Raftaar Singh, the bumbling Sikh gent from Singh is Kinng with the golden heart and the mean fists, is back in a new adventure that has little in common with the 2008 hit except a turbanator hero who is willing to protect his faith at any cost.
Raftaar’s initial introduction in Singh is Bliing doesn’t inspire much confidence: he is content with living up to the Hindi movie stereotype of hearty Punjabi villagers who yell “Balle Balle” in their sleep. He is well meaning but inefficient, which is evident from the manner in which he lets the caged lion Mufasa escape and replaces it with a bewigged-dog.
Fed up of Raftaar’s antics, his father (Yograj Singh) sends him to Goa to work with his friend (Pradeep Rawat), who soon welcomes a visitor from Romania. Sara (Amy Jackson) is fleeing the unwelcome attentions of Mark (Kay Kay Menon), a gangster whose attitude to himself is summed up in his frequent declaration, “I am too good.”
Raftaar is given the task of protecting Sara, and like the average hot-blooded Indian male, he falls for her despite the fact that she knows no Hindi and he cannot speak a word of English. Amy Jackson is a British model and actor who has mostly worked in Tamil films, and director Prabhudeva cleverly gets over the language barrier by casting her as she is – a foreigner in la-la-land.
The communication chasm is briefly bridged by Lara Dutta’s ditzy translator Emily, who undergoes a transformation after witnessing Sara’s many talents. Sara can wear a swimsuit and set the pulse racing, but she is also a martial arts expert. Akshay Kumar sportingly allows his action hero image to be sent up in the scenes when Sara floors a room full of thugs while he gazes upon, as will no doubt the bulk of male viewers, at Amy Jackson’s stunning self.
The action comedy works best in the portions about the Raftaar-Sara romance, which involves loud and slapstick humour, digs at Raftaar’s brawn-over-brain personality, and ample views of Jackson’s enviable physicality. Meanwhile, Mark – and Kay Kay Menon – is waiting for an opportunity to remind us that he is this movie’s villain, and he finally gets his chance after the mandatory segue into Punjab and blindingly bright song sequences.
At 141 minutes, Singh is Bliing is as overstretched as most Bollywood extravaganzas, but it coasts along on its often wacky humour, its minor characters (Lara Dutta is a hoot) and the chemistry between Jackon and Kumar. Both the actors play to their strengths. Kumar’s goofiness balances well with Jackson’s quiet oomph, best demonstrated in the scene in which she drives a car to safety from pursuing baddies while sitting on Kumar’s lap. Carry On, Raftaar, might have been a more apt title.
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