Upala KBR (MID-DAY; January 6, 2018)

Ranveer Singh was to fill Akshay Kumar’s shoes in the sequel to Singh Is Kinng (2008). The actor was to play a Sikh in the film, titled Sher Singh, but the collaboration hasn’t come through. Singh refused to take on Sher Singh because he had committed to playing a sardar in his Band Baaja Baaraat director, Maneesh Sharma’s next.

A trade source says, “Ranveer and producer Shailendra Singh had a couple of meetings for narration. The actor loved Sher Singh’s story. But Shailendra was shocked to receive a call from Ranveer’s manager and Yash Raj Films’ talent management group head, Ashish Patil, who told him that Ranveer has bowed out of the film. Ranveer and Shailendra haven’t communicated since then.
The producer has been meeting other stars for Sher Singh.”

YRF and Sharma refused to comment.

Subhash K Jha (DNA; October 30, 2017)

Ranveer Singh is all set to take over the Singh Is Kinng one-film old franchise from Akshay Kumar. Of course, now the franchise is no longer called Singh Is Kinng, but Sher Singh, as producer Vipul Shah has refused to part with the original title.

After the 2008 hit, producer Vipul Shah had a fallout with director Anees Bazmee. The original ‘Singh’ Akshay Kumar tried to bring Shah and Bazmee back together, but to no avail. Akshay is no longer associated with the franchise. He did try to get his former friend and business associate Vipul Shah to part with the Singh Is Kinng title for a sequel, but failed.

With this baggage behind the troubled franchise, it is no surprise that Ranveer Singh has decided to do the sequel for producer Shailendra Singh only after Akshay approves. Says a source, “Ranveer likes the idea of Sher Singh, but for him to actually do it he first needs to get an all-okay from Akshay.”

RELATIONSHIPS MATTER
Akshay and Ranveer share a terrific bonding. Ranveer promoted Akshay’s Rustom as well as Toilet - Ek Prem Katha by starring in two videos that became huge hits on the social media.

Bazmee, who directed Singh Is Kinng nine years ago, wishes the new film all the best. “Singh Is Kinng was a cult film, which enthralled audiences to the core, not only because of its brilliant script but also the fantastic portrayal of Happy Singh by Akshay Kumar. Audiences would have a lot of expectations from the sequel. I am sure the team would leave no stone unturned to match or surpass the benchmark. I wish them success. I sincerely think Akshay playing Singh’s character would do justice, but Ranveer is a fine performer. He has to go deep to play Happy Singh’s character. Anyway, they have my blessings. May the audience accept Ranveer as wholeheartedly as they accepted Akshay.”

ARJUN DID IT, TOO
Arjun Kapoor will be seen in another film that’s a sequel to an Akshay Kumar movie. It was recently announced that he will be stepping into the Khiladi’s shoes for the sequel of Namastey London. When Arjun was approached, the first call he made was to Akshay to tell him that the film was offered to him. They spoke and obviously, Akshay had no issues with Arjun doing the film. The sequel is titled Namastey Canada and will see Arjun opposite, Parineeti Chopra. The two are also sharing screen space in Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar, which will be directed by Dibakar Banerjee.

Upala KBR (MID-DAY; October 20, 2017)

Over a month after producer Shailendra Singh had said that he had acquired “a title that’s sexier than Singh Is Kinng”, for the sequel to his 2008  comedy, mid-day has learnt the name. The second instalment, which will apparently see Ranveer Singh fill in the shoes of Akshay Kumar, will be titled Sher Singh. The producer was forced to revise the name after Vipul A Shah, who helmed the original, refused to part with the title.

Shailendra tells mid-day that he acquired the rights to this name on Wednesday after difficulty. “While we had initially wanted the title Singh Is Kinng, Vipul Shah refused to part with it. I have been asking him to return it to me for the last five years. Then, I decided to pick another name, because, the name Singh Is Bliing had also been explored. So, a similar sounding title would cause confusion.”

His upcoming film, he is certain, will emerge as an important franchise in the industry. “Bollywood doesn’t have an iconic superhero. Sher Singh will be that character. He does not have super powers, but will be an extraordinary human being.”

The producer says Ranveer was his first choice, given that the actor “ can be Bollywood’s ultimate sardar”. “Ranveer has all the characteristics needed to play a sardar, just like Akshay and Ajay Devgn do. I narrated the story to him in one line about a month-and-a-half ago, and discussed his look too. He expressed interest in the project and asked me for a 10-page script, which I will send him this week.”

Shailendra’s enthusiasm is palpable when he talks about his protagonist. “I will tell you one thing — Sher Singh ordinary hai, lekin kaam extraordinary karta hai!”

Upala KBR (DNA; July 7, 2014)


Says our source, “Post Heropanti, several filmmakers have called Tiger up, impressed by his acting and action sequences, asking that he come meet them. He has been making the rounds of their offices since, sans reservations. This one time, he landed up at the Dharma Productions office to keep his appointment with KJo. He was asked to wait by the guard on duty, who went on to inform Karan that some Sher Singh had come to meet him. As the name didn’t ring a bell, he asked again, and the guard insisted he remembered the name because of Tiger’s stunts in the film. He ignored the intimation. By and by, Tiger texted Karan, who came out of his cabin to usher him in. The two later had a good laugh about it.”

However, the source from the production office maintains, “The security guard has been with Karan Johar for nearly 40 years and got rather thrown off by the name, Tiger and did a mental translation when he informed Karan of his visitor. The filmmaker was aware of his guard’s issues and so, the moment the name was announced, charged out to welcome Tiger in!”