Sardaar Gabbar Singh Review

When Lord Krishna (Pawan Kalyan in this case) has to win the war, all that he does is play a series of parodies (the scene itself is a dumbed-down parody of that Antyakshari scene) so as to fool the ruthless fedual lord's men into leaving the guns aside in favour of some crazy fun.  Well, that's in the climax.  If ever there was a film with the body of a Gabbar Singh and the soul of a Gudumba Shankar, it is this.

Gabbar Singh (Pawan Kalyan) is an apparently timid cop who does a feminine dance or two, but eventually he turns out to be a ferocious rebel.  Upon the request of Hari Narayan (Mukesh Rishi), his boss (Tanikella Bharani in an insignficant role) sends him to Rattanpur, an unofficial republic of Bhairon Singh (Sharad Kelkar), a merciless mining baron.  Kajal Aggarwal plays Arshi, a Princess, whose clan has a rivalry with Bhairon Singh and his paralyzed father (played by Pradeep Rawat).

Sardaar's task is cut out: he has to eliminate Bhairon Singh, who is himself not ready to use the mighty armoury and infantry at his command because he believes that it's not easy to kill someone who is born out of the "ideology of the people".  So, our Sardaar beats him through his ideology - in a friendly match (discussed in the first sentence).

The film is Pawan Kalyan's one-man show .  Unlike in Gabbar Singh, the star chips in with large doses of non-heroic banter.  From doing a 'Sanna jaaji padaka..' to showing risible reverence to Her Highness (Urvashi entertains) to doing spoofs in a comedy scene that extends into the climax, he does it all.  As for heroism, there could have been a better impact of it; the quintessential Gabbar Singh arrogance prominently gives way to the Gudumba Shankar technique (whatever that means).

Pawan's presence is not ubiquitous, as a good amount of narrative is spent on telling the story of the royal rivalry.  Every time, the element comes unwelcomed and overstays.  Even after the hapless villagers blow Sardaar's trumpet and challenge the megalomaniacal villain's grip, Matka Seenu's funny baddies indulge in buffoonery.  For a good part until the pre-climax, Sardaar has no confrontation with Bhairon Singh.  The insouciant treatment is even more surprising coming as it does after an interval block with a Magadheera moment!

DSP's music, including the RR, is a major asset.  It would be an understatement to say that he is one of the two heroes in a film with an outmoded story.  Khakee Chokka's choreography and visualization could have been much better.  The songs don't come as a distraction except for one.

Other technical departments, mainly Arthur Wilson's cinematography and Brahma Kadali's art direction, are excellent.

Sai Madhav Burra's dialogues come with certain punch lines like 'Naku arrest ante allergy.  Kani encounter ante energy', 'Rajasam blood sharing lo untundi, blood firing lo kadu', 'Sardaar andaga unte enda, gali kooda control lo untayi' are takeaways, 'Ninna monna naku anavasaram.  Nenu vacchaka rule marali.  Ruling marali.  Time marali.  Time-table marali'.

Pawan shines when it comes to show re-invent his comical self.  Some of the characters like that of Rao Ramesh are used to elevate the hero's character.  However, Kajal Aggarwal's character of a damsel in potential danger should have been better leveraged to take the hero's character to a higher level.  Kajal fits the bill as she looks royal.  Her expression in romantic scenes is apt.

Sharad Kelkar has a good screen presence.  However, when it comes to being the villain of Power Star, he has no much gravitas.  Mukesh Rishi is good.  Brahmanandam is routine.  Others like Ali are almost insipid. Brahmaji, Posani Krishna Murali, Sanjjana, Krishna Bhagawan, Prabhas Seenu, Suman Shetty, and others are OK.  Laxmi Raai sizzles the screen in Tauba Tauba.

Verdict:  Pawan's one-man show.  For those of you looking for him to do non-heroic comedy in khaki, this film has much stuff on platter.

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