Wikipedia

Gabbar Singh (film)

Gabbar Singh is a 2012 Indian Telugu-language action film directed by Harish Shankar. The film stars Pawan Kalyan and Shruti Haasan. Devi Sri Prasad composed the film's music and Jayanan Vincent was the cinematographer.[4]The plot follows Venkataratnam Naidu, a police officer who, inspired by a film character, adopts the name Gabbar Singh.[a] Posted in a village, he faces off against a local thug aspiring to join politics who manipulates his half-brother. Gabbar Singh embarks on a mission to dismantle the thug's corrupt political ambitions and restore justice.

Gabbar Singh
Theatrical release poster
Directed byHarish Shankar
Written byStory:
Abhinav Kashyap
Dilip Shukla
Screenplay:
Satish Vegesna
Ramesh Reddy
Dialogues:
Harish Shankar
Based onDabangg
Produced byBandla Ganesh
StarringPawan Kalyan
Shruti Haasan
CinematographyJayanan Vincent
Edited byGautham Raju
Music byDevi Sri Prasad
Production
company
Release date
  • 11 May 2012 (2012-05-11)
Running time
152 minutes[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageTelugu
Budget₹30 crore[2][3]
Box officeest. ₹104 crore

Made on a budget of ₹30 crore,[2] the film was formally launched on 18 August 2011 at Hyderabad with shooting primarily held in Pollachi district. The film grossed around ₹104 crore worldwide, becoming the second-highest-grossing Telugu film at the time, emerging as the highest-grossing Telugu film of the year.[3][5]

Kalyan's performance was acclaimed for its charisma and energy, blending mass appeal with comedy, earning him the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu, the SIIMA Award for Best Actor – Telugu, a CineMAA Award, among other accolades. A sequel, Sardaar Gabbar Singh, was released in 2016.

Plot

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Venkataratnam Naidu lives with his mother, stepfather Naidu, and younger half-brother Ajay in Kondaveedu. His stepfather is always partial towards Ajay, much to Venkataratnam's anger. He stops caring about others' opinions and renames himself after the fictional character "Gabbar Singh."[b] As his resentment towards his brother and stepfather grows, Gabbar Singh runs away from home. His stepfather eventually finds him and sends him to a boarding school away from Kondaveedu.

Twenty-one years later, Gabbar Singh is a police officer posted as the Circle Inspector (CI) for the Kondaveedu region. His anger towards his brother and stepfather remains unchanged, and he lives separately from them. Though he wants to live with his mother in his new house, she prefers to stay with Naidu. Ajay is a gambling addict with debts all over the village. Gabbar Singh falls in love with a handicraft vendor named Bhagya Lakshmi.

Siddhappa Naidu is a local goon who, with his uncle's help, aspires to become the MLA of the region in the upcoming by-election. He seeks nomination from the ruling party. Although Siddhappa despises Gabbar Singh for obstructing his illegal activities, he tries to win him over. Gabbar Singh refuses, stating that he knows Siddhappa's true nature and warns him. Angered by Gabbar Singh's response, Siddhappa sends goons to disrupt the Kondaveedu market yard. Gabbar Singh confronts and defeats them, reopening the market yard. Enraged, Siddhappa plans to kill Gabbar Singh, but his uncle advises speaking with the Home Minister to have Gabbar Singh transferred out of Kondaveedu. The minister denies their request and advises Siddhappa to make peace with Gabbar Singh or risk his political ambitions.

Meanwhile, Gabbar Singh proposes to Bhagya Lakshmi, but she rejects him, stating she must care for her ailing, alcoholic father and cannot marry while he is alive. Gabbar Singh returns home to find his mother dead. He attempts to make peace with his stepfather, but Naidu rejects him as an outcast. Gabbar Singh is then attacked by Siddhappa's men at a handicraft exhibition. He defeats them and confronts Siddhappa, warning him to stop interfering and declaring he will never allow Siddhappa to become an MLA.

