As if Akshay Kumar’s historic unveiling of the mammoth banner of Singh Is Kinng at the Silver City Brampton in Toronto wasn’t enough for his cheering fans, the city is set to witness another splash by Kinng Kumar and his latest blockbuster.

Marketed and released worldwide by Indian Films - Studio 18, Singh Is Kinng, the year’s biggest hit, is headed to the glittering Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF 2008), one of the biggest cinematic events in the world. It will be one of the eleven coveted gala presentations to be screened at The Roy Thomson Hall on Sunday, 7th September, 2008.

Singh Is Kinng finds itself in august company with ten celebrated top-notch Hollywood titles that include Caroline Link’s A Year Ago in Winter; starring Karoline Herfurth, Josef Bierbichler, Corinna Harfouch, Hanns Zischler and Mišel Maticevic; Toa Fraser’s Dean Spanley, starring Peter O’Toole, Jeremy Northam, Sam Neill and Bryan Brown; Jodie Markell’s The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, starring Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Evans, Ellen Burstyn, Mamie Gummer, Ann-Margret and Will Patton; Neil Burger’s The Lucky Ones, starring Rachel McAdams, Tim Robbins and Michael Peña; Rod Lurie’s Nothing But the Truth, starring Kate Beckinsale, Vera Farmiga, Alan Alda, David Schwimmer, Noah Wyle and Angela Bassett; Gavin O’Connor’s Pride and Glory, starring Edward Norton, Colin Farrell, Jon Voight, Noah Emmerich and Jennifer Ehle; Jerry Zaks’s Who Do You Love, starring Alessandro Nivola and Ethan Coen and Joel Coen’s Burn After Reading, starring George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Richard Jenkins, and Brad Pitt.

Tickets to the gala are always in high demand, being high-profile star-studded events. The Singh Is Kinng celebration at the festival is tipped to be attended by Sandeep Bhargava, CEO of the investment adviser to Indian Films, producer Vipul A. Shah, director Aneez Bazmee, and lead actors, Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif.   Singh Is Kinng has set new records at the worldwide box-office mopping up $25 million (approx.) to date and still going.

A bash to celebrate the enormous success of Singh Is Kinng was held at a five-star hotel in Mumbai on Monday evening……the do was attended by the producer, director and cast of the film including worldwide distributors, Studio 18.

Also in attendance were guests like Dino Morea, Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar, Prakash Jha, Mukesh Bhatt, Kunal Kohli, Aadesh Shrivastava and others.

A champagne toast was raised by Vipul Shah and Akshay Kumar to another kinng, Abhinav Bindra, who brought India honour by clinching a Gold Medal for Rifle Shooting at the Beijing Olympics.

Credit for Pictures: Viral Bhayani

The Indian Films-Studio 18 released Singh Is Kinng took home the box-office gold internationally, emerging as the biggest Bollywood title of 2008 and the numero uno in the career of its protagonist and superstar Akshay Kumar. (Interestingly, Kumar’s all-time No.2 performer, Welcome, was also released by Studio 18 in December 2007.)

In addition to the key overseas markets, US/Canada, UK and UAE, Singh Is Kinng saw a wide day-and-date release by Studio 18 in Trinidad & Tobago, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Mauritius, Fiji, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa, East Africa, West Africa, Australia and New Zealand, among other countries.

Distributed on 275 prints in these markets, Singh Is Kinng mopped up more than INR 12 cr (approx. US$ 3 million) just in its opening weekend.

In North America, on 112 prints (including 28 in Canada - the widest release for a Bollywood film ever), Singh… popped open to a thunderous response ringing up an estimated $1.2 million.

In the UK & Ireland, on 70 prints, it grossed £62,533 on its previews and notched a solid £430,748 over the weekend, taking its cum. to a gigantic £493,281 and placing it at No.7 in the UK Top 10 chart. In terms of per theatre average for the weekend, Singh Is Kinng devoured the prevailing Hollywood blockbusters in the UK, much the same as the US, where it was ranked at No.15.

In the Middle East, on 33 prints, the gross was in excess of 2.02 million AED.

Singh Is Kinng, produced by Vipul Shah’s Blockbuster Movies, features the hit duo, Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif, ably supported by Neha Dhupia, Om Puri, Kirron Kher, Sonu Sood, Javed Jaffrey and others. It features a much-hyped collaboration on the title track with legendary rapper, Snoop Doggy Dogg.

After the super success of Jab We Met, Welcome & now Singh Is Kinng, Indian Films - Studio 18 has an impressive slate of international releases in 2008, which include Sanjay Gadhvi’s Kidnap, starring Sanjay Dutt and Imraan Khan, Rohit Shetty’s Golmaal Returns featuring Ajay Devgan, Kareena Kapoor, Arshad Warsi, Shreyas Talpade, Celina Jaitly and Tusshar Kapoor, and Anil Kapoor Productions’ Shortkut, toplining Akshaye Khanna, Amrita Rao and Arshad Warsi.

