Factor
It’s almost like a recipe now. You have Akshay Kumar/Emraan Hashmi/a moderately talented or good looking ensemble cast in your movie. Your budget is in place. The script…err… well… you have a basic structure and a couple of DVDs of Hollywood movies. Good enough. Now all you need is a “rocking” soundtrack which will feature a couple of songs which will jam the airwaves for 2 months before and after your film’s release. The songs will be irritatingly catchy and many will be humming it during their sleep as well. Annoyingly enough, the promos will refer to those songs as ‘anthems’. What do you do? Why, call Pritam of course!
Pritam is, undoubtedly, a very talented music director. He’s an even better music producer. He has a great ear for sound, does some very interesting arrangements, and has a great source of Korean/Indonesian/Arabian music from where he rips off some of his tunes. Add a few electric guitars, some throbbing electronic beats, some nicely layered harmonies featuring pointless rapping, and a ‘whoa-whoa’ chorus - and BANG! – There you have it folks, the hit song of the year! At least, until the next film scored by Pritam comes up.
In SIK, Pritam does an adequate job in providing some generic bhangra and hip-hop tracks, also collaborating with Snoop Dogg in an utterly forgettable and pointless hip-hop track. As for background music (I’m not sure if Pritam did the B.G. score for this, but that’s not the point), when on earth will Bollywood realize that cramming every moment of the film with cheesy music does more harm than good? There were several comic scenes in the movie which would’ve worked infinitely better if the soundtrack had been silent. At least then the humour would’ve come out through the pauses, been a little more ambivalent, a little classier. However, when I’m listening to a robust and jovial sounding dhol and tumba in the background, I’m forced to swallow whatever’s being fed to me on the screen without chewing properly. I’m being told why this goddamn scene is funny.
To put it bluntly, the sad truth is that our film-makers still don’t know how to use background music effectively. They use it simply as another ingredient in that recipe they’re cooking up.
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Sigh. But perhaps this is all just empty rhetoric. SIK surely isn’t that bad either, compared to the kind of trash that is otherwise churned out. However, it is the level of success that it has found that prompts me to write this. I wouldn’t have minded so much if it had been a moderate hit with a section of the audience. But when quality films such as “Mumbai Meri Jaan”, “Manorama Six Feet Under”, “Sehar”, “Dharm” etc. find almost NO takers at the box office, and movies like SIK meet with such phenomenal success, there is a pressing need for radical changes in both the industry as well as the audience.
I’m not against entertaining cinema; all I ask is that entertainment shouldn’t be at the cost of taking the audience for granted. There should be a basic datum level of realism, characterization and plausibility at least that must be adhered to. Script-writing and writers deserve some more respect and justice. And the industry needs to take the lead, for I’m not the first person to be disillusioned. Nor shall I be the last.
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Movies, PROJEKT iVIEW, Review, Thoughts , akshay kumar, katrina kaif, Pritam
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The write up was good and hilarious.
Simple solution - dont watch such movies. Let others also decide what they want to do with their 100/150/200 bucks. Are you proposing that everyone should like a certain kind of movie / entertainment?
What does the extent of a film’s success or failure have anything to do with it?
Suprateek, me too one more victim of Sinng is King. I went into the movie just expecting entertainment. Yes i was just expecting entertainment, i certainly was not expecting Godfather here. But unfortunately it just failed to entertain me. And this when i liked Bhool Bhulaiyya and Koi Mil Gaya in recent times. But this was just a mess. I went in hoping to get a good laugh, but none of the jokes made me so. And no, i always watch any of the ole Govinda movies like Deewana Mastana, Dulhe Raja, whose humour is not exactly the sophisticated kind, every time they come on TV.
I think Akshay Kumar has become like what Amitabh Bachan did during the 80’s, making totally crap movies hit. But even AB discovered this had a limit with Ganga Jamuna Saraswati. Fortunately looking at Akshay’s forthcomming movies, he seems to be breaking away from the comic hero mould. As for Katrina, i can only say, some people are born lucky and she has all that luck.
Regarding portrayal of Sikhs on screen, i think its like the way Hollywood stereotypes Asians, either they are loud, boisterous and bhangra dancing types, or the Sunny Deol kind, violent, aggresive, always ready for a fight( Border, Gaddar, Jo Bole So Nihaal).
Also what has happened to Om Puri, he was so hammy in Kyon Ki and Babul, and it was sad to see him play such pathetic roles in movies like Buddha Mar Gaya and Mere Baap Pehle Aap. Even this year, when Naseer and Paresh Rawal have given superlative performances in Wednesday and MMJ, i am yet to see anything of note from him. Is he the same actor whom we once admired in Ardh Satya, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, Aakrosh, Mirch Masala, Tamas, Drohkaal?
THE most important factor according to me was HYPE. Yes. The hype surrounding SIK was tremendous. I do not know a single film in recent years which was declared a hit, months before it was even released !! I know that the factors mentioned by you were also important and helped in fact the hype.
You’ve really hit the nail on the head.Its everything I wanted to say about the recently released “commercial” films. Except for Mumbai Meri Jaan, Rock On and A Wednesday, bollywood has been churning out nothing but garbage in the recent fw months.
What i really find intriguing is WHY such movies go on to become such big blockbusters. Although i agree that the “hype” factor may be part of the reason, surely it isnt sufficient to turn a film into the biggest blockbuster of the year.
