Akshay's 'Cold' treatment by Vipul Shah

If you are wondering why Akshay sounds uncharacteristically nasal and toned-down in Singh Is Kinng, producer Vipul Shah gives the answer.
"Akshay had a fierce cold while dubbing. There was no way we could postpone. So we used his nasal voice and Akshay even added a line in the dialogue about his character having a terrible zukaam"
The Friday agitations by the Students Sikh Federation about the 'wrong' depiction of Sikhs at a theatre in Amritsar has left producer Vipul Shah agitated
"My film has grossed 46-48 crore rupees over the first weekend. That's more than Om Shanti Om and Welcome which had the highest opening so far. So obviously the film has been liked. I can't please every single Sikh. Who are these agitators? This is nothing but a shortcut to fame. The boys of the Sikh Youth Federation must've thought that when the Delhi Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee protested, Akshay rushed to Delhi. In Amritsar they must've thought this is their way of getting Akshay into Amritsar. Surely there're easier ways of getting stars' attention. And Akshay couldn't spend one year moving from city to city appeasing the imagined hurt of self-appointed champions of the Sikh community. These are people who don't respect the opinion the highest authorities of their community who've said there's nothing objectionable in Singh Is Kinng. All the important and powerful bodies of the Sikh community cleared the film. What were these boys on Friday protesting about? They said they hadn't even seen the film. They just said it was an insult to Sikhism. But in what way?"
Vipul feels there are professional protestors who jump up in protest against any culture-specific cinema. "They feel somehow their culture will be threatened when on the contrary, culture-specific films like Jodhaa-Akbar and Singh Is Kinng pay a homage to the people and culture of a community."
On Friday 300 Sikhs saw Singh Is Kinng at Cinemax in Mumbai. "They were dancing the Bhangra with dhols after the screening. They told a news channel that this was the first film in 70 years of Indian cinema that had done justice to the Sikh community. What more endorsement for our motives can there be?"
Vipul admits his guilt on the beard issue. "We admit Akshay's beard should've been longer. We added a scene where Akshay says he made a mistake by trimming his beard. And in the video with Snoop Dogg during the end titles he comes with a full beard, albeit a false one. It'd have taken Akshay two years to grow a natural beard. We had told the Shirmoni Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee that the beard would be false, and they had agreed"
Vipul wants a law whereby freedom of expressions cannot be curbed. "The final authority on right and wrong in a film should be the censor board. Once the censors approve, all protests should be crushed with iron hands. Otherwise all of us should just fold up our production houses. I'm not disrespecting Sikh sentiments. So please stop hounding me for nothing."
Vipul Shah couldn't be in a happier place. "The opening of Singh Is Kinng has been incredible. Business everywhere has been thundering. But I can only rest easy after the first two weeks. I'm glad that in spite of being a comedy, Singh Is Kinng isn't vulgar. I gave my director Anees Bazmi the freedom to do what he likes. I only wanted him to tell a morally correct story. I didn't want to flinch while watching it with my sons."

Akshay refuses to compare 'Singh is Kinng' with 'Om Shanti Om'

Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar has refused to draw comparisons of the first week box office collections of his latest success "Singh is Kinng" with that of Shah Rukh Khan's 2007 film "Om Shanti Om".

"It is wrong to compare the success of the two films. The Hindi film industry is one big market. Whatever money earned from the movies made goes into one kitty ... the film industry. Every one benefits out of successful films. Actors' fees also goes up," the actor told reporters last night at the function organised to celebrate the success of the film.

"Singh is Kinng" opening weekend gross ticket sales are a massive Rs 59.5 crore worldwide, he said.

Speaking about the trend of deciding the fate of a film in the opening week itself, Akshay said multiplexes have changed the business of cinema in recent years. "In an area like Juhu in suburban Mumbai, there are 28 shows of the film in one multiplex alone. Due to this, 80 to 90 per cent money is recovered by the producer," he said.

The actor agreed that the second week is the deciding factor of the film's fate in the long run. "It is quite natural that the collections slump at the start of the second week. Everything depends on how steep is the decline in box office collections. If the steep is less, the film is sure to bounce back during the weekend," he added.

