The most waited film ‘Gabbar Singh’ has seen light shaking entire Andhra Pradesh with huge publicity and released in Telugu all over the world.
Now let us see what national media and other popular News Dailies in English say about this film.
DC Review: Pawan Kalyan back with a bang
Rating: 3/5
After duds like Puli and Teen Maar, leading star Pawan Kalyan is back in his element with Gabbar Singh.
He is bound to draw the crowds with his comic-timing, energetic performance and popular dancing. In a deviation from the Hindi version, director Harris Shankar sheds the grey shade of Salman Khan’s corrupt cop act and makes Pawan an upright cop.
TimesOfIndia: paisa vasool
Rating: 4/5
The filmmakers have tweaked the plot to suit the Tollywood audience’s taste palate. Venkatarathnam Naidu (Pawan Kalyan) is the only son of the widowed Suhasini, who marries Naidu (Nagineedu). Venkat detests his stepfather and grows up to become a police officer. He calls himself Gabbar Singh, inspired by Amjad Khan’s character in “Sholay” and grows up to become a cop who is a law unto himself.
He gets posted to his hometown, Kodaveedu where he finds himself pitted against Siddappa Naidu (Abhimanyu Singh), the local goon with political aspirations. The demure Bhagya Lakshmi (Shruti Haasan) plays Pawan Kalyan’s love interest.
As far as performances go, Pawan Kalyan towers over everything else. It’s a tailor made role that carries the movie forward. His body language and dialogue delivery take the cake. Shruti Haasan has to be content playing second fiddle, of which she does a good job. Brahmanadam and Ali entertain with their comic acts.
The music score by Devi Sri Prasad stands out and enhances the whole experience. Malaika Arora’s item number Kevvu Keka is the stand out. The cinematography is sharp and so is the editing. The action sequences also have been well choreographed. The movie sets a new benchmark as far as “paisa vasool” goes.
Rediff: Pawan Kalyan show all the way
Rating: 2.5/5
The film has the right dose of the staple ingredients– action, comedy, romance, and songs, including an item number (Kevu Keka) performed by Malaika Arora Khan.
The second half tends to drag with the addition of scenes like the antakshari in the police station (unimaginable in reality). In fact, there is quite a bit of cinematic licence in the way the police are depicted.
Bhagyalakshmi’s character is not so well etched and neither is Ajay’s (who plays Gabbar’s younger brother).
The dialogues have punch, though the censors have been busy cutting out bits. There a bit too much violence. The climax could have been tackled better.
Since the film rides on Pawan Kalyan it was imperative for him to perform well. He has done a good job.
Though Shruti Haasan didn’t have much of a role, she has left her mark. Abhimanyu Singh played an impactful Siddappa Naidu though he was pretty sober compared to his previous baddie roles.
The role Tanikella Bharani plays was not suited to an artiste of his calibre. Brahmanandam as Recovery Ranjith was effective in breaking the monotony. So was Ali as Samba. Nagineedu and Suhasini had minor roles which they carried off well.
Devisprasad’s music was in tune with the story. The film scored well on the technical front.
Increasingly films are being made in Telugu keeping the hero’s image and fans in mind. Gabbar Singh is one such, catering to the fans of the hero and only incidentally to the general audience.
Entertaining it may be, but Gabbar Singh is filled with violence and some vulgarity and not meant for the very young audience.
Hindu: Star power to the fore
Rating: N/A
There is a scene in Gabbar Singh where Brahmanandam, a money lender, walks into the villain’s den and roars that his dues be settled. He is aware that he is in the danger zone and that he is no match for the goons. Yet, he doesn’t flinch. All that he has for moral support is a larger-than-life cut out of Pawan Kalyan. In yet another scene, Pawan refers to Ali as “my fan”.
Gabbar Singh is larger than life, made to please the humungous fan following Pawan Kalyan enjoys and director Harish Shankar, too, is a self-proclaimed fan of the actor. Harish’s work is more of an adaptation than a frame-to-frame remake of Dabangg.
The overdose of Pawan Kalyan’s swagger and slow-motion shots slacken the pace. At some point in the film, you wonder if there’s no room for subtleties as dialogue renditions remain over the top. But despite its shortcomings, Gabbar Singh is a fun ride. After the initial few minutes, you stop comparing Gabbar with Chulbul Pandey and the film with Dabangg. Therein lies its success.
Bangalore Mirror: Nothing, but Pawanism
Rating: 3.5/5
When Dabangg was released two years ago, the first reaction in Hyderabad was that the character played by Sallu would perfectly suit only one man in Tollywood: Pawan Kalyan. Later, when Pawan actually gave the nod for the remake script by Harish Shankar, it created unprecedented buzz in the industry. In fact, Pawan was so excited about the project that he was the one who suggested the title Gabbar Singh. Even the director tries to justify the title by showing how our hero is obsessed with the iconic character in Sholay.
As actor Allari Naresh tweeted, Pawanism is the word and Gabbar Singh is the most heard name since morning. Since Salman is busy doing sequel for Dabangg, we wonder if there will be a sequel for Gabbar Singh as well.
Pawan has already dropped hints in the film that it could be called ‘Jabbar Singh’ or ‘Rubber Singh. We can imagine what is in store!
IBNLive: ‘Gabbar Singh’ is a one man show
Rating: N/A
Dance, drama and action, an old school formula for a Masala entertainer you’d say, but it got the audience hooting and how! Gabbar Singh , the Telugu re-make of Salman Khan starrer runaway hit Dabangg, opened to full houses on its first day.
Pawan Kalyan, also popularly known as ‘Power star’, comes close to filling the big boots of Chulbul Pandey. Director Harish Shankar provides the perfect platform for Pawan Kalyan to dole out ‘punch’ dialogues and of course the pelvic thrusts in every song, enough to get the audience rooting for their hero .. or is it the ‘villain’?
A little more strength to the screenplay and depth to characters apart from that of Gabbar Singh may have supported the film better. But then again, watching Pawan Kalyan ride on a horse (slow-mo) following a band of dacoits in a barren land, to the background score of music director Devi Sri Prasad (of Dhinka Chika fame), who cares about anything else?!
As one of his dialogues in the film goes , “Nenu Cheppina Okate, naa fans cheppina Okkate” (what my fans say is as good as me saying it)… and if truth comes close to that, then Gabbar Singh may have reasons to smile or even better, laugh his famous evil laugh!
NDTV Review
Rating: N/A
Dabangg sees remakes being made on the trot and fearlessly at that. Osthe in Tamil saw Simbu reprising Salman ‘Chulbul’ Khan.
Pawan Kalyan in and as Gabbar Singh in the Telugu adaptation sees him recapping the bald-faced one liners without impunity.
Regulation high flying kicks in slo mo by the leading man that even Tottenham midfielder Sandro – trending online for his martial art style kicks in the locker room – wouldn’t dare act out.
Still too early to predict whether Gabbar Singh will do for Pawan Kalyan-Shruti Haasan what Dabangg did for Salman Khan-Sonakshi Sinha, but the music, we hear, is already a hit.
Now, it’s a no-brainer why the film is called Gabbar Singh. Pawan Kalyan obsesses over the sadist dacoit made famous in Sholay and renames himself thus without ever having heard of a notary ever. But don’t question logic, not when it’s Gabbar Singh socking it up to Chhedi Singh, here called Sidhappa and played not by Sonu Sood but by Abhimanyu Singh (Remember Ransa in Gulaal?) who is a lawbreaker in his own right but understandably wants to be a legislator. Ho-hum.
