Singham (2011 film)
Encyclopedia
Singham is a 2011 Bollywood
action film
directed by Rohit Shetty
starring Ajay Devgn, Kajal Aggarwal
and Prakash Raj
in lead roles. It is a remake of the 2010 Tamil film Singam featuring Suriya and 2011 bengali flim Shotru
featuring bengali
superstar
Jeet
. The film is produced by Reliance Entertainment
, which also produced the original film. The theatrical trailer of the film was released along with Ready
on 3 June 2011. It became one of the highest grossing movie of 2011 after superstar Salman Khan's Bodyguard
and Ready
. The film was released on 22 July 2011. The Delhi High Court
, upon Reliance Entertainment's request, issued an order to all Indian ISPs to block filesharing sites to prevent piracy of Singham.
), who is forced to commit suicide because he was falsely accused of corruption by Jaikant Shikre, a criminal don and politician (Prakash Raj
). Kadam's wife (Sonali Kulkarni
) swears for revenge.
Now they introduce Inspector Bajirao Singham (Ajay Devgn), who is an honest police officer like Kadam. Singham is stationed in and is in charge of his hometown Shivgarh. He resolves every problem in his town and uses force when the situation demands it. Kavya Bhosle (Kajal Agrawal) comes to Shivgarh with her father Gautam Bhosle or Gotya (Sachin Khedekar
) and falls in love with Singham.
Everything seems to be smooth-running until Jaikant, who was given a conditional bail for a murder is required to travel to Shivgarh to sign the bail. He insteaad sends one of his allies to get it signed. Singham is angry and demands that Jaikant Shikre should come and sign in person. Jaikant is humiliated by Singham and decides to teach him a lesson by transferring him to Goa, where he rules.
Singham comes to Goa and is given charge of Colva Police Station. The co-workers there, Sub-Inspector Phadnis, Sub-Inspector Abbas and Head Constable Savalkar (Ashok Saraf
, only a comedic relief for the film) hate Jaikant as well. DSP. Patkar, Singham's Senior Officer is on pay-roll of Jaikant and Singham has no choice other than losing and getting mentally tortured. Other Minisers like Narvekar, try to take Singham off Jaikant's case in order to save him.
Matters become worse when Jaikant wins the election to become a politician. There is a Police Function for officers with their family. Singham goes there and confronts the officers for being on Jaikant's pay-roll. The officers feel bad and help Singham to fight Jaikant, so they start killing Jaikant's allies and reach his home to kill him. He attempts to run away but no police officer is with him. Everyone is supporting Singham and he finally arrests Jaikant, brings him to Police Station and shoots him. Singham then clears Kadam of corruption charges and the film ends with other police officers and Singham saluting Mrs Kadam.
in 2010, the film's remake rights were sold by the producers for Hindi
and Kannada versions. The co-producers of the Tamil version, Reliance Big Pictures also purchased the Hindi remake rights and announced in November 2010 that the version would feature Rohit Shetty
as director and Ajay Devgn in the lead role. Prakash Raj
was signed on to reprise his role as the antagonist from the original, whilst reports emerged that Asin
and Anushka Shetty
were being considered for the female lead role. Anushka was replaced by Kajal Aggarwal
, another actress who had predominantly featured in South Indian films in her career.
Singham went on floors in November 2010, with its scheduled cast. The first schedule began in early March 2011 with action sequences shot in Goa
featuring technicians from South India.
A scene with Prakash Raj and Ajay Devgan was shot in Goregaon
in Mumbai
with around 500 junior artists as villagers. Another scene was shot at Vagator in Goa
for which 100 police jeeps were called. The shooting of the film was stalled by the Federation Of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) members who demanded 45 lakh to be paid to the workers when it was being shot in Film City
in Mumbai.
released the film on July 22, 2011 in 2000 screens worldwide with 1500 prints excluding overseas. The film's DVD was released on 23 August 2011.
Singham had its television premiere on 10 September 2011 on STAR Gold
at 9 PM.
