You know, sometimes when I look at a film I can imagine exactly what the director had in mind while making it. This film was clearly made to "connect with the youth", the "youth" will find it relatable, and it will go very well with the "youth". I want to ask all these directors, have you ever seen a youth in real life? Do you even know what a youth looks like? No one is interested in seeing some random dude calling himself Gabbar Singh and doing extrajudicial killing for his country. Such an appeal is only good for connecting with the uncles with moustache and a bald spot.
So Gabbar is Back is about a man whose wife was killed because of corruption and now he is out being a vigilante, killing everyone who does corruption. First of all, WTF? And secondly, dude, you aren't doing something legal either. Killing is an even worse crime than corruption. If they were aiming to make something along the lines of vigilante superheroes like Batman or Daredevil then mind you, they NEVER kill. They only beat up, torture and scare their enemies so that they don't do such things ever again. Now to cOnNeCt WiTh ThE yOuTh they introduce Shruti Hassan to play a "dumb millennial" who always keeps looking at data from her phone. She is saved from a road accident while she's telling Gabbar that people die from road accidents.
And of course when Gabbar becomes famous the yOuTh starts talking about him. There's a GiRl who says she has heard Gabbar is very cUtE, to which a boy asks how she can tell if no one has seen him. Because that's how GiRlS talk like, right? The biggest character conflict comes when one of Gabbar's men learns his father has also been caught by Gabbar, and that conflict basically lasts for 5 seconds after which he says everyone whom they have killed was someone's father. In the end Gabbar gives a speech about corruption on top of the police van which was taking him away. And then he gets hanged and everyone lives happily ever after. It's not like corruption will never happen again, right?
But in all honesty I have given this film an above average rating because of two reasons. First, because I saw it when I was a dumb child. I didn't have much knowledge about filmmaking and cinematography. And secondly because I am a huge sucker for Akshay Kumar. This is probably his best look of all time. Sure this film looks like a carbon copy of those mindless South Indian films, but at least it does entertain while it lasts. The acting is quite decent, the songs are also very good (considering nowadays we only get garbage in the name of Bollywood music). The idea of a known villain's name being used wasn't good since Akshay Kumar looks nothing like Gabbar Singh in this film, but at least the references were pretty much on the point.
I don't think I will ever tolerate seeing this film any time again in my whole life. This is an "out of sight, out of mind" type film, so obviously a one time watch if you're a part of the casual audience. But in any other case, I'd prefer you stay away from this film just like how the director of this film stayed away from the yOuTh while wondering what they look like (this is a good running joke though).
So Gabbar is Back is about a man whose wife was killed because of corruption and now he is out being a vigilante, killing everyone who does corruption. First of all, WTF? And secondly, dude, you aren't doing something legal either. Killing is an even worse crime than corruption. If they were aiming to make something along the lines of vigilante superheroes like Batman or Daredevil then mind you, they NEVER kill. They only beat up, torture and scare their enemies so that they don't do such things ever again. Now to cOnNeCt WiTh ThE yOuTh they introduce Shruti Hassan to play a "dumb millennial" who always keeps looking at data from her phone. She is saved from a road accident while she's telling Gabbar that people die from road accidents.
And of course when Gabbar becomes famous the yOuTh starts talking about him. There's a GiRl who says she has heard Gabbar is very cUtE, to which a boy asks how she can tell if no one has seen him. Because that's how GiRlS talk like, right? The biggest character conflict comes when one of Gabbar's men learns his father has also been caught by Gabbar, and that conflict basically lasts for 5 seconds after which he says everyone whom they have killed was someone's father. In the end Gabbar gives a speech about corruption on top of the police van which was taking him away. And then he gets hanged and everyone lives happily ever after. It's not like corruption will never happen again, right?
But in all honesty I have given this film an above average rating because of two reasons. First, because I saw it when I was a dumb child. I didn't have much knowledge about filmmaking and cinematography. And secondly because I am a huge sucker for Akshay Kumar. This is probably his best look of all time. Sure this film looks like a carbon copy of those mindless South Indian films, but at least it does entertain while it lasts. The acting is quite decent, the songs are also very good (considering nowadays we only get garbage in the name of Bollywood music). The idea of a known villain's name being used wasn't good since Akshay Kumar looks nothing like Gabbar Singh in this film, but at least the references were pretty much on the point.
I don't think I will ever tolerate seeing this film any time again in my whole life. This is an "out of sight, out of mind" type film, so obviously a one time watch if you're a part of the casual audience. But in any other case, I'd prefer you stay away from this film just like how the director of this film stayed away from the yOuTh while wondering what they look like (this is a good running joke though).