On Wednesday morning, the makers of ‘Padma Shri Kaur Singh’ took to Tips Punjabi’s official YouTube channel to finally drop the movie’s trailer. The video promises to tell a story that took 37 long years to unfold.
The 3:20 minute-long video starts with an announcement for Kaur Singh that says, "Get ready to rock the arena with a huge encore of clapping and welcome one and only, the most loved Kaur Singh." And then comes actor Karam Batth, in the role of the legendary boxer Kaur Singh, who is introduced as a man who proclaims that his hand is as powerful as a hammer.
A twist comes in the story when the young (but apparently jobless) guy from Sangrur, Punjab, falls in love with a beautiful girl named Baljeet, whose father is already in search of a suitable soldier to marry her off.
With the intention of impressing Baljeet's father, Singh goes to join the Indian army and ends up discovering his strength as a boxer. However, his sole focus is on marrying his lady love, and he dismisses the advice of his superiors in the army.
It’s only after a series of rejections from her father that he decides to consider boxing seriously. A heartbreak that brings out the boxer in Kaur Singh and makes him a legendary athlete, who later goes to fight world champion Muhammad Ali, seems to be the crux of the film.
The trailer ends with a scene from a leap, when 10 years later, Singh stands frustrated in a government office while everyone watches a boxing match on television.Debutant lead actor Karam Batth shows his skills in Vikram Pradhan directed mature Punjabi sports drama.
His playfulness as a lover and aggression as an athlete are very well portrayed on the screen. The story of an underdog finding his strength and passion sounds like a run-of-the-mill script, but it would be interesting to see how the director treats the story to make it stand out from the past films with similar plots. In several instances, humour has been used well to create a balance when emotional drama becomes very overwhelming.
From the trailer, it looks like the supporting cast of actors like Prabh Grewal, Raj Kakra, Malkeet Rauni, Sukhi Chahal, Baninder Bunny, Gurpreet Bhangu, Seema Kaushal, and Sukhbir Gill have done a decent job of saving the story from falling flat. Prabh Grewal, in the role of Baljeet - SIngh's love interest- looks charming. Though there isn't much to see in terms of her acting performance in the trailer, Grewal seems to be the right fit for the role. Rest can be known once the film is out.
Through the trailer, the makers have also given a glimpse of three songs, namely ‘Kehre Ambara Ch Husn Utareya’, ‘Akkh Na Lagdi Raata Nu’ and ‘Kaudeya Kaudeya’; and all three strike the right chords.The music is directed by Jatinder Shah, while the lyrics are written by Raj Kakra. The film is scheduled for release on July 22, 2022.