of The Times of India
gave it four out of five stars and stated "Singham is over-the-top retro kitsch, spilling over with high-voltage stunts, slow-motion action cuts and fiery dialogues delivered in high decibels. It is meant for all those action buffs interested in time travel to the angry young 1970s and 1980s when cinema was larger-than-life and totally unrealistic. But then, retro is currently chic, isn't it?" Komal Nahta
of Koimoi gave it four and a half stars out of five stars and said "On the whole, Singham is a powerful action-emotional drama which boasts of equally powerful dialogues and absolutely power-packed performances. It’s a super-hit and will be loved by the masses and the classes, the men and the women, the young and the old, the rich and the poor. It is the kind of film which consumes the viewer and gives him the feeling that he was part of the fight against corruption! The film has immense repeat-value. Its business in Maharashtra will get a further boost because of the liberal use of Marathi in the dialogues. Kaajal Aggarwal may not be very beautiful but she acts with effortless ease. Her performance is good." Taran Adarsh
of Bollywood Hungama
gave the film four and a half stars out of five and said "Singham pays homage to the action films of 1970s, which was known for the heroism, death-defying action sequences and pulse pounding thrills. It's an acknowledgement to one of the most successful genres of Bollywood – action movies – known for the trademark good versus evil themes and well choreographed stunts." Saibal Chatterjee from NDTV
also gave four out of five stars and said "Singham is an old-fashioned but rousing Hindi commercial film that pretty much restores one’s faith in this often-maligned brand of cinema. It has super-duper hit written all over it. No matter how dismissive you might be of films that have no space for shades of grey, chances are that Singham will disarm you, if only for a bit." Shivesh Kumar of IndiaWeekly awarded the movie 4 out of 5 stars. Nikita Kapoor of FilmiTadka rated it with three out of five stars and wrote in her review – "Singham will do very well in single screen theatres and lovers of commercial potpourri will definitely get their money's worth, though it looks tacky at some points, excessive Marathi usage is also incomprehensible, has a typical south Indian film feel, and a scene by scene copy of original, still it entertains. Kajal looked pretty, and delivers her city-based yet traditional girl character confidently." Dailybhaskar gave a score of three stars out of five and said "The action takes over the romance in the film. Go for it, if you want to catch one hell of an action flick! " Pratim D. Gupta from The Telegraph
said "Thanks to Salman ‘bhaijaan’, big Bolly has found a hit formula and there’s a lot of money to be made here over the first weekends. There will be many similar roars, but you’ve got just one pair of ears."
The film also received mixed to negative reviews. Subhash K. Jha (film critic and author of The Essential Guide to Bollywood) gave two and a half stars out of five and explained that "The homilies on a need for integrity in the civil services seem like unwanted concessions to self-importance in a film that seems to revel in a kind of free-floating message on how to stay clean in a cesspool of corruption. Yup, Rohit Shetty packs in a punch. Sukanya Venkatraghavan from Filmfare
gave two stars out of five and said "Singham is a film that will invoke wolf whistles and applause from its audience. It is gloriously massy. The movie knows its job and does it well. It does nothing out of the box to grab your attention and yet it does. Pretty easily. Watch it for its robust potboiler personality. With extra masala as garnish. Ajay Devgn pulls out all stops for this one. He is fierce and impactful. This is his show all the way. His quirky forte for comedy too comes forth in the ubiquitous ha ha sequences with leading lady Kajal Aggarwal who looks pretty and has done what she has been told to, but probably deserved a meatier debut." Kaveree Bamzai from India Today
also gave three out of five stars and deemed that "Mr Devgn tries hard, growling like a singham, and acting like a superman, but I was more interested in Prakash Raj's two tone Al Capone shoes." Mayank Shekhar from Hindustan Times
gave the film one out of five stars and said "Devgn walks to beats similar to Salman’s Dabanng. He beats the crap out of ruffians outside a village cinema. He restores his woman's honour. Besotted, she chases him. Audiences think even more highly of the hero. He beats the crap some more." Shakti Salgaokar from Daily News and Analysis also gave a score of two out of five stars and said "If you’re looking for an action film to entertain you this weekend, Singham isn’t that film. This wannabe Dabangg is at best a comic film but there are so many other options that could do the job much better. Give this one a miss." Raja Sen from Rediff gave one and a half stars out of five and said "All I can personally say about this trend of remaking one-note Southern hits as a viewer is that it's an exhausting one. It is in the tiny victories that we must seek refuge after a film like this: I'm just glad the hero, so eager to peel off his uniform, left his pants on." Sudhish Kamath from The Hindu
said "The original wasn't the best film around but it had a few smarts, pace and fury, and worked despite its cheesy visual effects purely because of Suriya who made the corniest lines sound good. Devgn does exactly the opposite. He takes some half-decent lines (by Farhad and Sajid) and makes them sound cheesy." Shubha Shetty Saha from MiD DAY gave the film a score of two stars and deemed that "Nothing turns director Rohit Shetty on more than cars meeting mid air. We all know that by now. And this film has some breath taking action sequences, too. That's about it is." Meenakshi Rao from The Pioneer
describes the film as "the David Dhawan of action, or for that matter the Golmaal of fights. To keep the audience engaged all through such unending babble needs some kind of acumen which normal people do not always have and through which people like Rohit Shetty get to make a whole lot of money, if not sense." giving it seven out of ten stars. Kunal Guha from Yahoo! Movies also gives the film two stars and says that "The film's assumption that mispronunciation is funny makes us endure words like honest (with a loud 'h'), clean cheet (clean chit), noun-saans (nonsense) and sooocide (suicide). The dialogues are spouted with immense enthusiasm but the words defuse the intensity and make them seem trivial. Devgn does a fair job and conveys sufficient conviction and humility through his character. Kajal Agarwal makes an unobjectionable debut and her eyes would surely inspire a few compliments." Shubhra Gupta from The Indian Express
gave a rating of two stars out of five and said "What you require from a film that’s thus set up is very little --fast and furious action, a brawny hero who kicks butt in novel ways, and a villain who’s vile enough to be quashed minus mercy. As Bajirao Singham, Devgn roars satisfactorily, even if there are places you feel he’s trying too hard to scowl-and-growl, and the effort is making him come off a tad tired." The Sunday Guardian gave a rating of one and a half stars out of five and said "The film wants to be that currently fashionable thing: a 'retro' 80s style potboiler, in which there is no apology made for holes in the plot or paper-thin characters, as long as there are a few clapworthy dialogues and it can be described as "larger than life". But really, all that's larger than life inSingham is Devgn's muscles."