Provoked by Siddhappa's men, Ajay brutally injures one of his creditors. Siddhappa calls the police to warn them about the fight. Gabbar Singh publicly beats his brother, disgracing him. Siddhappa tries to exploit the situation to have Gabbar Singh suspended, but Naidu resolves the issue by accepting Gabbar Singh's apology. Angered by the outcome, Siddhappa challenges Gabbar Singh, warning that something significant will happen in the next 24 hours. Gabbar Singh interrogates Siddhappa's henchmen and learns Siddhappa arranged Bhagya Lakshmi's marriage to a local merchant by bribing her father to enrage Gabbar Singh. Gabbar Singh crashes the wedding, confirms Bhagya Lakshmi's love for him, and marries her on the spot.

As a last effort, Siddhappa tries to bribe the high command for a party nomination, offering ₹5 crore. Gabbar Singh learns of this and steals the money. Ajay, in desperate need of money, is approached by Siddhappa, who offers help in exchange for Ajay's assistance in his election campaign. Siddhappa instructs Ajay to deliver a cellphone and a box of sweets to the Minister's house, unknowingly containing a bomb that kills the minister. Knowing that it was Gabbar Singh's brother behind the blast, the district superintendent suspends Gabbar Singh. Gabbar Singh confronts Naidu about the actions of Ajay. Naidu suffers a heart attack and is hospitalized, where Gabbar Singh cares for him, rekindling their bond.

Ajay, shocked by the blast, convinces Siddhappa to kill Gabbar Singh. Although he has no intention of killing his brother, he agrees to escape Siddhappa's grasp and confesses to Gabbar that he was sent to kill him. Gabbar attempts to take Ajay to the commissioner for a confession, but Siddhappa reveals he killed Gabbar's mother while searching for his money. In a final battle, Gabbar Singh storms Siddhappa's house, kills his goons, and defeats Siddhappa. Gabbar Singh then hires most of Siddhappa's henchmen for low-profile police jobs while discussing his future with Bhagya Lakshmi.

Cast

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Production

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Development

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In 2011, Pawan expressed interest in remaking the Hindi film Dabangg to Telugu as he was impressed with the film.[6] Arbaaz Khan sold the remake rights to Pawan. It was originally announced that Pawan would produce the film under his newly formed production banner "Pawan Kalyan Creative Works"; however, it was announced as Bandla Ganesh will produce the film under his banner Parameswara Cine Creations.[7][8] Pawan approached Harish to direct the Telugu remake of Dabangg.[9] Harish Shankar revealed he was supposed to direct Mirapakaay (originally titled "Romantic Rishi") with Pawan Kalyan which was dropped due to various reasons.[6]

Casting

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Sonu Sood (left) was originally slated to reprise his character, but he was replaced by Abhimanyu Singh (right).

Harish Shankar signed Shruti Haasan as the film's actress. Shruti had signed the film in November 2011 replacing Ileana D'Cruz who had opted out, and played the role of Bhagyalakshmi, a village girl, which had been played by Sonakshi Sinha in the original version.[10] Parvati Melton[11] and Malaika Arora was finally selected to perform item number for which she was reported to be paid ₹1 crore (US$120,000); however, Ganesh denied that Malaika was paid ₹1 crore and also refused to divulge details about her remuneration.[12] Kota Srinivasa Rao, Rao Ramesh and Jaya Prakash Reddy were selected to portray supporting roles.

Filming

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Themes and influences

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Few dialogues were written for and uttered by Pawan Kalyan's character in the film. Dialogues like "Naku konchem thikka undi, kani daniko lekka undi" (I am crazy, but my craziness has a calculation)[c][13] epitomises the nature of the characterisation of cop roles in Telugu cinema. Director Harish Shankar defended by quoting, "Fans like to see their favourite stars doing incredible things. I just tried to tweak Pawan's character for a better audience connection. The last dialogue of Pawan in the film "Police ane vaadu...Janam lo bhayam pogottevaadu avvali, kaani jananni bhayapette vaadu kaadu" (Police are there to prevent fear among people, but people should not be feared of us)[c] sums up our film. I respect police officers and have made sure that we do not offend them in any way".[14] The lyrics of the song "Kevvu Keka" draw heavily from folk literature (Jana Padams), this art form was developed by uneducated farmers who wrote those songs to entertain themselves while working in the fields.[15]