When asked what worked in favour of the film, Akshay said that it was for the first time all the principal characters in the film were sikhs, the title of the film was catchy and it spoke about positive attitude to succeed in life.

To a question on whether he saw himself as the new "king" of Bollywood, Akshay replied in negative. "I have been around for only 15-16 years. To become a king, one has to have a long span of good work. I may call myself, if I survive for another 15 years," he added.

Akshay said Abhinav Bindra, who became the first Indian to win an individual gold medal in Olympics was the real 'king'.

To a question on the film industry being divided into different camps and the reported fight between Salman Khan and Shah Rukh, Akshay Kumar said he saw no reason why he should interfere in others' affairs.

"They are adults and since they are said to have fought they would patch up eventually. who am I to interfere. The film industry is undergoing a change in the last five years. Bigger films with huge budgets are made. Profits made by any film helps the industry to grow. Dividing the industry into camps is not fair," he added.

Akshay said he was taking a short break with his family before resuming shooting for his pending projects. "I have not had a holiday for the last four months," he added.

He lauded co-star Katrina Kaif for her success. He said, "four years ago, she came to Mumbai from London to make it big in Hindi films. She did not know a word of Hindi. But she learnt it and is continuously improving her accent and diction. Whatever she has achieved is commendable," he added.

Producer Vipul Shah said, 'Singh is Kinng' has shattered all previous opening weekend box office records. Indian Films has given the movie the widest ever release worldwide. "It released with 1,350 prints across 1,800 screens.

"The film has received excellent response in Delhi,UP, Rajasthan, Punjab, UK, Canada, USA and even Pakistan. Shows start as early as 7 am with the last show in Pakistan being conducted at 1 am, all to packed houses. In Mumbai, some multiplexes are running 28 shows a day to occupancy of 95 per cent," he added.

Who is Anees Bazmee? Who is Anees Bazmee

This year hasn't been a great one for Bollywood. One of the most talked about films Tashan proved to be a complete dud. Films, which people presumed would be hits such as Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic, have been complete duds at the box-office. Sarkar Raj wasn't a write-off but it wasn't a superhit either. With the sole exception of Jannat and Race it's been a pretty bleak year at the box-office.

Now all eyes have been on Singh is Kinng, the blockbuster of this year. Even as Akshay is being proclaimed the new king (Hail Akshay the new king of Bollywood) and the film has been sold at a record price for all territories Singh is Kinng, Akshay Kumar, Katrina have all been in the news for many months. The music sales have also been brisk but with typical Pritam fare, that's only to be expected. In short everything about the film has been under scrutiny except the director.
A lot of people unconnected with the industry may not even be aware of the director's identity. And for the select few who have heard of Anees Bazmee, they don't have any information beyond that. So who is Anees Bazmee?

Fans hooked to Singh is Kinng

It's Akshay Kumar's biggest release this year making it to the big screen and one reason is because its running at a record number of screens with shows begining as early as 7am in the morning.
What do most people normally do early in the morning? It is generally have their morning tea or read newspaper but this wasn't the case this Friday.
This Friday there was a 7am screening of Singh is Kinng. It's the first time that a film's show has been screened so early in the morning.
There were 85 people who had come to catch Akshay Kumar's Singh is Kinng, first day first show. It was the first of 28 screenings at a Mumbai multiplex. Other multiplexes are screening it as many as 40 times a day.
That means, on an average, there's a screening every 45 mins.
This is first time ever that a Hindi film's carpet bombing theatres in such a big way to maximise first weekend earnings. Often the decider between a hit and flop.
Last year with four successive hits Akshay Kumar laughed his way to the bank. With this release Bollywood's current king seems set to continue his reign
"There are groups of 500-600 people who have completely booked the theatre for the weekend the response is amazing," said Rakesh Sharma, Manager, Cinemax Sion.
And people seem to be just loving Akki Happy Singh. "It was great. Akshay is very funny, Katrina is beautiful."
Well, as far as the box office fate of the film goes, one will have to wait and watch this space.