Shankar Dada Zindabad

Shankar Dada Zindabad (transl. “Long live Shankar Dada”) is a 2007 Telugu action comedy directed by Prabhu Deva, with Chiranjeevi returning as the lovable gangster of Shankar Dada MBBS (2004). A remake of the 2006 Hindi film Lage Raho Munna Bhai, it co-stars Karishma Kotak, Srikanth and Sayaji Shinde, with Dilip Prabhavalkar reprising his role as Mahatma Gandhi. Devi Sri Prasad composed the music and Chota K. Naidu shot the film. It was released on 27 July 2007.

What the story is about

Shankar Dada is a local gangster with a loyal right-hand man, ATM. He falls for Jahnavi, a radio jockey, just from hearing her voice on FM. When her station announces a quiz on Gandhi with a chance to meet her as the prize, Shankar has a few professors forcibly coached into helping him win. It works, but Jahnavi, believing he is a professor, invites him to give a talk on Gandhi to a group of elderly residents at the “Second Innings” house. With no way out, Shankar heads to the library to read up, and as he immerses himself in Gandhi’s life, he begins to see the Mahatma himself, whom he calls Bapu. What Shankar does with Bapu’s advice, and what happens when a businessman sets his sights on the old people’s house, is the rest of the story.

Cast

• Chiranjeevi as Shankar Prasad, “Shankar Dada”
• Srikanth as Rama Raju
• Karishma Kotak as Jahnavi
• Sayaji Shinde as Rajalingam
• Dilip Prabhavalkar as Mahatma Gandhi
• Brahmanandam as an astrologer
• Sarath Babu as Panduranga Rao
• Sunil as Kumar
• Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam as Subramanyam
• Pawan Kalyan as Suresh, in a cameo, and Sadha as Sandhya, in a cameo
• Ravi Teja, Allu Arjun and Prabhu Deva in special appearances in the song “Jagadeka Veerudiki”

Director: Prabhu Deva. Music: Devi Sri Prasad (Aditya Music). Cinematography: Chota K. Naidu. Production: Gemini Film Circuit. Runtime: 152 minutes.

Music

Devi Sri Prasad, who also appears in the song “Good Morning Hyderabad”, reused his “Akalesthey” tune as “Daddy Mummy” in the Tamil film Villu (2009) and the Hindi film Bhaag Johnny (2015).

Reviews

Sify rated it 3/5, calling it “a faithful adaptation of Lage Raho Munnabhai” and a “clean family entertainer”. G. P. Aditya Vardhan of Rediff.com gave it 3.5 out of 5 under the headline “Chiranjeevi rocks in Shankardada”, writing that it “has style, comedy, colourful dance sequences and megastar’s trademark gait”. We have not found box-office figures from a named outlet.

Where to watch Shankar Dada Zindabad

We do not have a confirmed streaming listing for Shankar Dada Zindabad on file. If we verify one with a platform, it will appear on this page.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Shankar Dada Zindabad and the reviews it cites, linked above; our own cast and crew records.