Can Akshay Kumar’s Singh Is Bling recreate the magic of Singh is King?

08.08.08 got to be a magical date for Akshay Kumar and Akkians, the self-proclaimed fans of the superstar. The day saw ‘Singh is King’ minting 7.25 cr on the first day and thus becoming the only Record Opening for Akshay in a super successful career spanning over 25 years. (P.S. – Though, later in 2012, ‘Rowdy Rathore’ also became the Highest Non Holiday Opener of that time netting 15.1 cr). Moreover, since then, ‘Singh is King’ has also held the title of the best performing Akshay Kumar film ever in the overseas markets.

The coming together of the Blockbuster Jodi of Akki-Kat in a film being directed by Anees Bazmee (who had the triumph of Welcome and No Entry behind him) that had chartbuster music by Pritam and belonged to the Comedy genre which was the flavour of the season in 2008. ‘Singh is Kinng’ was definitely one of the best bets Akshay has had in his career and undoubtedly he was at the peak of his career at that time.

Singh is Kinng Box Office Performance

Film	Screen Count	Opening Day Collections	Net Lifetime Collections	Adjusted Net Lifetime Collections	Final Verdict
Singh is Kinng(2008)	1400	7.25 cr (Record)	68 cr	141 cr	SUPER HIT

7 years later, history is repeating itself as Akshay is preparing to don the turbaned Sardaarji act again in Singh is Bliing. But, times have changed and so has the industry. Let’s analyse the prospects of the upcoming Akshay Kumar starrer.

Positive Aspects

1. Akshay Kumar: The biggest advantage of Singh is Bling is Raftaar Singh himself. When it comes to Comedy-Action genre, nobody can touch Akshay Kumar, hands down. But, he will need a good script with the scope of delivering a performance on the lines of Welcome, Singh is Kinng, Hera Pheri, Housefull 2, Garam Masala and many other successful comedy films.

2. Gandhi Jayanti release: Singh is Bling is releasing on one of the major national holidays of the year, October 2nd – Gandhi Jayanti. All factors kept aside, a national holiday can give a push of more than 25% to a big budget film’s opening on its own. Interestingly, almost all Akshay films this year have released during holidays or partial holiday weekends. ‘Baby’ released during Republic Day weekend, ‘Gabbar Is Back’ released on May Day / Labour Day which is a holiday in several major states in the country and ‘Brothers’ released during Independence Day weekend. ‘Singh Is Bliing’ too gets a perfect release period.

Box Office Opening on Gandhi Jayanti

Year of Release	Film	Screen Count	Net Opening (Gandhi Jayanti)
2013	Besharam	3400	21.3 cr
2014	Bang Bang	3250	27.5 cr
	Haider	1250	6.1 cr

3. Goodwill of Singh is Kinng: Although Singh is Bliing is not a sequel to Singh is Kinng with a completely different set up and story. Still, Singh is Bliing will have some recall value as Akshay is returning as Sardaarji and Singh is Kinng happens to be one of the most loved Akshay films on television.

4. Chartbuster Music: The music of Singh is Bliing somehow reminds me of Khiladi 786 which happens to be the best music album that an Akshay starrer has boasted of since last five years. The sort of confidence Akshay and the makers have in their film’s music is quite evident in the fact that they have possibly started a new trend in Bollywood by releasing Sneha Khanwalkar’s Tung-Tung Baje song even before the theatrical trailer. The song is already a rage with more than 5 million Youtube views. Another song, Mahi Aaja, is a reprised version of RDB’s same track which was already super hit in North India. Ironically, Akshay himself danced to that track at IIFA in one of his best stage performances. Next is Cinema Dekhe Mamma, a raw dance track by Sajid-Wajid, aimed at cashing in on the formula of Saree Ke Fall Sa (R.. Rajkumar) and Dhadang Dhang (Rowdy Rathore). Singh & Kaur is a new song by Manj Music which goes well with the Punjabi feel of the film. Last song, Dil Kare Chu Che, composed by Meet Bros and sung by Labh Janjua (who also happens to be the singer of Jee Karda and Talli Hua from Singh is Kinng) is a fun concept song that would be liked by the kids.

5. Return of the Rowdy Actor-Director Jodi: Singh is Bliing is being directed by Prabhu Deva who gave Akshay Kumar the biggest blockbuster of his career in Rowdy Rathore. If things fall in place, sky is the limit for Akshay and Prabhu. But, there’s a small catch as well, all three major hits of Prabhu Deva – Wanted, Rowdy Rathore and R Rajkumar were mass action films with comedy in parts while Singh is Bliing seems to be a full-fledged Comedy affair.

Negative Aspects

1. Dull star cast: One of the major disappointments of the film is its star cast. While the leading lady Amy Jackson might be an enigma to the film’s target audience due to her limited appeal, the rest of the supporting cast also seems to be failing in generating any buzz when compared to the multi star-cast of Singh is Kinng. When it comes to face value, Akshay Kumar seems to be fighting a lone battle.

2. Akshay Kumar’s 4th release in 2015: When it comes to fan following and stardom, Akshay Kumar is one of the biggest stars who have very well managed to co-exist in this Khan dominated industry. But, his crazy fan following, in some way or the other, has practically failed to get converted into bumper opening numbers at the ticket window since Rowdy Rathore (2012). And the reason is not hidden from anyone. Akshay Kumar over exposing himself with multiple releases every year, which has made a major dent on the box office performance of his films. The gap between Singh is Bliing and Akki’s last release, Brothers, will be less than even 50 days. To give you an example, ‘Entertainment’ was just a below average grosser at the box office last year. But, it would come as a shocker to many when I tell you that it got sky high TRP’s during its television premier beating the likes of PK and Kick. This implies that the audience is very much willing to watch Akshay Kumar flicks but they are possibly giving him a miss at theatres because he has as much as three to four releases every year. For a family of four, to watch every Akshay Kumar movie at a multiplex (which is where his films haven’t opened as well as they should), they have to spend a minimum of Rs 8,000 to 10,000 per year!

3. Comedy – The Dicey Genre: About 7 years ago, Comedy was a safe genre that would hardly go wrong. Today the scenario has changed with Family films and content driven stories ruling the roost. To put the perspective clear, last two major full-fledged comedy successes were Welcome Back (2015) and Grand Masti (2013), and the gap between them was as long as two years.

4. Stagnant Buzz / Appeal – Ordinary Promotions: The songs of Singh Is Bliing have been doing well and were successful in creating good hype. But somehow the buzz / appeal started getting stagnant because of the monotonous promotions. Releasing a couple of good dialogue promos early could have helped and like always, Akshay hasn’t gone all out to promote the film.

Our Take

Singh is Bliing has a good chance of succeeding at the ticket window, courtesy Akshay Kumar’s presence as Sardaarji, Gandhi Jayanti release and foot tapping music. According to me, comedy as a genre hardly boasts of creative/ intelligent stories and thus the responsibility of succeeding is mostly at the helm of Screenplay and Dialogues. For a comedy film to have long legs at the box office, rib tickling scenes and funny punch lines are a must. Singh is Bliing must suffice these pre-requisites to thrive and ensure  positive word of mouth publicity. It must have the content to satisfy its target audience, i.e. the families. In terms of initial goals, Singh is Bliing must at least eye to become Akshay Kumar’s Highest Opener (beating the 15.2 cr figure of Brothers).

So, will Raftaar Singh be able match the charm of Happy Singh? We’ll have to wait and watch out for that as Singh-giri begins on October 2nd.

By Archit Mishra (Tweets @architmishra_06)

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