Pawan Kalyan hits the bull's eye with 'Gabbar Singh' (Telugu Movie Review)

Film: 'Gabbar Singh'; Cast: Pawan Kalyan, Shruti Haasan, Abhimanyu Singh, Kota Sreenivasa Rao, Brahmanandam, Ali, Thanikella Bharani, Nagineedu and Suhasini Mani Ratnam; Producer: Banda Ganesh; Director: Harish Shankar; Music Director: Devi Sree Prasad; Camera: Jayanth Vincent; Rating: *** 1/2

'Gabbar Singh' is the Telugu remake of Salman Khan-starrer hit Hindi movie 'Dabbang'. If 'Dabangg' boosted Salman's career, it seems 'Gabbar Singh' will bring Pawan Kalyan to the centrestage, thanks to the commercial elements in the movie.

Pawan's last few films - 'Teen Maar', 'Komaram Puli' and 'Panjaa' - were box office duds, but this film will be liked by his fans.

Pawan has one of the the largest fan followings on Orkut and he also has a strong mass following. Harish Shankar has made sure that he pleases both, the educated and the mass audiences by packaging the movie well.

Pawan's energy level, dialogue delivery and comedy timings are top class throughout the film. 'Gabbar Singh' is a Pawan centric film, just like 'Dabbang', which was centred around the charisma of Salman.

Shankar, who was a big fan of Pawan in his college days, has corporated all the elements that fans want to see in the actor's film.

Stylish fight and dance scenes of Pawas will be surely enjoyed by his fans. On the flip side the emotional aspect, which was in focus in the Hindi film, has been completely neglected in the Telugu remake. And the much publicised 'Keka, keka' picturised on Mallaika Arora is not a patch on the hit item song 'Munni badnam hui'.

Venkata Rathna Naidu is a good looking young guy who doesn't give two hoots to anyone. After becoming a police officer, Venkat returns to his village Kondaveeti where he lives with his parents and younger brother who is a spoilt brat.

He confronts local goon and politician Siddappa Naidu who has created a fear in the town along with his uncle. Meanwhile he falls in love with Bhagyalakshmi whose alcoholic father creates a lot of problems for her.

Siddappa uses Gabbar Singh's younger brother to settle some political disputes. How Gabbar Singh stops Siddappa and marries Bhagyalakshmi forms the rest of the story.

Gabbar Singh ends with 'Pawanism' and nothing else and fans would like it to the hilt. It is unfortunate that Shruti's looks and Abhimanyu's dynamic performance are overshadowed by Pawan's overbearing presence.

Kota Sreenivasa Rao, Thanikella and Ajay look convincing in their respective roles. Brahmanandam and Ali's comedy sequences are hilarious.

Senior artists like Suhasini and Nagineedu do not get enough scope to perform. Devisri Prasad's music and good lyrics jazz up the film.

Jayanth Vincent is fabulous behind the camera.

But frankly speaking nothing else matters in 'Gabbar Singh' except Pawan. If you are a Pawan fan, you will immensely like it. Otherwise also it is a good entertainer with. Watch it.