area alone. However, other credible sources put the opening week nett collections at . By both accounts it had the second highest opening of the year. In the second week, it collected nett to take the total two week net collections at . The film is currently the sixth highest second week grosser. The third weekend collections were estimated to be . After three weeks, the nett collections amounted to . It collected in its fourth week bringing its collections to in four weeks. At the end of the sixth week, Singham earned nett in India. It is said to be the seventh Bollywood film of all time to have crossed the mark of Rs. 100 crore nett in collections.
The film grossed over worldwide. In Mumbai, the film remains among the top five in terms of distributor's share earning more than 20 crore.
.
awarded the album two stars out of five and said "Singham turns out to be a fine album though one does feel that there could have been much more than just three songs here. While 'Saathiyaa' is the pick of the lot and has the potential to play on beyond the theatrical run of the film as well, title song 'Singham' brings in the right mood despite its setting. However given the fact that the film is not quite a musical and the focus would be primarily on pushing its action flavour, the album would find it tough to make much of a mark commercially." Tanuj Manchanda of Planet Bollywood gave the album five and a half stars citing that "Ajay-Atul produces a satisfactory soundtrack, after their first attempt in Virudh and shows their versatility in a short span of 3 songs. One looks forward to their forthcoming venture My Friend Pinto
which will be their second Bollywood film as composers. Overall, the songs are decent and have the ability in them to become a success. It will help in enhancing the film's narrative."
while some cinemas have cancelled the shows following pressure from various groups protesting against derogatory statements against the Kannadigas. Various organisations raised voices against the anti-Kannadiga dialogues in Singham and the film which was released is facing problems in continuing with the shows in that part of the country. There was a demand to remove such scenes from the film and the filmmakers contemplated on the next course of action.
Singham commenced in Karnataka after the removal of some "objectionable" dialogues, a day after disruptions in its screening.
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
action film
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
directed by Rohit Shetty
Rohit Shetty
Rohit Shetty is an Indian film director, presenter and cinematographer. His work as director include the hits Golmaal, Golmaal Returns, Golmaal 3 and Singham....
starring Ajay Devgn, Kajal Aggarwal
Kajal Aggarwal
Kajal Aggarwal is an Indian film actress, who predominantly appears in Telugu films. She has also appeared in Tamil and Hindi films.Kajal made her film debut in the 2004 Hindi film Kyun...! Ho Gaya Na and entered the Telugu film industry through the film Lakshmi Kalyanam...
and Prakash Raj
Prakash Raj
Prakash Raj , better known by his stage name Prakash Raj, is a National Award winning actor, director and producer who has worked in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam films. Though he was born in a Tulu family he achieved fame through Kannada, Tamil and Telugu films. He got introduced to...
in lead roles. It is a remake of the 2010 Tamil film Singam featuring Suriya and 2011 bengali flim Shotru
Shotru
-Track listing:...
featuring bengali
Bengali
Bengali may refer to something of, from, or related to Bengal, the region roughly divided between West Bengal, Tripura and Bangladesh.* Bengali people, a major linguistic group in South Asia* Bengali Hindu people, the ethnic group native to eastern India....
superstar
Superstar
A superstar is a widely acclaimed celebrity.Superstar or superstars may also refer to:-People:* Warhol Superstar, associates of Andy Warhol* WWE Superstar, the term used to refer to entertainers from the WWE...