Music

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Main article: Gabbar Singh (soundtrack)

The soundtrack of the film was composed by Devi Sri Prasad. On 15 April 2012, Pawan Kalyan along with Bandla Ganesh, Harish Shankar and few others visited Tirumala, where they released the first song from the film and soon after that they went to Visakhapatnam and visited Simhachalam Temple where they released the second song from the film.[16]

Release

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The film was released worldwide in around 2500 theaters.[17] Central Board of Film Certification passed the film with an 'U/A' certificate.[18] British Board of Film Classification passed the film with a '15' rating due to strong violence.[1]

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KV Chalapathi Rao, State President of AP Police Officers Association said, "The red towel which Pawan Kalyan wears in one of the movie stills is the point of contention. We see municipality workers in such attire generally and it is derogatory to show a police officer in such light".[19]

Reception

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Critical reception

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Sify wrote, "The first half is filled with mass masala, while the second half turns hackneyed, but the drawback is instantly overcome thanks to the comedy".[20] Rediff wrote, "Entertaining it may be, but Gabbar Singh is filled with violence and some vulgarity and not meant for the very young audience".[21] Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu said, "The story is formulaic. Don't expect anything out of the box. What comes as a saver is an engaging screenplay, witty dialogues and performances from the actors".[22] Karthik Pasupulate of Times of India rated the film 4 out of 5 stars stating that: "The movie sets a new benchmark as far as "paisa vasool" goes."[23]

Box office

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The film had collected a record share of ₹27.4 crore worldwide with a record first week share of ₹25 crore from Andhra Pradesh alone.[24] The total three weeks share of the film now stands at ₹50.45 crore.[25] The film has grossed more than US$1 million at the United States box office. The film had earned ₹128 crore (US$15 million) gross worldwide in the first three weeks.[3] The film has completed 50 days in 307 centres on 29 June 2012. Sources added that Gabbar Singh has also registered another record of running in 250 direct centers.[26] The film has shattered the box office collections records and has created a new history by raking around ₹53 crore share after 50 days run.[27]

Gabbar Singh grossed ₹101 crore (US$12 million) worldwide with a lifetime distributor share of ₹60.5 crore (US$7.2 million).[3][5]

Accolades

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Ceremony Category Nominee Result
Hyderabad Times Film Awards 2012[28] Best Actor – Male Pawan Kalyan Won
Best Music Director Devi Sri Prasad Won
TSR – TV9 National Film Awards 2012 Best Playblack Singer – Male Vaddepalli Srinivas – "Ey Pillaa" Won
2nd South Indian International Movie Awards[29] Best Film (Telugu) Bandla Ganesh Nominated
Best Director (Telugu) Harish Shankar Won[30]
Best Cinematographer (Telugu) Jayanan Vincent Nominated
Best Actor (Telugu) Pawan Kalyan Won[30]
Best Actress (Telugu) Shruti Haasan Won[30]
Best Supporting Actress (Telugu) Suhasini Nominated
Best Actor in a Negative Role Abhimanyu Singh Nominated
Best Comedian (Telugu) Sreenu Won[30]
Best Music Director (Telugu) Devi Sri Prasad Won
Best Male Playback Singer Shankar Mahadevan for "Akasam Ammayaithe" Nominated
Best Female Playback Singer Mamta Sharma for "Kevvu Keka" Nominated
Best Fight Choreographer Ram Lakshman Won
Best Dance Choreographer Ganesh for "Dekho Dekho Gabbar Singh" Nominated
CineMAA Awards 2013 Best Actor (Male) Pawan Kalyan Won
Best Comedian Antyakshari Team Won
Best Director Harish Shankar Won
Best Film Bandla Ganesh Won
Best Choreographer Ganesh Won
Best Editor Gowtham Raju Won
60th Filmfare Awards South[31] Best Film Bandla Ganesh Nominated
Best Director Harish Shankar Nominated
Best Actor (Male) Pawan Kalyan Won
Best Music Director Devi Sri Prasad Won
Best Lyrics Sahithi Pawan – "Kevvu Keka" Nominated
Best Playback Singer (Male) Vaddepalli Srinivas – "Pillaa" Won
Mirchi Music Awards South 2012 Best Album of the Year – Jury Choice Devi Sri Prasad Won
Best Album of the Year – Listeners Choice Devi Sri Prasad Won
Best Song of the Year – Jury Choice "Akasam Ammayaithe" Won
Best Song of the Year – Listeners Choice "Kevvu Keka" Won
Best Composer of the Year Devi Sri Prasad Won
Santosham Film Awards 2013 Best Editor Gowtham Raju Won

