Gabbar Singh

The blockbuster of 2012 has to be remake of another blockbuster "Dabanng" just with Telugu Nativity.

Now, it is considered to be remake of the Salman Khan starrer "Dabanng" and now we have similar recipe for the Telugu food loving people. Yet, except the plot line, I am not sure if there are any similarities. Now, I have not seen "Dabanng" and I did not want to see this film either coz this does not work for my sensibilities. I was said that this the best film of Pawan Kalyan after "Khushi", that came nearly 10 years ago. I was also told that there are few scenes that are brazenly original and highly comical like Antakshari scene etc. So I watched it one day in Sandhya Theatre, nearby my home. I was disappointed and started arguing with all those so called Pawan Kalyan fans.

Now, what is original, the movie is something that we know, the title itself is a name of villain in "Sholay" and that Antakshari scene was done very well in a good original film "Aithe". So now, I was wondering what is original, yet this turns out to be super duper hit and indeed a blockbuster. Last year too we had a similar case, where "Dookudu" was a Telugu inspiration of the German Film "Goodbye Lenin". So this is where we stand, we embrace this and more bad things we are offered, more is what we love to eat.

Gabbar Singh belongs to that very league again, just that here Pawan Kalyan who tried experiments but failed like "Johnny" gets back a slice to have his meal and now I suppose, he is satisfied with this dish. Having said that, there are few plus points and that is Music, Devisri Prasad has given some tunes and lyrics that are worth listening for many number of times, till we again delete them from collection. At least "Mandubaabulam" is one song and "Pilla" is another that will stick with for long time to come.

I can't say much of this mediocre film in which we get to see same thing over and over and over again, and more worse is we never to have better films, we loved the bad films before, now we are addicted to them. Except few dialogues, I did not like anything in this, acting is stereotypical and the setup is age-old. If not for Pawan Kalyan, I dare say this film would have been a dud, but he brought something called "Pawan style" and that's what sold the film is what I believe.

A standard 2/5 for an average film. Don't except anything ever please and you will be happy at the end.

I didn't like dabangg much. But I got excited when I heard its going to be remade in Telugu with pawan kalyan. But I became disappointed after seeing it's trailer because it looked like a regular Telugu potboiler whereas dabangg's making was retro and rustic. But when I saw it I loved it a lot. Its rocking and entertaining. Pawan kalyan was super energetic and was having a blast. The drawbacks I felt was it's abrupt ending and weak villain. On the whole, gabbar singh is rocking and 1000 times better than dabangg. This is how a remake should be by taking only only the basic story and giving it a new identity.

Pawan Kalyan has given an extraordinary performance. His comedy timing is perfect. He has delivered several punch dialog's with his inimitable mannerism. He is good in both action and dance sequences. Shruti Hassan looks gorgeous in the film. Her performance as an innocent village belle is excellent. Though she has a very small role to play, she has used the available space to show her acting prowess. While abundant action sequences are on expected lines, including slow-mo flips and kicks, it's really the wit that's a pleasant surprise (and breather!). Be it the action sequence or goons made to play Antakshari by Gabbar Singh in his police station, the fact that the film included spoof snippets on Pawan Kalyan's earlier films and songs, is a refreshing change. Ali, Brahmanandam and Ranjit Kumar tickle the funny bones of audiences. Combination scenes of Ali and Pawan Kalyan have been shot well. Other artistes like Suhasini, Nagineedu, Rao Ramesh, Abhimanyu Singh have done justice to their respective roles.

What remains constant though is the fact that Pawan Kalyan (like Salman in the original) is the heart and soul of the enterprise. His comic timing, his attitude, his punch lines, mannerisms everything is tailor made to suit the role (or was it vice a versa) and Pawan delivers an immensely lovable rogue cop act. Pawan Kalyan fans will definitely have a field day with Gabbar Singh, yet those who do not think much of the star would enjoy this movie as much too despite the lackluster climax and slow second half. Watch it in a single screen with maddening fans for company and the fun quotient would just triple up.

Pawan Kalyan fans have been waiting for so long to see their idol in this type of role. He took more time than needed. But finally he has delivered the goods with Gabbar Singh. Watch it!