Jeet
Jeet
Jeet is a Hindi term meaning "victory" or "win". It may refer to:* Jeet , Indian* Jeet , Bengali actor* Jeet , a Hindi film by Raj Kanwar...
. The film is produced by Reliance Entertainment
Reliance Entertainment
Reliance Entertainment is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group handling its media and entertainment business, across content and distribution platforms....
, which also produced the original film. The theatrical trailer of the film was released along with Ready
Ready (2011 film)
Ready is a 2011 Indian comedy film directed by Anees Bazmee, starring Salman Khan and Asin in the lead roles. It also features Paresh Rawal, Arya Babbar and Mahesh Manjrekar in supporting roles, while Ajay Devgan, Sanjay Dutt, Kangana Ranaut, Zarine Khan and Arbaaz Khan make cameo appearances...
on 3 June 2011. It became one of the highest grossing movie of 2011 after superstar Salman Khan's Bodyguard
Bodyguard
A bodyguard is a type of security operative or government agent who protects a person—usually a famous, wealthy, or politically important figure—from assault, kidnapping, assassination, stalking, loss of confidential information, terrorist attack or other threats.Most important public figures such...
and Ready
Ready
- Film :* Ready , a Telugu film* Ready , a Hindi film* Ready, a 2002 British short starring Imelda Staunton- Music :* Ready Records, a Canadian record labelAlbums* Ready * Ready...
. The film was released on 22 July 2011. The Delhi High Court
Delhi High Court
The High Court of Delhi was established on 31 October 1966. The High Court of Delhi was established with four judges. They were Chief Justice K. S. Hegde, Justice I. D. Dua, Justice H. R. Khanna and Justice S. K. Kapur.-History:...
, upon Reliance Entertainment's request, issued an order to all Indian ISPs to block filesharing sites to prevent piracy of Singham.
Plot
The film starts with an honest police officer, Rakesh Kadam (Sudhanshu PandeySudhanshu Pandey
Sudhanshu Pandey is an Indian model and Bollywood actor. He was born and raised in Uttar Pradesh. After a career in fashion modeling, he debuted in Bollywood in a 2000 movie Khiladi 420.-Filmography:- External links :* * * *...
), who is forced to commit suicide because he was falsely accused of corruption by Jaikant Shikre, a criminal don and politician (Prakash Raj
Prakash Raj
Prakash Raj , better known by his stage name Prakash Raj, is a National Award winning actor, director and producer who has worked in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam films. Though he was born in a Tulu family he achieved fame through Kannada, Tamil and Telugu films. He got introduced to...
). Kadam's wife (Sonali Kulkarni
Sonali Kulkarni
Sonali Kulkarni is an Indian actress. She was born in Pune. She has majorly worked in Marathi and Hindi films. She is famous for her role in Dil Chahta Hai.-Career:...
) swears for revenge.
Now they introduce Inspector Bajirao Singham (Ajay Devgn), who is an honest police officer like Kadam. Singham is stationed in and is in charge of his hometown Shivgarh. He resolves every problem in his town and uses force when the situation demands it. Kavya Bhosle (Kajal Agrawal) comes to Shivgarh with her father Gautam Bhosle or Gotya (Sachin Khedekar
Sachin Khedekar
Sachin Khedekar is an Indian actor and director, best known for his roles in Astitva, Imtihaan, and as Netaji in Shyam Benegal's Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero...
) and falls in love with Singham.
Everything seems to be smooth-running until Jaikant, who was given a conditional bail for a murder is required to travel to Shivgarh to sign the bail. He insteaad sends one of his allies to get it signed. Singham is angry and demands that Jaikant Shikre should come and sign in person. Jaikant is humiliated by Singham and decides to teach him a lesson by transferring him to Goa, where he rules.
Singham comes to Goa and is given charge of Colva Police Station. The co-workers there, Sub-Inspector Phadnis, Sub-Inspector Abbas and Head Constable Savalkar (Ashok Saraf
Ashok Saraf
Ashok Saraf is an Indian actor and comedian. He has appeared in many Hindi and Marathi movies for since the late 1960s.Ashok Saraf is known mainly for comedy movies, many of which he appeared in with Laxmikant Berde...
, only a comedic relief for the film) hate Jaikant as well. DSP. Patkar, Singham's Senior Officer is on pay-roll of Jaikant and Singham has no choice other than losing and getting mentally tortured. Other Minisers like Narvekar, try to take Singham off Jaikant's case in order to save him.
