Sardaar Gabbar Singh
Sardaar Gabbar Singh is a 2016 Indian Telugu-language action comedy film directed by K. S. Ravindra. Produced by Pawan Kalyan and Sharrath Marar jointly under their banners Pawan Kalyan Creative Works and North Star Entertainment in association with Eros International, this film is a sequel to Kalyan earlier film Gabbar Singh. It is a part of the Gabbar Singh series.
Besides penning the film's story and screenplay, Kalyan also stars in the film with Kajal Aggarwal and Sharad Kelkar in his Tollywood debut. Devi Sri Prasad composed the score and Arthur A. Wilson was its cinematographer. Initially titled Gabbar Singh 2, the film's production began on 21 February 2014 in Hyderabad with Sampath Nandi directing the film. He was later replaced by Ravindra after which the principal photography began on 29 May 2015 at Malshej Ghat in Maharashtra. Sardaar Gabbar Singh was released worldwide on 8 April 2016 along with a Hindi dubbed version of the same name simultaneously with Pawan Kalyan's voice dubbed by Ganesh Divekar.
Plot
A kingdom called Rathanpur was taken ruthlessly by a feudal lord named Bhairav Singh. The princess of that empire was in a hopeless situation until a maverick cop named Sardaar Gabbar Singh came along.Cast
- Pawan Kalyan as Sardaar Gabbar Singh
- * Sathwik Varma as Young Sardaar
- Kajal Aggarwal as Arshi Devi
- Sharad Kelkar as Bhairav Singh
- Sanjjanaa Galrani as Gayathri, Bhairao Singh's wife
- Brahmanandam as Shekhar Singh
- Ali as Samba
- Tanikella Bharani as Gabbar Singh's guardian
- Rao Ramesh as Ramesh Talwar
- Pradeep Rawat as Bhairao Singh's father
- Mukesh Rishi as Hari Narayana
- Kabir Duhan Singh as Dhanu
- Urvashi as Madhumati
- Tisca Chopra as Geetha Devi
- Pooja Ramachandran as a girl in Ratanpur
- Posani Krishna Murali as Appaji
- Brahmaji as Raja Manikhyam
- Sudigali Sudheer as Police Constable
- Raghu Babu as Govinda
- Dheer Charan Srivastav as Hakeem
- Prabhas Sreenu
- Krishna Bhagavan
- Vineet Kumar
- Charandeep
- Narra Srinivas
- Ashwini
- Raai Laxmi
Production
Development
In October 2012, Pawan Kalyan agreed to act in a film produced by Sharrath Marar, the former CEO of MAA TV, after completing work on Trivikram Srinivas' Attarintiki Daredi. Before the theatrical release of Dabangg 2, producer Bandla Ganesh registered the title Gabbar Singh in Hyderabad at the Andhra Pradesh Film Chamber which fuelled speculations that this would be the remake of Dabangg 2 and the sequel of Gabbar Singh, which itself was the official Telugu remake of Dabangg featuring Kalyan, Shruti Haasan and Abhimanyu Singh reprising the respective roles played by Salman Khan, Sonakshi Sinha and Sonu Sood in the original. Devi Sri Prasad and Jayanan Vincent were retained as the film's music director and cinematographer from the prequel's technical crew. Sampath Nandi was chosen to direct the film and Marar was announced to execute the film's production. At the same time, the film was reported to have a fresh storyline.Besides producing the film, Kalyan himself wrote the story and made it clear to his team that Gabbar Singh sequel would be based on an original script and would not be a remake of Dabangg 2. Considering the response generated by Attarintiki Daredi and the subsequent change in his on-screen image, Kalyan put the pre-production activities on hold and made changes to the script. Some elements of family drama were added and the aggression and expressions of the lead character were toned down. Kalyan also opted to complete his work on Kishore Kumar Pardasany's Gopala Gopala first and Nandi meanwhile planned to produce the film Galipatam on a low budget.
The film's official launch ceremony took place on 21 February 2014 at Hyderabad and was tentatively titled Gabbar Singh 2. L. Satyanand supervised the film's script and was assisted by Sridhar Seepana and Kishore Gopu. Harish Pai was chosen as the film's creative head and Gautham Raju was signed to edit the film. Due to delay in finalising the female lead, Kalyan was reportedly upset and joined the sets of Gopala Gopala and start works related to his political outfit Jana Sena Party. The crew of the film were instructed to regroup when Kalyan summons them. Nandi walked out of the film in November 2014 and refused to reveal the reasons, saying that he is not authorised to speak about the same. Vincent suggested K. S. Ravindra to Kalyan who was impressed with his narrative skills and finalised him as the new director. Sai Madhav Burra was chosen to write the film's dialogues.
The film was renamed to Sardaar in late July 2015 in order to avoid paying royalty to the title Gabbar Singh to a Mumbai-based studio that held the rights of the title. Kalyan chose this title since the character of Gabbar Singh played by Amjad Khan was referred to by his henchmen as Sardaar in Sholay. Eros International announced on 15 August 2015 to IANS that it would co-produce the film in association with Pawan Kalyan Creative Works and Northstar Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. and the film's title was renamed to Sardaar Gabbar Singh. Arthur A. Wilson replaced Vincent as the film's cinematographer due to clash of opinions between the latter and Ravindra.