I mean, are india audience so dumb or mindfucked or that they enjoy only brainless entertainment?? Or are they so star-struck that the they will watch any shit that these guys come out with?? So far atleast, the answer seems to be YES…!!
Excellent article
It was one of the most pathetic movies. Even my companions - who are a lot more trash-tolerant (cinematically) than me - were irritated to the bones.
The story was all cock; I mean, when did this become writing? The blind hype created was the only reason for the business.
Good article man.Hope to get more from you.
re:raunak
Is it any mystery that masala films have the cake (and get to eat it too)…all you have to do is enter the mind of the masses…those millions of shopkeepers, clerks, businessmen, labourers, taxi/rickshaw/truck drivers, the idle rich, etc., etc…what is the usual content of their minds, what do they want? For one…education that develops the intellectual center of our brain has been a nothing to them, they have never reflected on the meaning or lack of meaning fo life and other uninteresting things…they do not know what literature is, hence critical appreciation is non-existent…so they can hardly know how to indulge in ‘refined’ choices’ about what is appealing and what is not…they follow first their impulses and lusts, then they follow the crowd…and the crowd lusts after, and has forever lusted after–glitter, glamour, crass humour and ’sexiness’…in fact, the senses are usually so powerful, that not even the most ‘refined’ person can remain aloof…his primary attention will fly to objects of sex, glitter, glamour and intoxicating substances…only after that will he reflect on other things.
Now the unthinking masses, who live from day to day and their experience is extremely mundane, down to earth, boring and uninspiring without dreams…desire nothing more than to escape this terrible kind of material existence…so any kind of quick intoxication provides a release for a short while, and here is where the numerous pedlars of ‘quick-fix’ entertainment (and other products) strike gold…it is so easy to fool the masses everytime! “What they want is what we give; and what we give is what they want.” The formula of sex, glamour, crass humour and sadak-chhaap music never fails because it has been forever indulged in by the masses and is part of their blood, which by the way, runs but thinks not.
The gap between the high-brows, the middle-brows and the low-brows will never decrease.
The intellectuals and the masses will ever be strangers.
re:deepak
You may be right when you say that the millions of shopkeepers, clerks, businessmen, labourers, taxi/rickshaw/truck drivers, the idle rich, etc may not be capable of critical appreciation. I mean, i dont expect a labourer to enjoy a movie like Rock On, coz the whole concept of rock music is alien to him.
But what if tomorrow, someone were to come out with an intelligent, realistic,enternaining film (minus the stars) which deals with the lives of these millions shopkeepers, clerks,labourers etc (the masses basically),their problems and so on and so forth.Basically a film the masses can relate to and which would also provide the “quick intoxication” they need.Do you think it will be well recieved by the masses?I think not. They would still rather watch a Singh is Kinng.Thats what i find most frustrating..!!
I mean, i have nothing against the so called “commencial cinema”. But watching ONLY brainless “commercial cinema” cinema and completely ignoring the rest of the quality cinema that is on offer, something i really hope will change soon.
re:raunak
It is the way the world is constructed and is in the process of evolution…and right now vulgarity is the predominent mode of enjoyment for the masses. You are right that good commercial cinema is distinctly a possibility, but that can only happen when the so-called big ’stars’ with their bizarre addiction to show off and stick around as long as they sell (after all economics is the foundation for show biz to operate)…then the producers with tons of cash are just a shade above the masses in their cultural IQ…they cannot rise above their fixed beliefs that entertainment is a formula of over-hyped and over-exposed ’stars’, rich locations, crass jokes, as much dose of sex, glamour and titillation as is tolerated by the society (this limit is constantly being crossed impudently and by in-your-face arrogance due to the power and means they weild)…then the masses who cannot discriminate between the gross and the subtle as education is the only way to refinement and critical evaluation of a product…and finally the utterly banal, stupid and short-sighted media which is primarily and directly responsible for promoting their single-pointed agenda of sensationalsm and publicity day in and day out(despite the ‘intellectuals’ that run the show citing inane excuses) that they fancy can be easily had by concentrating on a bunch of insanely inflated starry characters they themselves have created (without any evaluation as to their true worth…they SELL, that’s enough!)…it all comes down to the ‘meaning’ of ‘entertainment’ the producers, the stars, and their symbiotic partners, the media… have decided in their short-sighted heads.
Obviously the ’stars’ have never heard of the phrase–Familiarity breeds contempt…and even if they have, has no meaning for them…so inflated and gigantic are the egoes they’ve built up over the years that showing off and remaining in the spotlight by hook or crook…is an absolute…shahenshas, badshahs and kings just cannot retire just because the minority thinks it is about time to do so.
Ever since the 1980’s, the order of the world has changed to what is known as Postmodernism…this means that everything has been leveled to one undifferentiating mass…earlier it was different…there were high-brows, middle-brows and low-brows (the lumpen, formless classes)…but now it is all the same…the high-brow intellectuals have lost their value and are relegated to an insignificant position without influence or power which they formerly excercised…the democratic masses have taken over by sheer numbers and means they hold.
Now this cycle will also inevitably come to an end one day, but right now it is riding a wave that will continue.
The only hope lies in a handful of film makers who dare to think differently and Rock On, A Wednesday, Tahaan, Tarre Zameen Pe ect., are the seeds that have bloomed in the face of the flood of masala entertainment.
We can only hope that many such flowers will bloom in the future.