In his Bollywood debut Uvaa, Sangram Singh has a three-minute cameo that takes the fizz out of him being the apt salesperson. By Christy Varghese
For sportspersons, he is wrestler Sangram Singh but to the majority of the entertainment crazy population he is “the guy who appeared in Bigg Boss.” And everytime someone identifies him as the latter, Singh beams with pride. “When people identify me as the guy from Bigg Boss and Nach Baliye I feel happy. It means that I have made that an impact in the minds of the people,” he said at the promotional event of his film Uvaa.
Dressed in a loud silk blazer with ethnic motifs, Singh appeared no less than a star. Judging by the amount of attention he was getting, it was a surprise to find out that Singh has only a brief role in the movie — as little as three minutes. “I do not want to disappoint my fans or burst their expectations but yes, I have a cameo appearance in the movie,” Singh cleared all speculations.
One would have thought that the producers of Uvaa, who have good content and a meaty line-up of veterans like Om Puri, Sanjay Mishra and Jimmy Shergill, had a better pitch asset. But brawny Singh it was, the rustic chest-thumping now a stale idea.The plot of Uvaa, a comedy-social drama film written and directed by Jasbir Bhaati, revolves around the easy-going lives of five friends in a boarding school.
A chance encounter with an injured woman, who turns out to be a rape victim, incites them to fight for the justice of the woman thereby forming a good example for the community. Bhaati was pious in his intentions, “In today’s times the youth form a majority of the Indian population and therefore carry a lot of clout by the manner of how they can influence change and that’s what the movie is all about.”
It took debutant lead actress Yukti Kapoor to remind us of the worth of veteran actors. She could not stop praising her seniors, “Working with legendary actors like Om ji, Sanjay Mishra and Jimmy sir in the movie was an awesome win-win situation in itself.”
Even though the movie stars veteran actors, it chose to promote itself by relying on the fresh faces of Kapoor, Mohit Baghel, Neha Khan and Poonam Pandey, aided by the loud and brash Singh who seeks to oversell himself.