Casting
Kalyan sported a long hair and thick beard for a few important sequences in the film and a clean shaven look for the rest of the film. The makers considered to sign a new actress after considering Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Pranitha Subhash and Anushka Sharma for the same. Shruti Haasan and Asin were approached to play the female lead in the film. Navneet Kaur Dhillon was reported to be signed as the female lead in late May 2014. Akshara Haasan was approached for the same later who declined the offer gently saying that it would raise expectations on her next films and so responsibilities. Deepika Padukone, Sonakshi Sinha, Parineeti Chopra and Katrina Kaif were approached for the female lead role who turned down the offer citing unavailability of bulk dates and Anisha Ambrose, who made a cameo appearance in Gopala Gopala, was chosen by Kalyan as the female lead.Ambrose was trained in the nuances of acting, perfecting dancing and several other aspects in the workshop sessions conducted by Ravindra in April 2015 before joining the film's sets. During the shoot of the first schedule, the makers saw Sharad Kelkar performance in a soap opera and approached him to play the antagonist. Kelkar's inclusion in the cast was confirmed in June 2015. Charandeep, known for his work in the films Jilla and Pataas, was signed as one of the antagonists in the film. Kajal Aggarwal, who initially declined to be a part of the film two years ago due to scheduling conflicts, was approached again in August 2015 for the female lead role. She met the film's unit and gave her consent, marking her first collaboration with Kalyan.
Kabir Duhan Singh confirmed his inclusion in the film's cast after completing a schedule and said that he would be seen as the one who handles all the activities of Kelkar in the film. During the scripting stage, there was a shorter role for a second, parallel female lead which was developed by the creative team on par with the first female lead after the shooting began. A source from the film's unit called it a "very energetic and active character". Trisha Krishnan was approached for the same in mid April 2015. Raai Laxmi inclusion in the film's cast was confirmed on 2 September 2015. She was reported to play a crucial role in the film and to be appeared in a special song along with Kalyan. Speaking about her role, Laxmi said that her role is a crucial one and shall stay till the end of the film, adding that it "starts off as something in the beginning, it transitions into something else altogether as the movie unfolds".
Sanjjanaa was signed to play the role of a Gujarati princess in the film who subserviently follows her husband. She called it an important character with a "traditional and royal persona", adding that it is not "one of those blink-and-miss roles" and will be seen right from the start to the end. The film's unit revealed that her wardrobe consists largely of nine-yard sarees and heavy jewellery. In mid March 2016 Kajal revealed that she would be seen as a princess, who was from another era dressed in exquisite Indian attires which is a very contemporary character unlike Indu from Magadheera.
Filming
and Rajesh and Archa Mehta were signed as the film's art director and costume designer respectively. Bhaskar Raju was signed as the film's production controller. The film's shoot began on 29 May 2015 at Malshej Ghat in Maharashtra. Some important sequences of the first schedule were shot in a special village set and Kalyan was expected to join the sets from the first week of June. The film's unit took a break after completing the first schedule since Kalyan was busy with his political commitments. A fight sequence featuring Kalyan and others were shot at the Aluminium factory located in Gachibowli in late July 2015. The second schedule was wrapped up on 5 August 2015, and filming continued at Ameerpet in mid August 2015.The third schedule commenced on 8 September 2015 at Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad where key scenes were shot. Kalyan joined the film's sets on the next day and the schedule lasted till the end of September 2015. Filming of the item number commenced on 30 September 2015 in a set erected by Brahma Kadali at Ramanaidu Studios in Nanakramguda. Laxmi however chose not to call it an item number and termed it an "inspirational song that will everyone will love and remember for a long time". The song's shoot was wrapped up on 8 October 2015. Kalyan and the film's unit left for Gujarat in late October 2015 for location scouting. They returned to Hyderabad shortly and the next schedule commenced from 1 November 2015.
Few scenes on Kalyan, Ali, Brahmaji and others were filmed near the Le Palais Royal and Crown Villa Gardens in Secunderabad. A 25-day long schedule began from 15 November 2015 at Gujarat. Ali and Brahmaji joined the film's shoot shortly. Kajal joined the film's sets at Vadodara on 27 November 2015 and few scenes featuring her and Kalyan were filmed. She completed her part in the schedule on 4 December 2015. Kabir Singh Duhan joined the film's sets on the next day and scenes featuring him and Kalyan were filmed. After Kalyan completed his portions and left for Hyderabad, Marar said that scenes on the remaining cast would be filmed at Rajkot in Gujarat.
The final schedule, starting on 4 January 2016 at Hyderabad, was announced to last for a month and on its completion, the film's post-production activities were planned to be commenced. A village set worth 20 million was erected in Hyderabad for the same in the place where Gabbar Singh was filmed. A schedule of 20 days was planned and all the principal cast participated in the shoot. The set featured an elaborate railway track, a market, and a group of houses and the cost escalated to 45 million. Upon its completion, the next schedule commenced in Kerala in February 2016 and few portions were filmed at the Athirappilly Falls. Upon its completion, the film's shoot continued in Hyderabad and by mid-February 2016, 90% of the film's talkie part was wrapped up.
After filming a marriage sequence on Kalyan and Kajal, a horse fair sequence, which forms a part of the climax, was filmed at Ramoji Film City in late February 2016. 100 horses, horsemen, many junior artists and a crew supporting three units worked simultaneously. 1000 members formed the teams and 40 artists from the film were present along with the horses, ten vintage cars, and many luxury cars. The pre-climax sequences were filmed in early March 2016 and a set was erected for the same. An elaborate sequence paying homage to Chiranjeevi was performed by Kalyan who was trained by a choreographer to ensure perfection. The filming of the climax sequences was resumed shortly. A duet on Kalyan and Kajal was filmed at Switzerland from 24 March 2016, upon whose completion, the principal photography was wrapped up.