Director Gokul is known for his loud brand of eccentric comedy which we have seen in films such as Idharkuthaane Aasaipattai Balakumara and Junga, and he brings it back again for Singapore Saloon – which is RJ Balaji’s latest outing at the cinemas.
The film is the story of young man who wants to follow his passion of becoming a hair stylist after passing out of college with an engineering degree, and how he overcomes the challenges that he faces on his path. The film starts off with a long episode from the childhood of the lead character and his friend, and how they come close with ‘Chacha’ (Lal), a barber who is known for his styling in their neighbourhood. It then changes tracks to his life in college and after, and tells us the motivational story of how he gets through the challenges one by one. The first half is in Gokul’s zone where he achieves the comedy of the film with the use of funny characters mainly in Sathyaraj (who plays a miserly father-in-law) and Robo Shankar. The comedy is consistent here, and it is only in the second half where the film takes a motivational route and shows the journey of the protagonist. Here, the film is in humps and bumps but it manages to provide a neat experience to the viewers.
RJ Balaji has tried a new zone of comedy where he has a deadpan-humour segment every 10 minutes, and is probably the only serious lead character in a film full of comic ones. The film’s big highlight is the pre-interval portion with Sathyaraj where the veteran actors brings the roof down with his comics. In the second half, Arvind Swami’s cameo is highly efficient and works superbly for the film.
The film has neat technicalities that help it move along but Gokul could have also used his serious mode to better effect in the second half where the travel of the character could have brought about better results. On the whole, Singapore Saloon comes off as a watchable entertainer that provides the laughs while also being a film on hope.
Verdict: A watchable time pass entertainer that entertains and motivates.