Singam (Tamil)

Plato would have been proud of Singam. It is full of eternal, unchanging truths of Tamil cinema. The hero: an obedient son, good cop, has rural values, is loved by all. The enemy: a sadistic, urban, uncontrollable maniac who kidnaps for a living and has many similar looking clones doing his dirty work. Hero fights villain, girl comes in between for a love scene and also to get shot at, and finally ‘all is well’.

But please don’t think there is no originality in this movie. The hero, Suriya, is not only like a lion but even morphs into a lion once in a while. The heroine, Anushka, is a tigress and she first appears in a tiger costume, walking on two feet and yet frightening all the villagers. Ah, the really innocent rural folk! And, for a change, the politician is not a crook and it is quite probable that he is actually an undercover cop himself! This is serious originality at work.

The lion is constantly angry, shouts too much and bashes up everything in his way. If the lion is pushed hard, he will also mercilessly shoot criminals down and arrange fake encounters. The tigress, in the meanwhile, becomes a cat, then a tigress again, and then a coy, cuddly whatever. Maybe this romance is meant to excite lions and tigers instead of us poor humans.

The saving grace of many bad Tamil films is the comedy track. In Singam, the comedy is a tragedy. The scenes are jumbled up, the heroine looks like an extra, and given a chance and enough stock, director Hari would have continued the climax for another thirty minutes. As for the music, the closest animal I can think of to match the music is a d.... Well, forget it.

But, and this is the main but, Suriya makes it somewhat worth it. Suriya, my dear Suriya, the superman without the leotards, the only cop in the world with tight blouse-like shirts, the man with so much energy that I felt like jumping from my seat and running behind him when he bashed up the goons, the guy with dimples in his eyes. Sigh! When will he work in a film that can do justice to his talent?

The movie has to be given a rating of square root two (stars), which, as an irrational number, fits perfectly the nature of the film.

High Fives

Bollywood

1. Kites
2. Prince of Persia (dubbed)
3. Housefull
4. Badmaash Company
5. Iron Man 2 (dubbed)

Hollywood

1. Shrek Forever After
2. Prince of Persia
3. Sex and the City 2
4. Iron Man 2
5. Robin Hood

Rock

1. The Good Life (Three Days Grace)
2. Between the Lines (Stone Temple Pilots)
3. Lay Me Down (The Dirty Heads, Rome)
4. 1901 (Phoenix)
5. Uprising (Muse)

Courtesy: Film Information