Pawan Kalyan’s Sardar Gabbar Singh, which was also simultaneously released in Hindi, received mediocre reviews in Bollywood also. T360’s Sridhar Sattiraju rated the movie at 2.75, but had good words to say about Pawan Kalyan’s energy levels, screen presence and dancing. Other Telugu movie critics also gave similar reviews. However, Bollywood reviewers were not so discreet.
Times of India’s Renuka Vyavahare was quite critical of the movie. She opines that “The movie puts you to sleep despite its loud execution with its yawn-worthy monotonous shenanigans. While the fans can still overlook it, the major drawback of the film is its length. Running for almost three hours, the tedious film is infested with never-ending songs that test your patience. Lack of story is the final nail in the coffin.” Summarizing the movie Renuka opines “To sum it all, Gabbar says “main Jo bhi bolta hu woh FIR bunjata hai.” Like the dialogue, this supposed comedy seems equally inconsequential. Whatever Kalyan says or does seems to have become a feature film.“
Scroll.in’s Nandini Ramnath had similar opinions. She felt that Gabbar Singh is an “assault on the senses“. Nandini compares Pawan Kalyan tried to pull a Rajanikanth with no avail. “Every action-heavy moment, set to deafening background music, is intended to project the star’s general awesomeness, but audiences who are not clued into the ecology of images that surrounds Kalyan will remain unimpressed. Rajinikanth’s genius lies in the fact that he has been able to build a fan base that reaches far beyond followers of Tamil cinema. Rajinikanth’s inherent ability to woo the camera makes even the silliest of stunts believable and enjoyable.“Nandini was also critical of Pawan Kalyan’s acting capabilities “Kalyan’s insouciant delivery style, characteristic strut and capitalized cool, and limited dancing skills are showcased in scene after scene.” Nandini concludes that Sardar Gabbar Singh is a 163 minutes propaganda video.
All in all, general consensus is that Pawan Kalyan should have chosen a better movie for his Bollywood launch. The plot is straight out of 1980’s movie and Pawan Kalyan must select a better scripted movie if he wants to make any impact outside of Telugu states.
