| Gabbar Singh | |
| Director: | Harish Shankar |
| Producer: | Bandla Ganesh |
| Starring: | Pawan Kalyan Shruti Haasan |
| Music: | Devi Sri Prasad |
| Cinematography: | Jayanan Vincent |
| Editing: | Gautham Raju |
| Studio: | Parameswara Art Productions |
| Runtime: | 152 minutes |
| Country: | India |
| Language: | Telugu |
| Budget: | ₹30 crore[1] |
| Gross: | ₹101 crore |
Gabbar Singh is a 2012 Indian Telugu-language action comedy 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.[2] It is a remake of the Hindi film Dabangg (2010) with some major changes in screenplay and characterisations.[3]
The plot follows Venkataratnam Naidu, a police officer who, inspired by a film character, adopts the name Gabbar Singh. 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.
Made on a budget of 30 crore,[4] the film was formally launched on 18 August 2011 at Hyderabad with shooting primarily held in Pollachi. Released on 11 May 2012, Gabbar Singh set a new opening day box office record and went on to break records for the highest first weekend and first week collections in Tollywood at the time. The film grossed around ₹101 crore worldwide, becoming the second-highest-grossing Telugu film at the time, surpassing Dookudu (2011), and emerging as the highest-grossing Telugu film of the year.[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.
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." 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, whom he meets during a police raid against gambling.
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 to behave. 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 who did the blast, the district superintendent suspends Gabbar Singh. Gabbar Singh confronts Naidu about his brother. 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.
In 2011, Pawan expressed interest in remaking the Hindi film Dabangg to Telugu as he was impressed with the film.[12] 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.[13] [14] Pawan approached Harish to direct the Telugu remake of Dabangg.[15] Harish Shankar revealed he was supposed to direct Mirapakaay (originally titled "Romantic Rishi") with Pawan Kalyan which was dropped due to various reasons.[12] Pawan Kalyan reportedly told the director to take the basic theme of the film and change all the scenes to suit the Telugu nativity.[16] Harish wrote a fresh screenplay of "Dabangg" with new situations different from the original.[17] Pawan who read the script was satisfied with the screenplay and called it "so fresh ... apt for Telugu sensibilities".[18] Harish said that it was Pawan who suggested to name the film as Gabbar Singh with the tagline "He is Special".[19]
Sonu Sood was approached to reprise his character from the Hindi and Tamil versions, which he rejected, stating that he did not want to repeat it again. Abhimanyu Singh was recruited to play the character.[20] Harish revealed that he "loved Abhimanyu Singh’s eyes in Rakta Charitra film. I thought he would match the hero in the role of Siddappa Naidu".[18] Tanikella Bharani was selected to play Om Puri's character. Harish said that he increased the length of the Om Puri character played by Tanikella Bharani in Telugu so that he would support the villain with the dialogue part.[18]
Srikanth and Sushanth were originally considered to reprise Arbaaz Khan's character but eventually were replaced by Ajay.[21] [22] It was rumoured that either Krishnam Raju or Nandamuri Harikrishna would don the father's character but Nagineedu was selected to play the character.[23]
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.[24] [25] Nathalia Kaur,[26] Parvati Melton[27] and Anushka Shetty were originally considered to perform the item number.[28] Malaika Arora was finally selected to perform item number for which she was reported to be paid ; however, Ganesh denied that Malaika was paid 1 crore and also refused to divulge details about her remuneration.[29] [30] Kota Srinivasa Rao, Rao Ramesh and Jaya Prakash Reddy were selected to portray supporting roles.