Akshay Kumar emerged as a real ‘kinng’ of hearts, as he brought a cheerful smile on the faces of the mentally handicapped children of Mumbai’s Dilkhush School during a special screening of his latest smash hit, ‘Singh Is Kinng’…

Painting exhibition inspired by SINGH IS KINNG. Check out some pics of the event:

Singh Is Kinng press conference pics:

As Singh Is Kinng opens worldwide today, its protagonist, Akshay Kumar, who is busy promoting his maiden production in Mumbai and Delhi, emphasised the importance of watching the film on the big screen and solicited media support to propagate this message.

“Physical and online piracy is destroying our industry. I would sincerely request my audience to enjoy Singh Is Kinng on the big screen only. Picking up a pirate DVD or streaming it illegally on the web will only ruin the viewing experience. Condemning counterfeit material is the least we can do to show our commitment to an industry that works hard in entertaining people and putting a smile on their face,” he said.

Akshay Kumar was in Vancouver, BC, Canada to promote ‘Singh Is Kinng’. Here are some more pics of Akshay Kumar in Vancouver.

After dazzling the audience in Los Angeles and Toronto, Akshay Kumar had Vancouver in raptures, as he landed in a chopper to promote ‘Singh Is Kinng’ Saturday 02nd August (Vancouver): Catapulting the hype around Singh Is Kinng to a new level, Akshay Kumar landed in Vancouver last Saturday to promote his upcoming release.

The film’s worldwide distributor, Studio 18, flew Akshay from Los Angeles to Vancouver in a private jet. Upon landing in Vancouver, he immediately boarded a specially hired chopper that took him to the famous PNE (Pacific National Exhibition) Ground for a concert. As his limo rolled into the venue, the cheering fans went ballistic.

Known for its enormous Sikh community, Vancouver had its natives flocking in thousands to see Kumar on stage, as he enthralled visitors for half an hour with a live interaction and dance moves to the title track of Singh Is Kinng, not once but twice, by public demand.

“Who is behind a successful sardar?” he asked the crowd. The women roared with delight when he beamed, “His sardarni!”

Following the event at PNE, the limo took him to The Fairmont Airport Hotel for an exclusive press conference by Studio 18 US, where he revealed, “Singh Is Kinng is my first production. It means the world to me because my father’s named is attached. It is simple, honest and positive; which are the values propounded by my father.”

Commenting on how the film and its title came about, he remarked, “When I read the phrase Singh Is King on a truck-back in Jaipur, I told my partner (Vipul Shah) that we had to make a film with this title. That was the starting point. We had no cast, no story, no director, but everything fell in place thereafter!”

Upon completion of the conference, the khiladi-turned-kinng promptly rushed to the adjacent Vancouver airport to board his private jet back to Los Angeles.

While shooting a scene in ‘Singh Is Kinng’ on the Gold Coast, Akshay Kumar had to jet ski in deep water but realised that he would not be allowed to do so without an official license.

Producer Vipul A. Shah reveals, “It takes three days to get a jet-ski license but Akshay explained the time constraints. He did a three-day course in 12 hours. He got up at 6 am and got his license by 7 pm. He had to give a written and practical test. The action scene we have shot is one of the most expensive ones that Bollywood has ever seen and has been directed by Danny Baldwin.” Akshay laughs, “Going through a theory and practical exam was like going back to school!”

Danny Baldwin is an incredibly popular stunts coordinator in Australia with over a hundred films and television series to his credit. He is even said to have worked with Tom Cruise in ‘The Last Samurai’ and Michael Douglas in ‘The Ghost And The Darkness’.

Commenting on how he was approached, Shah says, “When we went for a reccee to Australia we saw a lot of show-reels and met a lot of technicians. But we saw a clear synergy with Danny as his style of action was exactly what we needed. The beauty about the action in ‘Singh is Kinng’ is that not only is it great to look at but makes the audience laugh as well.”

Reacting to rumours that the glamour action in ‘Singh Is Kinng’ resembles that of ‘Dhoom:2′, Vipul adds, “It is similar only in quality. These are very high-end action sequences. Akshay had to be very careful in certain sequences, for instance, the scene in which he had to jump from one moving lift to another without supporting cables. But Akshay is Akshay! He did it with much panache and agility. Enjoy watching it in the film!”

The wait isn’t long now, as ‘Singh Is Kinng’ opens on Thursday, August 7. It is an Indian Films - Studio 18 worldwide release.