Matters become worse when Jaikant wins the election to become a politician. There is a Police Function for officers with their family. Singham goes there and confronts the officers for being on Jaikant's pay-roll. The officers feel bad and help Singham to fight Jaikant, so they start killing Jaikant's allies and reach his home to kill him. He attempts to run away but no police officer is with him. Everyone is supporting Singham and he finally arrests Jaikant, brings him to Police Station and shoots him. Singham then clears Kadam of corruption charges and the film ends with other police officers and Singham saluting Mrs Kadam.
Cast
- Ajay DevganAjay DevganAjay Devgan , born Vishal Veeru Devgan on 2 April 1969, is an Indian film actor, director, and producer.He made his film debut with Phool Aur Kaante in 1991 and received a Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut for his performance in the film and for which he won a Filmfare Best Debut Award...
as Inspector Bajirao Singham - Prakash RajPrakash RajPrakash Raj , better known by his stage name Prakash Raj, is a National Award winning actor, director and producer who has worked in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam films. Though he was born in a Tulu family he achieved fame through Kannada, Tamil and Telugu films. He got introduced to...
as Jaikant Shikre - Kajal Agarwal as Kavya Bhosle
- Sachin KhedekarSachin KhedekarSachin Khedekar is an Indian actor and director, best known for his roles in Astitva, Imtihaan, and as Netaji in Shyam Benegal's Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero...
as Gautam Bhosle / Gotya - Ashok Samarth as Shiva Naik
- Murli Sharma as DSP Patkar
- Sudhanshu PandeySudhanshu PandeySudhanshu Pandey is an Indian model and Bollywood actor. He was born and raised in Uttar Pradesh. After a career in fashion modeling, he debuted in Bollywood in a 2000 movie Khiladi 420.-Filmography:- External links :* * * *...
as Inspector Rakesh Kadam - Sonali KulkarniSonali KulkarniSonali Kulkarni is an Indian actress. She was born in Pune. She has majorly worked in Marathi and Hindi films. She is famous for her role in Dil Chahta Hai.-Career:...
as Megha Kadam - Agasthya Dhanorkar as Nitin Kadam
- Govind NamdeoGovind NamdeoGovind Namdeo is an Indian film actor. Govind made his debut as a corrupt cop in David Dhawan's Shola Aur Shabnam . He has acted in numerous A grade movies...
as Manikrao Singham - Anant Jog as Minister Anant Narvekar
- Ankur NayyarAnkur NayyarAnkur Nayyar is an Indian television actor from Pathankot,Punjab, India.-Career:He won the Gladrags Manhunt North India in 2000. He then represented the North Zone at the Gladrags Manhunt All India Finals where he placed in the top 5. He has been successfully doing commercials for Maruti Alto,...
as Inspector Abbas - Suchitra Bandekar as Mrs. Bhosle
- Ashok SarafAshok SarafAshok Saraf is an Indian actor and comedian. He has appeared in many Hindi and Marathi movies for since the late 1960s.Ashok Saraf is known mainly for comedy movies, many of which he appeared in with Laxmikant Berde...
as Head Constable Savalkar - Vijay Patkar as Havaldar Kelkar
- Pradeep Velankar as DGP Vikram Pawar
Production
After the success of the Tamil film Singam, directed by HariHari (director)
Hari is a Tamil film director, best known for his action-masala films. , he has directed eleven films.- Background :Hari was born in Katchanavilai near Nazereth in Tuticorin District, Tamil Nadu, India. His father, Gopal Nadar, is a vessels merchant. Later his family shifted to Chennai...
in 2010, the film's remake rights were sold by the producers for Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
and Kannada versions. The co-producers of the Tamil version, Reliance Big Pictures also purchased the Hindi remake rights and announced in November 2010 that the version would feature Rohit Shetty
Rohit Shetty
Rohit Shetty is an Indian film director, presenter and cinematographer. His work as director include the hits Golmaal, Golmaal Returns, Golmaal 3 and Singham....
as director and Ajay Devgn in the lead role. Prakash Raj
Prakash Raj
Prakash Raj , better known by his stage name Prakash Raj, is a National Award winning actor, director and producer who has worked in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam films. Though he was born in a Tulu family he achieved fame through Kannada, Tamil and Telugu films. He got introduced to...
was signed on to reprise his role as the antagonist from the original, whilst reports emerged that Asin
Asín
Asín is a municipality located in the Cinco Villas comarca of the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, located a few kilometers west of Orés. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 106 inhabitants....
and Anushka Shetty
Anushka Shetty
Anushka Shetty is an Indian film actress who works mainly in the Telugu and Tamil film industries. She debuted in the 2005 Telugu film Super and rose to fame following her performance in Vikramarkudu...
were being considered for the female lead role. Anushka was replaced by Kajal Aggarwal
Kajal Aggarwal
Kajal Aggarwal is an Indian film actress, who predominantly appears in Telugu films. She has also appeared in Tamil and Hindi films.Kajal made her film debut in the 2004 Hindi film Kyun...! Ho Gaya Na and entered the Telugu film industry through the film Lakshmi Kalyanam...
