21.05 Cr
Sardar Gabbar Singh Review , Sardaar Gabbar Singh Review
The most-awaited Pawan Kalyan film of our times came with a ton of expectations. Many thought it will be the mother of all sequels to the previous “Gabbar Singh” that will seal his stamp of entertainment for the second time in a row. With a liberal producer Sharath Marrar and a filmy director Bobby, the target was too big to miss. Let us see how it has ended up..
Story:
The title already sealed it as a grand affair than “Gabbar Singh” and the story confirms just that. It has no bearing to the film “Gabbar Singh” except the weight of the title borrowed from “Sholay”‘s most-famous character. And so, a self-styled boy becomes a maverick cop who likes to call himself like a desi police version of Bond, James Bond (Gabbar Singh, Sardar Gabbar Singh). He is transferred from Hyderabad to a place adjoining Telangana State called Rattanpur where a Warlord Bhairon Singh and his bunch of goons bully a village into submission. The lawless village also makes a large Royal Family live in constant fear of Bhairon Singh – ruled by Princess Arishi (Kajal Agarwal) and his caretaker Diwan Mukesh Rishi. Sardar’s onset in Rattanpur begins to change nothing at first but the magic of his real character unfolds to give an umbrella of protection to the village at large and the Princely Estate in particular. Parallel to the confrontation between Sardar and Bhairon is a romantic track between Sardar and the princess which gives a relief from the machine gun clatter sounds you hear throughout the film.
Direction :
To be fair, director Bobby makes a valiant effort to uplift the film from the ordinary with innovative scenes to showcase the range of PK’s show of talent from dancing and fights to comic timing and punching of dialogues. But the story and the screenplay are a big let down and the blame has to fall on the team for that. Despite exceptional production values and lavish sets, the story doesn’t let the screenplay grip you and because of the slack in pace, most of the emotions remain under leash throughout the film. For example, the first fight of the film – much after the hero enters the fray in the tenth minute – doesn’t come until the 52nd minute or so. In projecting the hero and his playful image of a cop who is unconventional and unpredictable (the Dabbangg), the director takes many jump cuts in the overall narration of scenes. Several scenes in the film appear either illogical or abrupt and clarity is missing as to why have them in the first place. Even an amateur commercial director has a good sense of how to establish a lead scene, and then set it up for the next scene that conveys something that moves the story forward. Between Editor Gautam Raju and director Bobby, there are many slip-ups in scenes that just appear and go without collinearity to the narrative.
Performances:
Even lead and superstar comedians like Brahmanandam and Pridhviraj have been wasted with insignificant roles that add no moat to the film’s entertainment value.Ali has just one punchline that one remembers but otherwise he also is predictable. Villains from Sharath Kelkar to Pradeep Rawal are quite banal and offer nothing new because their strengths do not come out in the way they were characterised. There is a repeat of Anthakshari in the second half but the surprise element of “Gabbar Singh” and the holding power is missing in this: too much noise, disparity in song selection reduce it to a musical that is a cross between Hard-Rock concert and a Street Fair carnival.
Technicalities :
Technically, the film’s strongest point is music. While two of the songs Toba Toba and a duet in the snows are well shot and composed, the BGM by DSP is outstanding. He seems to be the only one other than Pawan Kalyan who tried to shoulder full responsibility to give a giant push towards the success of the film. In many scenes, even the dullness of the moment is surcharged by the arresting music sense of Devi Sri Prasad. Dialogues for Pawan Kalyan are quite apt and politically correct – many of them are meant to be a precursor to his future political moves (“When the people need me, I will come even if uninvited”.) Kajol Agarwal looks cute as the princess and carries her role very confidently despite acting with a mature hero who doesn’t appear comfortable acting up close with heroines. Despite that, Kajol pulls it off giving some of the cutest intimate moments that will endear the youth. Only her makeup artist has gone overboard at times with heavy lipstick and all that.
Pawan Kalyan’s Performance:
Pawan Kalyan obviously is the star of the film who carries it on his shoulders. His dancing steps raised a new toast to skills usually berated from the Power Star. His dressing sense is stylish and dapper. Given all the limitations of the script, he is the sole reason to watch the film as he packs quite a punch in every frame he appears. One hopes, this is not the swan song as rumours made it out to be because with the improvisations in fights and love scenes, he is still like a forest as some movie line labels him as – always full of surprises. Another surprise is the way Pawan Kalyan includes the famous songs of Chiranjeevi in the Anthakshari sequence – it ends a lot of speculation about any “cold vibes” between the Megastar and the Power Star.
Verdict:
Fifty minutes into the watching of the film and several entertaining shots later, you wonder whether you are watching a fan tribute film – something that puts a montage video of all of Power Star’s favorite sound bytes, mannerisms, exciting body language and dressing roles from a mafia cop to a cowboy hero, Prince Charming to a street-side sharp-shooter -and pump up the screen with a range of dance grooves never-shown before and fight sequences mostly self-composed.
On the whole, this is a film for the masses and the hysterical fan following of Pawan Kalyan. It may not mean much in his filmography, but even fans need a pump-prime for their favorite hero.