Legacy

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The success of the film made Shruti Haasan one of the most sought-after actresses in Telugu cinema.[32] The film catapulted Pawan again into beckoning after his continuous failures Puli (2010), Theenmaar (2011) and Panjaa (2011).[33] Nisha Kothari starrer Bullet Rani is said to be inspired by Gabbar Singh. Suresh Goswami, director of the film clarified that "I don't mind if my film is called the female version of Gabbar Singh, but it's definitely not a spoof. In fact, Nisha's role is inspired by Pawan's tough cop act in his film".[34]

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The films Kevvu Keka (2012), Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyinde (2013) and Pilla Nuvvu Leni Jeevitham (2014) were named after the songs from the film.[35] The song "Kevvu Keka" was parodied in Atharintiki Daaredi (2013).[36] The "Antakshari" sequence was parodied in Shadow (2013), featuring "Kevvu Keka".[37] In Naayak (2013), Siddharth (Ram Charan) and Nandini (Amala Paul) are seen watching the Bengali dub of Gabbar Singh in a theatre.[38] In Race Gurram (2014), Lucky (Allu Arjun) and Spandana (Shruti Haasan) are watching Gabbar Singh at a cafe.[39] The track "Pillaa" can be heard during the boardroom scene in Trivikram Srinivas's Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (2020), with Bantu (Allu Arjun) and Sitaram (Sunil) dancing on this song.[40]

Sequel

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Pawan Kalyan announced his intention to star in Gabbar Singh 2, which he would begin working on after his film Atharintiki Daaredi released in October 2013.[41] However, the film was postponed due to the political entry of Pawan Kalyan and was set to go on floors in December 2014. The film will not be a prequel or sequel to the original Gabbar Singh, but a stand-alone film within the Gabbar Singh franchise and the film was scripted by Kalyan himself.[42] Sampath Nandi has been named as the film's director, with Devi Sri Prasad set to compose the film's music.[43] Anisha Ambrose was announced as the lead female role; however, she was replaced by Kajal Agarwal. The regular shooting for Gabbar Singh 2 commenced on 29 May 2015 at Malshej Ghats in Maharashtra.[citation needed] The film (later titled Sardaar Gabbar Singh) was released in April 2016.[44]

Notes

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  1. ^ A fictional character and the antagonist in the 1975 Hindi film Sholay.
  2. ^ A fictional character and the antagonist in the 1975 Hindi film Sholay.
  3. ^ a b These dialogues are translated from Telugu to English.