, another actress who had predominantly featured in South Indian films in her career.
Singham went on floors in November 2010, with its scheduled cast. The first schedule began in early March 2011 with action sequences shot in Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
featuring technicians from South India.
A scene with Prakash Raj and Ajay Devgan was shot in Goregaon
Goregaon
Goregaon is the locality situated at the north of Mumbai . It is a railway station on the Mumbai suburban railway on the Western Railway railway line....
in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
with around 500 junior artists as villagers. Another scene was shot at Vagator in Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
for which 100 police jeeps were called. The shooting of the film was stalled by the Federation Of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) members who demanded 45 lakh to be paid to the workers when it was being shot in Film City
Film City
Film City is an integrated film studio complex situated near Sanjay Gandhi National Park at Goregaon, Mumbai in India. It has several recording rooms, gardens, lakes, theatres and grounds that serve as the venue of many Bollywood film shootings. It was built by the state government to provide...
in Mumbai.
Release
Reliance EntertainmentReliance Entertainment
Reliance Entertainment is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group handling its media and entertainment business, across content and distribution platforms....
released the film on July 22, 2011 in 2000 screens worldwide with 1500 prints excluding overseas. The film's DVD was released on 23 August 2011.
Singham had its television premiere on 10 September 2011 on STAR Gold
STAR Gold
STAR Gold is a Hindi movie channel that is part of the STAR TV network and is owned by News Corporation. It features a mix of contemporary as well as classic movies from the 1950s to the present time...
at 9 PM.
Critical reception
The film received above average reviews from critics. Nikhat KazmiNikhat Kazmi
Nikhat Kazmi is a senior correspondent and well-known film critic from India, who has been writing for The Times of India, since 1987.-Books:* If Shakespeare was a gun: a play. Writers Workshop, 1984....
of The Times of India
The Times of India
The Times of India is an Indian English-language daily newspaper. TOI has the largest circulation among all English-language newspaper in the world, across all formats . It is owned and managed by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd...
gave it four out of five stars and stated "Singham is over-the-top retro kitsch, spilling over with high-voltage stunts, slow-motion action cuts and fiery dialogues delivered in high decibels. It is meant for all those action buffs interested in time travel to the angry young 1970s and 1980s when cinema was larger-than-life and totally unrealistic. But then, retro is currently chic, isn't it?" Komal Nahta
Komal Nahta
Komal Nahta is the editor and publisher of "Film Information", India's largest film trade journal. He is also an anchor of the Trade show ETC Bollywood Business on the Bollywood TV channels ETC and Zee Cinema. Well known for his harsh criticism of Movies....
of Koimoi gave it four and a half stars out of five stars and said "On the whole, Singham is a powerful action-emotional drama which boasts of equally powerful dialogues and absolutely power-packed performances. It’s a super-hit and will be loved by the masses and the classes, the men and the women, the young and the old, the rich and the poor. It is the kind of film which consumes the viewer and gives him the feeling that he was part of the fight against corruption! The film has immense repeat-value. Its business in Maharashtra will get a further boost because of the liberal use of Marathi in the dialogues. Kaajal Aggarwal may not be very beautiful but she acts with effortless ease. Her performance is good." Taran Adarsh
Taran Adarsh
Taran Adarsh is an Indian film critic, journalist, editor and film trade analyst. He is also a former producer and screenwriter. He is the son of film director and producer, B.K. Adarsh....
of Bollywood Hungama
Bollywood Hungama
Bollywood Hungama is a leading Bollywood entertainment website, owned by hungama.com....
gave the film four and a half stars out of five and said "Singham pays homage to the action films of 1970s, which was known for the heroism, death-defying action sequences and pulse pounding thrills. It's an acknowledgement to one of the most successful genres of Bollywood – action movies – known for the trademark good versus evil themes and well choreographed stunts." Saibal Chatterjee from NDTV
NDTV
NDTV is an Indian commercial broadcasting television network founded in 1988. It was founded by Prannoy Roy, an eminent journalist and current chairman and director of NDTV Group. NDTV currently has more than 1,000 employees producing news from over twenty locations in India...
