Singh is Not Kinng in Toronto Fest

Akshay Kumar in “Singh is Kinng.”

Bollywood superstar Akshay Khanna is maha gussa. His Singh is Kinng has set cash registers ringing, and even the Toronto International Film Festival has screened his film. But the kaminé film critics at the festival are bitching about it no end.

Akki reportedly faced hurdles to see his blockbuster through in the festival.

Now critics at the festival are looking askance at this masala film rubbing shoulders with art films.

However, TIFF co-director Cameron Bailey has strongly defended his decision to invite Singh is Kinng to Toronto.

“The idea is to bring the full diversity of Indian cinema to audiences in Toronto. People here are familiar with India’s regional cinema but commercial Hindi films haven’t had the sort of exposure it deserves. It is an integral part of the Indian cinema landscape,” he said.

In fact, in the course of a party hosted by Percept Picture Company, Akshay revealed that he was keen to have Priyadarshan’s comic drama Bhool Bhulaiya included in the official Toronto film festival list last year.

But the organizers of North America’s premier film festival rejected the request, the veteran actor said.

Now his film is in, but the critics are carping about it. And Akki is not the slightest bit happy about it.