Pawan Kalyan wears a cargo shirt (with the buttons taken off) fitted with police logos. He ties a red towel around his head before fighting. He also wears dark shades and hooded shirts.[31] Shruthi Haasan wears half sarees in the first half of the movie while she sticks to sarees in the second half. She uses bluish shades for the costumes. She uses crape and chiffon sarees in songs and in the second half with pattern blouses.[31] Abhimanyu wears linen fabric pattern Kurtis with bordered patti on collar and cuffs which brings in the look of a local politician. He appears in both dark and lighter shades. His accessories, a lot of gold ornaments, rudrakshas, etc., show the nativity of a village's political villain.[31]
The filming began in September 2011.[32] All the scenes especially related to the police station were shot in Pollachi.[18] The shooting was started without Pawan Kalyan as he needed to grow his beard again after shaving it off for a song shoot of Panjaa. Pawan Kalyan entered the sets of Gabbar Singh on the afternoon of 4 December 2011. The first dialogue of him was okayed in the first take. The song "Akasam ammai aithe" was completely planned at the green fields of Pollachi but the team had to do a part of the song in Hyderabad due to bad weather in Pollachi. The climax sequence was shot on the Hyderabad – Vijayawada national highway.[33] The song "Dekho Dekho Gabbar Singh" was shot for four days at Gujarat and one day at ICRISAT.[18] The interval fight scene was shot at Gayathri Hills in January 2012.[34] The team then shot scenes at the house set at Kokapet which was built for the film Maryada Ramanna (2010) in March 2012.[35]
The film was a remake of Dabangg (2010). Several new scenes were included in the Telugu version like the "Antakshari" and "Kabaddi" sequences. Harish said: "After watching Dabangg, I analysed why it became a hit. It is a multi-layered film with a rustic backdrop. It has Vishal Bhardwaj and Anurag Kashyap type of treatment to it. It’s a completely different genre film for Salman Khan. The hero has grey shades to him. [..] The script has a typical 70s type of Manmohan Desai's commercial formula".[18]
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)[36] 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) sums up our film. I respect police officers and have made sure that we do not offend them in any way".[37] 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.[38]
See 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.[39] The audio was released through Aditya Music label and an audio launch event took place at Shilpakala Vedika in Hyderabad on the very same day.[40] Lyrics for the two songs were penned by Sahithi and remaining songs were written by Ramajogayya Sastry, Chandrabose, Devi Sri Prasad and Bhaskarabhatla.[41]
Gabbar Singh was initially planned to be released on Sankranthi.[42] The film was supposed to release on 27 April but was eventually released worldwide on 11 May 2012.[43] The film was released worldwide in around 2500 theaters.[44] Central Board of Film Certification passed the film with an 'U/A' certificate.[45] British Board of Film Classification passed the film with a '15' rating due to strong violence.[46]
Bluesky Cinemas acquired the entire overseas theatrical distribution rights.[47] TGM acquired the distribution rights for Gulf.[48] Leo Entertainment, purchased the complete UK and Europe theatrical rights of the film.[49] Elixir Entertainment bought theatrical rights for New Zealand and Australia.[50]
AP Police Officers Association were upset with the way the police has been portrayed in the film.[51] 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".[52]
The VCDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs of the film were released by Sri Balaji Videos on 22 August 2012 on the occasion of Chiranjeevi's birthday.[53] The satellite rights were purchased by Gemini TV for a price of around which is a record sum.[54] The film was broadcast on 14 January 2013 on the occasion of Sankranthi festival and registered a TRP of 24 points during its premiere surpassing Magadheera (2009).[55]
123Telugu.com termed the film as "A Solid Entertainer".[56] Idlebrain.com commented, "Pawan Strikes".[57] 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".[58] Rediff wrote, "Entertaining it may be, but Gabbar Singh is filled with violence and some vulgarity and not meant for the very young audience".[59] 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".[60] 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."[61] Indiaglitz wrote, "All in all, GS is a treat to Pawan's fans, but it has not been made for the first week audience alone. This one will be a genuine hit, registering repeat audience for sure".[62]
