If
you
are
wondering
why
Akshay
Kumar
sounds
uncharacteristically
nasal
and
toned-down
in
Singh
Is
Kinng,
producer
Vipul
Shah
gives
the
answer.
"Akshay
had
a
fierce
cold
while
dubbing.
There
was
no
way
we
could
postpone.
So
we
used
his
nasal
voice
and
Akshay
even
added
a
line
in
the
dialogue
about
his
character
having
a
terrible
zukaam."
The
Friday
agitations
by
the
Students
Sikh
Federation
about
the
'wrong'
depiction
of
Sikhs
at
a
theatre
in
Amritsar
has
left
producer
Vipul
Shah
agitated
"My
film
has
grossed
46-48
crore
rupees
over
the
first
weekend.
That's
more
than
Om
Shanti
Om
and
Welcome
which
had
the
highest
opening
so
far.
So
obviously
the
film
has
been
liked.
I
can't
please
every
single
Sikh.
Who
are
these
agitators?
This
is
nothing
but
a
shortcut
to
fame.
The
boys
of
the
Sikh
Youth
Federation
must've
thought
that
when
the
Delhi
Gurudwara
Parbandhak
Committee
protested,
Akshay
rushed
to
Delhi.
In
Amritsar
they
must've
thought
this
is
their
way
of
getting
Akshay
into
Amritsar.
Surely
there're
easier
ways
of
getting
stars'
attention.
And
Akshay
couldn't
spend
one
year
moving
from
city
to
city
appeasing
the
imagined
hurt
of
self-appointed
champions
of
the
Sikh
community.
These
are
people
who
don't
respect
the
opinion
the
highest
authorities
of
their
community
who've
said
there's
nothing
objectionable
in
Singh
Is
Kinng.
All
the
important
and
powerful
bodies
of
the
Sikh
community
cleared
the
film.
What
were
these
boys
on
Friday
protesting
about?
They
said
they
hadn't
even
seen
the
film.
They
just
said
it
was
an
insult
to
Sikhism.
But
in
what
way?"
Vipul
feels
there
are
professional
protestors
who
jump
up
in
protest
against
any
culture-specific
cinema.
"They
feel
somehow
their
culture
will
be
threatened
when
on
the
contrary,
culture-specific
films
like
Jodhaa-Akbar
and
Singh
Is
Kinng
pay
a
homage
to
the
people
and
culture
of
a
community."
On
Friday
300
Sikhs
saw
Singh
Is
Kinng
at
Cinemax
in
Mumbai.
"They
were
dancing
the
Bhangra
with
dhols
after
the
screening.
They
told
a
news
channel
that
this
was
the
first
film
in
70
years
of
Indian
cinema
that
had
done
justice
to
the
Sikh
community.
What
more
endorsement
for
our
motives
can
there
be?"
Vipul
admits
his
guilt
on
the
beard
issue.
"We
admit
Akshay's
beard
should've
been
longer.
We
added
a
scene
where
Akshay
says
he
made
a
mistake
by
trimming
his
beard.
And
in
the
video
with
Snoop
Dogg
during
the
end
titles
he
comes
with
a
full
beard,
albeit
a
false
one.
It'd
have
taken
Akshay
two
years
to
grow
a
natural
beard.
We
had
told
the
Shirmoni
Gurudwara
Parbandhak
Committee
that
the
beard
would
be
false,
and
they
had
agreed."
Vipul
wants
a
law
whereby
freedom
of
expressions
cannot
be
curbed.
"The
final
authority
on
right
and
wrong
in
a
film
should
be
the
censor
board.
Once
the
censors
approve,
all
protests
should
be
crushed
with
iron
hands.
Otherwise
all
of
us
should
just
fold
up
our
production
houses.
I'm
not
disrespecting
Sikh
sentiments.
So
please
stop
hounding
me
for
nothing."
Vipul
Shah
couldn't
be
in
a
happier
place.
"The
opening
of
Singh
Is
Kinng
has
been
incredible.
Business
everywhere
has
been
thundering.
But
I
can
only
rest
easy
after
the
first
two
weeks.
I'm
glad
that
in
spite
of
being
a
comedy,
Singh
Is
Kinng
isn't
vulgar.
I
gave
my
director
Anees
Bazmee
the
freedom
to
do
what
he
likes.
I
only
wanted
him
to
tell
a
morally
correct
story.
I
didn't
want
to
flinch
while
watching
it
with
my
sons."
Story first published: Monday, August 18, 2008, 14:04 [IST]