also gave four out of five stars and said "Singham is an old-fashioned but rousing Hindi commercial film that pretty much restores one’s faith in this often-maligned brand of cinema. It has super-duper hit written all over it. No matter how dismissive you might be of films that have no space for shades of grey, chances are that Singham will disarm you, if only for a bit." Shivesh Kumar of IndiaWeekly awarded the movie 4 out of 5 stars. Nikita Kapoor of FilmiTadka rated it with three out of five stars and wrote in her review – "Singham will do very well in single screen theatres and lovers of commercial potpourri will definitely get their money's worth, though it looks tacky at some points, excessive Marathi usage is also incomprehensible, has a typical south Indian film feel, and a scene by scene copy of original, still it entertains. Kajal looked pretty, and delivers her city-based yet traditional girl character confidently." Dailybhaskar gave a score of three stars out of five and said "The action takes over the romance in the film. Go for it, if you want to catch one hell of an action flick! " Pratim D. Gupta from The Telegraph
The Telegraph (Kolkata)
The Telegraph is an Indian daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Kolkata since 1982. It is published by the ABP Group and the newspaper vies with the Times of India for the position of having the widest widest circulation of any newspaper in Eastern India.According to the Audit...
said "Thanks to Salman ‘bhaijaan’, big Bolly has found a hit formula and there’s a lot of money to be made here over the first weekends. There will be many similar roars, but you’ve got just one pair of ears."
The film also received mixed to negative reviews. Subhash K. Jha (film critic and author of The Essential Guide to Bollywood) gave two and a half stars out of five and explained that "The homilies on a need for integrity in the civil services seem like unwanted concessions to self-importance in a film that seems to revel in a kind of free-floating message on how to stay clean in a cesspool of corruption. Yup, Rohit Shetty packs in a punch. Sukanya Venkatraghavan from Filmfare
Filmfare
Filmfare is an English-language tabloid-sized magazine about Indian cinema. Published by The Times Group, India's largest media services conglomerate, in Mumbai , it highlights the doings of the Bollywood film scene...
gave two stars out of five and said "Singham is a film that will invoke wolf whistles and applause from its audience. It is gloriously massy. The movie knows its job and does it well. It does nothing out of the box to grab your attention and yet it does. Pretty easily. Watch it for its robust potboiler personality. With extra masala as garnish. Ajay Devgn pulls out all stops for this one. He is fierce and impactful. This is his show all the way. His quirky forte for comedy too comes forth in the ubiquitous ha ha sequences with leading lady Kajal Aggarwal who looks pretty and has done what she has been told to, but probably deserved a meatier debut." Kaveree Bamzai from India Today
India Today
India Today is an Indian weekly news magazine published by Living Media India Limited, in publication since 1975 based in Mumbai. India Today is also the name of its sister-publication in Hindi...
also gave three out of five stars and deemed that "Mr Devgn tries hard, growling like a singham, and acting like a superman, but I was more interested in Prakash Raj's two tone Al Capone shoes." Mayank Shekhar from Hindustan Times
Hindustan Times
Hindustan Times is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded in 1924 with roots in the Indian independence movement of the period ....
gave the film one out of five stars and said "Devgn walks to beats similar to Salman’s Dabanng. He beats the crap out of ruffians outside a village cinema. He restores his woman's honour. Besotted, she chases him. Audiences think even more highly of the hero. He beats the crap some more." Shakti Salgaokar from Daily News and Analysis also gave a score of two out of five stars and said "If you’re looking for an action film to entertain you this weekend, Singham isn’t that film. This wannabe Dabangg is at best a comic film but there are so many other options that could do the job much better. Give this one a miss." Raja Sen from Rediff gave one and a half stars out of five and said "All I can personally say about this trend of remaking one-note Southern hits as a viewer is that it's an exhausting one. It is in the tiny victories that we must seek refuge after a film like this: I'm just glad the hero, so eager to peel off his uniform, left his pants on." Sudhish Kamath from The Hindu
The Hindu
The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...
said "The original wasn't the best film around but it had a few smarts, pace and fury, and worked despite its cheesy visual effects purely because of Suriya who made the corniest lines sound good. Devgn does exactly the opposite. He takes some half-decent lines (by Farhad and Sajid) and makes them sound cheesy." Shubha Shetty Saha from MiD DAY gave the film a score of two stars and deemed that "Nothing turns director Rohit Shetty on more than cars meeting mid air. We all know that by now. And this film has some breath taking action sequences, too. That's about it is." Meenakshi Rao from The Pioneer
The Pioneer
The Pioneer or The Pioneers may refer to:* The Pioneer , a sculpture by Solon H. Borglum listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places*The Pioneers , a sculpture by Lorado Taft...
