Gabbar Is Back

About the film

Gabbar Is Back is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language vigilante action thriller film directed by Krish in his Hindi debut, written by Rajat Arora and produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The film stars Akshay Kumar and Shruti Haasan with Kareena Kapoor Khan in a special appearance.

An official remake of A. R. Murugadoss's 2002 Tamil film Ramanaa, it is named after the titular antagonist played by Amjad Khan in the 1975 film Sholay. The film was released theatrically on 1 May 2015 and became a critical and commercial success.

Plot

The police get information that 10 tehsildars across Maharashtra have been mysteriously kidnapped. However, no sooner are they mysteriously returned – except the most corrupt officer, who is hanged. The police get a CD from mystery man 'Gabbar', who says his mission is to target corrupt officers. Police driver Sadhuram is convinced he can crack the mystery of who is Gabbar.

National College professor Aditya thrashes some goons who try to vandalize college property. On his way home one night, he encounters a young lawyer, Shruti, who is in a hurry to take a pregnant woman to the hospital. Some days later, she bumps into Aditya again during a fight, and they begin dating. Sadhuram in the meantime finds out there's one honest officer in each department across the state, and is convinced that each of these honest officers has a link to Gabbar.

One fateful day, Aditya and Shruti are checking out of a roadside café when Shruti is hurt in a minor accident, and Aditya takes her to the Patil Hospital where a female doctor insists on taking a number of expensive tests. Aditya happens to overhear a doctor try to suggest the rather expensive Caesarean section delivery and is soon convinced of the hospital staff's dirty tricks when he notices a father-daughter duo being informed of the mother's death only after an expensive bill was paid. He deliberately checks in a poor woman's dead husband as a patient; unaware of his trap, the hospital tries to swindle money out of Aditya by pretending to treat the already dead man, making him pay heavily for tests and medicines. However, Aditya shows them the death certificate as a proof of their knowingly admitting a dead man. The young owner of the hospital, Vikas Patil, is furious when Aditya releases the video of the hospital's corruption to the media despite having struck a deal with him. Vikas is murdered by the enraged public, and his father Digvijay Patil sees Aditya in the hospital CCTV footage, only to realize this is the same man he had supposedly killed five years ago.

Soundtrack

The songs of Gabbar Is Back were composed by Chirantan Bhatt, Yo Yo Honey Singh and Manj Musik, while the lyrics were written by Manoj Yadav, Kumaar, Sahil Kaushal, Manj Musik, Raftaar and Big Dhillon.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 18% of 11 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4/10.

Bollywood Hungama rated the film 3 stars out of 5, writing that "On the whole, Gabbar Is Back is an average entertainer which will draw huge footfalls over the weekend due to catchy massy title, action drama and the fact that it is releasing on a holiday." Hindustan Times rated it 3 stars out of 5, stating that "Gabbar Is Back is a full on ‘masala’ film with a lot of applause worthy scenes. The buck stops at Akshay Kumar." The Times of India rated the film 3.5 stars out of 5, writing that "Now, Gabbar Is Back – and you'll feel his return rocks." Zee News also rated it 3.5 stars out of 5, writing that "After watching this we surely need a real 'Gabbar' to blow some courage in all of us—and wipe out corruption from the root. 'Pachaas Pachaas Kos Dur Jabh Koi Rishwat Leta Hai, Toh Sabh Kehte Hain Mat Le Varna, Gabbar Aa Jaaega." Subhash K. Jha of Bollywood Hungama wrote that "Akshay Gives The Super-Hero A New Definition." Hindustan Times audio news praised the screen presence of Akshay Kumar. Deccan Chronicle described the movie as "cliched but enjoyable in bits". Business Standard posted the ratings of IANS which gave 4 stars to the movie.

Box office

Gabbar is Back grossed ₹1.35 billion (equivalent to ₹2.0 billion or US$21 million in 2023) world-wide.

Key details