More recently, Akshay Kumar managed to tide over a “Tashan”. At the worst of times, he conducts himself with more than a modicum of dignity. He is good in bad films, and usually better in good films. As is the case here now with Anees Bazmee’s film, a film that makes no apologies for its front-on, in-your-face approach.

It is deliberately high-pitched. The characters are little more than uni-dimensional: nobody complains. You see, they are here to do their bit and leave the stage for the King, who holds the court with ease and panache.

The humour, though often clean, is usually lowbrow. Subtleties are neither expected nor provided. The good old Hrishikesh Mukherji brand of cinema faded aeons away. The girls here – Katrina Kaif and Neha Dhupia – are beautiful. And dumb. They show skin, swing along, ask no impertinent questions. They are easy on the eye. And on the mind. Just the way many men would want.

All of it works. Of course a nice, sweeping momentum to the single strand storyline helps. Then, of course, there is Akshay himself, in a role tailor-made for him, in a performance that has pride and professional poise written all over it. Whether he is sharing corny one-liners with the seasoned Om Puri or his lingering smiles complementing his mischievous eyes in romantic interludes, he is a winner all along.

And all this from a man who was once dubbed wooden! Then he was given the sop of being an action king. Akshay Kumar here now is well and truly the king of, to borrow a line, good times!

Bazmee is never likely to be a contender for a National Award, but he knows his target viewers. And he goes about catering to their sensibilities. He comes up with the story of a desi, a typical Punjabi lad who goes abroad to bring back another Punjab da puttar, the one who has gone astray, the one whose old parents wait for with tear-filled eyes. From Punjab to Australia via Egypt! That is not the itinerary that is going to get you a desk job at a travel counter. But that is the route Bazmee takes with disdain.

A little faux passé at the boarding desk and lo, the hero ends up in the lands of the much talked about Pyramids, swinging with the curvy Katrina Kaif amid all the sand dunes. Before one can pronounce the word “pharaoh”, the action shifts to Australia!

How? Well, Bazmee does not let us ask simple questions of geography, as Akshay arrives Down Under to take his friend back home! And lo, in another twist, his lady luck also lands up! No booking, no talking, no cross-connection. Oh! The games destiny plays.

Does not take much to find out who will be chastened at the end of it all, who will win the girl too.

Suffice it to add that Bazmee keeps things moving swift and sound. The story has a breeze, the detailing adequate for this genre. And all the support cast, including Jaaved Jaaffery, Sonu Sood and Kirron Kher, are quietly professional. Like loyal courtiers, they lend a helping hand to the King, say their lines without detracting too much attention from the hero. And blend themselves with the shadows.

That’s cool. But are there any negatives? Well, the music by Pritam, yes. It is a bit of a disappointment with the title track alone being the saving grace. And the absence of any sub-plots takes “Singh is Kinng” some distance away from the realm of sure shot lasting hits at the box office. The way it is, the film has opened well, and is likely to pack the cinemagoers in.

Yes, Akshay Kumar’s latest has all the makings of a short-term winner with little possibility of lasting glory. It is a film he would be happy to talk about in the larger scheme of things, but would not deserve more than a footnote in his larger success saga. Go for “Singh is Kinng” to know we have a star who is more than a dependable actor. And delivers a happy film with relish and abandon.

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