References

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  1. ^ a b "GABBAR SINGH | British Board of Film Classification". bbfc.co.uk.
  2. ^ a b John, Nevin (3 January 2013). "The South Side Story". Businessworld. Archived from the original on 19 February 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d Rajani Kanth & Varada Bhat, K (2 June 2015). "Gabbar Singh on a roll at the box office". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 12 March 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2012. Gabbar Singh was made with a budget of Rs 50 crore...
  4. ^ "Friday Release: Dabangg's Telugu remake Gabbar Singh". IBN Live. Archived from the original on 14 May 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  5. ^ a b "Gabbar singh highest grosser in south". India Today. Archived from the original on 12 March 2015. According to the buzz, Gabbar Singh, which is a Telegu remake of Dabangg, has collected more than Rs 110 crore at the worldwide Box Office in 60 days.
  6. ^ a b "Pawan to remake Dabangg". Sify. Archived from the original on 13 March 2015.
  7. ^ "'Dabangg' arrives in Telugu". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 13 March 2015.
  8. ^ "Pawan clears dates for Gabbar Singh". Sify.
  9. ^ "Director Harish Shanker". newindianexpress.com.
  10. ^ "Shruti Hassan dropped, Ileana D'Cruz signs Gabbar Singh". The Times of India.
  11. ^ "Melton to do `Munni` number?". Sify.
  12. ^ "Malaika gets Rs 1 Cr for Gabbar Singh". Sify.
  13. ^ "Sucker punch: Telugu cinema teasers". The Times of India.
  14. ^ "Tollywood defends it's crooked cops". The Times of India.
  15. ^ "Kodi kura anyone?". The Times of India.
  16. ^ "Chiranjeevi launches Gabbar Singh music". The Times of India.
  17. ^ "Gabbar Singh First Day Collections". The Times of India. 12 May 2012. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  18. ^ "Gabbar Singh on May 11". Sify. 8 May 2012
  19. ^ "Police officers angry with Gabbar Singh". The Times of India.
  20. ^ "Movie Review : Gabbar Singh review". Sify.
  21. ^ "Review: Gabbar Singh is Pawan Kalyan show all the way". Rediff. 11 May 2012.
  22. ^ Sangeetha Devi Dundoo. "Gabbar Singh: Star power to the fore". The Hindu.
  23. ^ "Gabbar Singh Movie Review". The Times of India.
  24. ^ "Gabbar Singh First Week Collections". The Times of India. 19 May 2012. Archived from the original on 23 September 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  25. ^ Sashidhar AS, TNN (1 June 2012). "Pawan Kalyan's "Gabbar Singh" juggernaut continues..." The Times of India. Archived from the original on 23 September 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  26. ^ "Gabbar Singh 50 days in 307 centers?". The Times of India. 28 June 2012. Archived from the original on 23 September 2013.
  27. ^ "Gabbar Singh 50 days collections list". The Times of India. 30 June 2012. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013.
  28. ^ "Hyderabad Times Film Awards 2012". The Times of India. 2 December 2013. Archived from the original on 6 December 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
  29. ^ "SIIMA 2013 Telugu Nominations". SIIMA. Archived from the original on 6 September 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  30. ^ a b c d "SIIMA AWARDS: 2012 WINNERS". SIIMA. Archived from the original on 17 September 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  31. ^ "60th IDEA Filmfare Awards 2013 (South) Telugu Nominations". raagalahari.com. 4 July 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  32. ^ "Shruti Hassan enjoys Gabbar Singh effect". The Times of India.
  33. ^ "Tollywood heroes playing it safe". The Times of India.
  34. ^ "Nisha's Bullet Rani inspired by Pawan's Gabbar Singh". The Times of India.
  35. ^ "Nithya Menen joins the sets of GJG". The Times of India. 5 November 2012
  36. ^ "Kevvu Keka - Attarintiki Daaredi". YouTube.
  37. ^ "Shadow Telugu movie review highlights". The Times of India.
  38. ^ "Ram Charan, Amala Paul watch Gabbar Singh". The Times of India. 7 October 2012. Archived from the original on 14 March 2015.
  39. ^ Race Gurram (DVD)
  40. ^ Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (DVD)
  41. ^ "Gabbar Singh 2 to be launched next month". Sify. Archived from the original on 12 March 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  42. ^ Atreysa, Sandeep. "Deepika in Gabbar Singh 2?". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 3 October 2013. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  43. ^ "Gabbar Singh 2 film launch on Sep 20". The Times of India. 10 September 2013. Archived from the original on 13 September 2013.
  44. ^ "Pawan Kalyan starrer 'Sardaar Gabbar Singh' fares miserably at box office". The News Minute. 14 May 2016. Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
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