Released · Telugu film · 2016
Sardar Gabbar Singh
సర్దార్ గబ్బర్ సింగ్
Sardar Gabbar Singh release date: 8 April 2016 (theatres). Directed by Bobby Kolli; starring Pawan Kalyan, Kajal Aggarwal and Brahmanandam.
- Film release
- 8 April 2016 · All 2016 films
- Director
- Bobby Kolli
- Music
- Devi Sri Prasad
- Producer
- Pawan Kalyan
- Writing credits
- Bobby Kolli
- Runtime
- 164 min
- Language
- Telugu
OTT release
No streaming platform is on file for this film.
Film release: 8 April 2016 · all 2016 Telugu films.
Source: the film’s Wikipedia article, checked 25 September 2026. It does not name a streaming platform or date; this page says so rather than guessing.
Sardaar Gabbar Singh is a 2016 Telugu-language action comedy co-written and directed by K. S. Ravindra (Bobby Kolli) from an original story by Pawan Kalyan, who also stars. Neither a remake nor a direct sequel, it was written as a spiritual successor to Gabbar Singh (2012). It was released worldwide on 8 April 2016, together with a Hindi dubbed version.
Story
In the princely town of Rattanpur, the ruthless landlord Bhairav Singh rules through fear, seizing land and forcing the villagers to obey him. The government sends in a brave police officer, Sardaar Gabbar Singh, to restore order. He soon clashes with Bhairav Singh, while falling for Princess Arshi, and the conflict builds towards a showdown between the two men.
Cast
- Pawan Kalyan as Sardaar Gabbar Singh
- Kajal Aggarwal as Princess Arshi
- Sharad Kelkar as Bhairav Singh
- Kabir Duhan Singh as Bhairav Singh’s right-hand man
- Charandeep as one of the antagonists
- Raai Laxmi
Development
Pawan Kalyan agreed in October 2012 to make the film with producer Sharrath Marar, and wrote the story himself, adding family drama and softening the hero’s aggression after the response to Attarintiki Daredi. It was launched in Hyderabad on 21 February 2014 as Gabbar Singh 2, with Sampath Nandi directing, but Nandi left in November 2014 and K. S. Ravindra took over. The film was renamed Sardaar in July 2015, after the name by which the villain Gabbar Singh is addressed in Sholay, and then Sardaar Gabbar Singh when Eros International joined as co-producer. Sai Madhav Burra wrote the dialogue.
Casting and filming
Many actresses were considered for the female lead before Kajal Aggarwal, who had earlier declined because of dates, agreed in August 2015, her first film with Pawan Kalyan. The makers cast Sharad Kelkar after seeing him in a television serial. Principal photography began in Maharashtra in May 2015 and continued in Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Gujarat and Kerala until March 2016. Devi Sri Prasad composed the music, Arthur A. Wilson replaced Jayanan Vincent as cinematographer, and Gautham Raju edited the film.
Release
After briefly moving the release to May to avoid clashing with other big films, the makers returned to the original date of 8 April 2016, at Ugadi. Eros International, which held the theatrical rights, released a Hindi dubbed version the same day, with Pawan Kalyan saying the story was universal and aimed at audiences across India.
Sources: Wikipedia and Wikidata.
Cast of Sardar Gabbar Singh (2016)
- Pawan Kalyan as Sardaar Gabbar Singh
- Kajal Aggarwal as Arshi Devi
- Brahmanandam as Shekhar Singh
- Sanjjana
- Sharad Kelkar as Bhairao Singh
Additional cast
Further acting credits recorded for this film; voice-only and dubbing credits are excluded.
- Rao Ramesh as Ramesh Talwar
- Tanikella Bharani as Gabbar Singh's Guardian
- Raghu Babu
- Ali as Samba
- Posani Krishna Murali as Appaji
- Brahmaji as Raja Manikhyam
- Charandeep
- Shakalaka Shankar
- Urvashi as Madhumati
- Mukesh Rishi as Hari Narayana
- Krishna Bhagavaan
- Pradeep Rawat as Bhairao Singh's father
- Vineet Kumar
- Pooja Ramachandran as Girl in Rattanpur
Also in the cast (TMDB): Kabir Duhan Singh as Dhanu, Tisca Chopra as Geetha Devi.
Character names as listed on TMDB, checked 10 Oct 2026.
What critics said
The article describes mixed responses: critics saw it as a Pawan Kalyan show for his fans, weighed down by a weak script and long runtime.
- The Times of India (Pranita Jonnalagada) pointed to lazy direction.
- Sify called Pawan Kalyan and Kajal the saving grace, but said the narration drags after the interval.
- Firstpost (Sreedhar Pillai) called it “all sound and fury, with no story”.
- News18 (Karthik Keramalu) felt the story loses focus midway.
- Scroll (Nandini Ramanath) found scenes that read like electioneering, given Pawan Kalyan's politics.
- The Indian Express found it so lazily written that it is a struggle to sit through.
- Hindustan Times (Haricharan Pudipeddi) said Pawan Kalyan the actor shines while Pawan Kalyan the writer fails.
- The Hindu (Sangeetha Devi Dundoo) felt it lacks a taut screenplay to string together its crowd-pleasing moments.
Box office: the article reports an opening of ₹35 crore in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the biggest for a Pawan Kalyan film at the time, before mixed word of mouth hurt collections.
Summarised by Tollywood Desk from the reception section of the Wikipedia article Sardaar Gabbar Singh (revision 1376652796), which cites the reviews named above. Quotation marks show words quoted in that article; no ratings or scores are added here.
Source record: Q20814736 on Wikidata. Dates are those on record and can change; this is not a studio announcement. Spotted an error? Send a correction.