Gabbar Singh created a new opening day box office record and subsequently created the records for the highest grossing weekend and highest grossing first week in the Tollywood of the time.[63] It also stands amongst highest openers ever in the Indian film industry. On its first day the film grossed approximately 18 crore generating a net share of approximately 13 crore.[63] 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.[64] At the end of two weeks the film has collected a record share of 39 crore worldwide.[65] The total three weeks share of the film now stands at 50.45 crore.[66] The film has grossed more than 1 million at the United States box office. The film had earned gross worldwide in the first three weeks.[1] 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.[67] 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.[68]
Gabbar Singh grossed worldwide with a lifetime distributor share of .[1] [5]
| Ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hyderabad Times Film Awards 2012[69] | Best Actor – Male | Pawan Kalyan | ||
| Best Music Director | Devi Sri Prasad | |||
| TSR – TV9 National Film Awards 2012[70] | Best Playblack Singer – Male | Vaddepalli Srinivas – "Ey Pillaa" | ||
| 2nd South Indian International Movie Awards[71] | Best Film (Telugu) | Bandla Ganesh | ||
| Best Director (Telugu) | Harish Shankar | [72] | ||
| Best Cinematographer (Telugu) | Jayanan Vincent | |||
| Best Actor (Telugu) | Pawan Kalyan | |||
| Best Actress (Telugu) | Shruti Haasan | |||
| Best Supporting Actress (Telugu) | Suhasini | |||
| Best Actor in a Negative Role | Abhimanyu Singh | |||
| Best Comedian (Telugu) | Sreenu | |||
| Best Music Director (Telugu) | Devi Sri Prasad | [73] | ||
| Best Male Playback Singer | Shankar Mahadevan for "Akasam Ammayaithe" | |||
| Best Female Playback Singer | Mamta Sharma for "Kevvu Keka" | |||
| Best Fight Choreographer | Ram Lakshman | |||
| Best Dance Choreographer | Ganesh for "Dekho Dekho Gabbar Singh" | |||
| CineMAA Awards 2013[74] | Best Actor (Male) | Pawan Kalyan | ||
| Best Comedian | Antyakshari Team | |||
| Best Director | Harish Shankar | |||
| Best Film | Bandla Ganesh | |||
| Best Choreographer | Ganesh | |||
| Best Editor | Gowtham Raju | |||
| 60th Filmfare Awards South[75] | Best Film | Bandla Ganesh | ||
| Best Director | Harish Shankar | |||
| Best Actor (Male) | Pawan Kalyan | [76] | ||
| Best Music Director | Devi Sri Prasad | |||
| Best Lyrics | Sahithi Pawan – "Kevvu Keka" | |||
| Best Playback Singer (Male) | Vaddepalli Srinivas – "Pillaa" | |||
| Mirchi Music Awards South 2012[77] | Best Album of the Year – Jury Choice | Devi Sri Prasad | ||
| Best Album of the Year – Listeners Choice | Devi Sri Prasad | |||
| Best Song of the Year – Jury Choice | "Akasam Ammayaithe" | |||
| Best Song of the Year – Listeners Choice | "Kevvu Keka" | |||
| Best Composer of the Year | Devi Sri Prasad | |||
| Santosham Film Awards 2013[78] | Best Editor | Gowtham Raju |
The success of the film made Shruti Haasan one of the most sought-after actresses in Telugu cinema.[79] The film catapulted Pawan again into beckoning after his continuous failures Puli (2010), Theenmaar (2011) and Panjaa (2011).[80] 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".[81] Teaser of Aagadu (2014) was also said to be inspired by that film.[82]
The films Kevvu Keka (2012), Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyinde (2013) and Pilla Nuvvu Leni Jeevitham (2014) were named after the songs from the film.[83] [84] The song "Kevvu Keka" was parodied in Atharintiki Daaredi (2013).[85] The "Antakshari" sequence was parodied in Shadow (2013), featuring "Kevvu Keka".[86] In Naayak (2013), Siddharth (Ram Charan) and Nandini (Amala Paul) are seen watching the Bengali dub of Gabbar Singh in a theatre.[87] In Race Gurram (2014), Lucky (Allu Arjun) and Spandana (Shruti Haasan) are watching Gabbar Singh at a cafe.[88] 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.[89]
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.[90] 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.[91] Sampath Nandi has been named as the film's director, with Devi Sri Prasad set to compose the film's music.[92] Later, K. S. Ravindra (Bobby) of Power fame was announced as the director.[93] 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.[94] The film (later titled Sardaar Gabbar Singh) was released in April 2016.[95] The sequel however received mixed reviews from critics and bombed at the box office.[96] [97]