Story

Gabbar Singh (Pawan Kalyan) runs away from home at an early age and become a police officer and gets transferred to his village. He likes his mother (Suhasini) and dislikes his foster father (Nagineedu). Siddhappa Naidu (Abhimanyu Singh) is the big rowdy of the village who has aspirations to become a politician. Gabbar Singh cuts Siddhappa to his size and Siddhappa wants to take revenge. The rest of the story is about how Gabbar Singh executes everything in his style.

Artists Performance

Pawan Kalyan: It took almost 12 years and a director called Harish Shankar to bring out the character in Pawan Kalyan onto the screen the way people want to see it. Pawan Kalyan scorches the screen with his performance. Pawan Kalyan's attitude, body language and josh (some may call it over-acting) is perfectly extracted by the director. Pawan Kalyan has shown it again how an actor can own and carry it on when the right character is offered.

Others: Shruti Hassan is adequate as lady love of Gabbar Singh. Abhimanyu Singh is fine. Ali is hilarious (or the way Pawan tells him 'samba raasuko'). Brahmanandam is okay in the first half and hilarious in Pawan Kalyan cutout scene in the second half. Suhasini and Nagineedu are good as parents. Tanikella Bharani has been properly utilized in this movie as the mentor of villain. Kota Srinivasa Rao has a short yet important role as heroine's father. Rao Ramesh played the role of a politician. Ajay is apt for the character of step brother. Gayatri Rao (Happy Days fame) has done the character of heroine's friend. The rowdy batch (headed by Fish Venkat) is hilarious in Antakshari scene in Police Station.

Technical departments

Story - screenplay - direction: The story of the film is an old-fashioned, but a workable one. What makes the difference to such an old-type story is the 'thikka' characterization by Harish Shankar. There are certain antics of Pawan Kalyan which appear like 'overr-acting' if not used well by the director. Harish Shankar has used them excellently to bring out hilariously entertaining episodes. His direction is good, but should have worked more on tight screenplay towards second half. The following scenes are true entertainers

1. When Gabbar Singh introduces himself to the village men after the intro fight. 2. 'Samba raasuko' episodes 3. 'Are Gabbar Singh Ka Fauzia' episodes 4. Episode before and after Pelli Choopulu failure 5. Antakshari Episode. This is probably the highlight of the film. 6. Brahmanandam cutout buildup episode 7. References episodes (Kushi, Muta Mesthri and Jalsa) 8. Kota Thagubothu song scene

Other departments: Dialogues are the second most important technical aspect of the movie after characterization. Harish Shankar has come up with entertaining dialogues that suit Pawan Kalyan to a T. Background music is good and songs scored by Devi Sri Prasad are excellent. Cinematography is neat, but properly care should have been taken white shooting the slow-motion shots of hero introduction scene. Editing is fine and production values are okay.

Analysis: First half of the film is highly entertaining. Second half has some story. Looks like this film is made with the sole purpose of entertainment with a workable script. Pawan Kalyan's inbuilt mannerism and attitude and merged perfectly by the character written for him. The film has 80% Pawan Kalyan and 20% rest of the cast. Plus points of the film are Pawan Kalyan's never-before entertainment, Harish Shankar's dialogues and characterization. The negative points are hurried climax and inadequate screenplay in the second half. The hero is more powerful than villain, hence the hero vs villain thread is weak. On a whole, Gabbar Singh is a good mass entertainer and will satisfy fans and general crowds alike who have been expecting a good entertainer from Pawan Kalyan over a decade.

The film rarely bores you. Tightly packed screenplay. Pavan Kalyan carries the film on his shoulders with ease. His mannerisms are the same, his acting style is the same, but somehow it does not appear clichéd. He gives a nonchalant yet energetic performance. Devi Sri Prasad's songs are all good. From melodies to mass numbers, he did a very good job. The fanfare theme music that comes in the background every time Gabbar Singh appears on screen, is awesome; makes you hum and raises your spirits. Sruthi Hassan is a wasted talent. It could have been anyone else in the heroine's character - it does not make any difference. I enjoyed the film mainly because the whole theater was reverberating with the enthusiastic shouts of fans even during the second week after release. Pawan Kalyan gets the much needed hit after a long time. Like for any other mass hero's film, for Gabbar Singh too, just a positive talk is enough to create records.