describes the film as "the David Dhawan of action, or for that matter the Golmaal of fights. To keep the audience engaged all through such unending babble needs some kind of acumen which normal people do not always have and through which people like Rohit Shetty get to make a whole lot of money, if not sense." giving it seven out of ten stars. Kunal Guha from Yahoo! Movies also gives the film two stars and says that "The film's assumption that mispronunciation is funny makes us endure words like honest (with a loud 'h'), clean cheet (clean chit), noun-saans (nonsense) and sooocide (suicide). The dialogues are spouted with immense enthusiasm but the words defuse the intensity and make them seem trivial. Devgn does a fair job and conveys sufficient conviction and humility through his character. Kajal Agarwal makes an unobjectionable debut and her eyes would surely inspire a few compliments." Shubhra Gupta from The Indian Express
The Indian Express
The Indian Express is an Indian English-language daily newspaper. It is published in Mumbai by Indian Express Group. After Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split in 1999 among his family members into two with the southern editions taking the name The New Indian Express, while the old...
gave a rating of two stars out of five and said "What you require from a film that’s thus set up is very little --fast and furious action, a brawny hero who kicks butt in novel ways, and a villain who’s vile enough to be quashed minus mercy. As Bajirao Singham, Devgn roars satisfactorily, even if there are places you feel he’s trying too hard to scowl-and-growl, and the effort is making him come off a tad tired." The Sunday Guardian gave a rating of one and a half stars out of five and said "The film wants to be that currently fashionable thing: a 'retro' 80s style potboiler, in which there is no apology made for holes in the plot or paper-thin characters, as long as there are a few clapworthy dialogues and it can be described as "larger than life". But really, all that's larger than life inSingham is Devgn's muscles."
Box office
Singham started extremely well at single screens with occupancy around 90% and was average at multiplexes with 50-60% occupancy, In the first four days, the film collected . After five days, the earnings were around without any drop. The opening week gross collections were in India and from overseas to fetch a total opening week gross of , thus putting the nett weekend collections at , including in MumbaiMumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
area alone. However, other credible sources put the opening week nett collections at . By both accounts it had the second highest opening of the year. In the second week, it collected nett to take the total two week net collections at . The film is currently the sixth highest second week grosser. The third weekend collections were estimated to be . After three weeks, the nett collections amounted to . It collected in its fourth week bringing its collections to in four weeks. At the end of the sixth week, Singham earned nett in India. It is said to be the seventh Bollywood film of all time to have crossed the mark of Rs. 100 crore nett in collections.
The film grossed over worldwide. In Mumbai, the film remains among the top five in terms of distributor's share earning more than 20 crore.
Soundtrack
The music of the film is composed by Ajay-Atul with lyrics penned by Swanand KirkireSwanand Kirkire
Swanand Kirkire is an Indian lyricist, playback singer, writer, also a television serial writer, assistant director, dialogue writer, both in television and Hindi films.Kirkire won the National Film Award for Best Lyrics twice...
.
Track listing
Reception
The album was panned by music critics. Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood HungamaBollywood Hungama
Bollywood Hungama is a leading Bollywood entertainment website, owned by hungama.com....
awarded the album two stars out of five and said "Singham turns out to be a fine album though one does feel that there could have been much more than just three songs here. While 'Saathiyaa' is the pick of the lot and has the potential to play on beyond the theatrical run of the film as well, title song 'Singham' brings in the right mood despite its setting. However given the fact that the film is not quite a musical and the focus would be primarily on pushing its action flavour, the album would find it tough to make much of a mark commercially." Tanuj Manchanda of Planet Bollywood gave the album five and a half stars citing that "Ajay-Atul produces a satisfactory soundtrack, after their first attempt in Virudh and shows their versatility in a short span of 3 songs. One looks forward to their forthcoming venture My Friend Pinto
My Friend Pinto
My Friend Pinto is a 2011 Bollywood film shot directed by Raaghav Dar and starring Prateik Babbar, Kalki Koechlin, Arjun Mathur, Shruti Seth, Makrand Deshpande, Raj Zutshi and Divya Dutta. The film is produced by Ronnie Screwvala and Sanjay Leela Bhansali...
which will be their second Bollywood film as composers. Overall, the songs are decent and have the ability in them to become a success. It will help in enhancing the film's narrative."
Protests in Karnataka
Singham had been removed from cinemas in KarnatakaKarnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
while some cinemas have cancelled the shows following pressure from various groups protesting against derogatory statements against the Kannadigas. Various organisations raised voices against the anti-Kannadiga dialogues in Singham and the film which was released is facing problems in continuing with the shows in that part of the country. There was a demand to remove such scenes from the film and the filmmakers contemplated on the next course of action.
Singham commenced in Karnataka after the removal of some "objectionable" dialogues, a day after disruptions in its screening.