Kabzaa (2023 film)

Kabzaa is a 2023 Indian Kannada-language period action film written and directed by R. Chandru. The film features an ensemble cast of Upendra, Shiva Rajkumar, Kiccha Sudeepa, Shriya Saran, Sudha, Murali Sharma, Nawab Sah, Suneel Puranik, John Kokken, Dev Gill, Kabir Duhan Singh, Danish Akhtar Saifi, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Lakki Lakshman and Posani Krishna Murali. In the film, Arkeshwara, an air force officer, enters the underworld due to unavoidable circumststances and revolves around his life between 1942 and 1986.

Kabzaa was released on 17 March 2023 in Kannada, along with the dubbed versions of Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam coinciding with the 48th birth anniversary of Puneeth Rajkumar. The film received negative reviews from critics and became a box-office bomb. Despite the box office failure, a sequel is announced to be in development.

Plot
During the British rule in 1945, Amareshwara, a North Indian Maharaja and a freedom fighter, gets brutally killed by the British, where his wife Tulasi Devi (Sudha) and sons Arkeshwara and Sankeshwara, relocate to Amarapura and work as flag sellers. In 1971, Arkeshwara (Upendra) becomes an air force pilot, while Sankeshwara (Suneel Puranik) sacrifices his aspirations of joining the Air Force for his brother. Arkeshwara returns to Amarapura for a short holiday, where he spends time with his mother and girlfriend Princess Madhumati (Shriya Saran), who is the daughter of the head and maharaja of Amarapura Veer Bahaddur (Murali Sharma).

Amarapura has always been involved in gang wars between three gangsters: Khaleed (M. Kamaraj), Bagheera (Nawab Shah) and Malik (John Kokken). When CM Ghanshyam Pandey (Lakki Lakshman) learns about Veer Bahaddur's plan to nominate himself as a candidate for the CM, to regain power over the people, he hires Khaleed to create chaos in Amarapura, along with his son Sartaaj (Taaha Shah). Sartaaj begins the chaos until Sankeshwara kills him for shooting an old woman. Enraged, Khaleed kills and beheads Sankeshwara, which disturbs Arkeshwara and Tulasi. An enraged Arkeshwara later kills a police officer for insulting his family, upon which he is sentenced to prison and expelled from the Air Force. Later, Khaleed hires a dreaded gangster Bali (Danish Akhtar Saifi) to kill Arkeshwara in prison, but Arkeshwara kills Bali.

Sensing an opportunity to get rid of Khaleed, Veer Bahaddur bails out Arkeshwara. Khaleed organises a hit against Arkeshwara, but Arkeshwara finishes Khaleed's men and kills Khaleed, thus seeking justice in Sankeshwara's death and marking his foray into becoming the next crime boss of the Bangalore crime syndicate. However, trouble ensues for Arkeshwara, as he has to deal with Malik and Bagheera. Veer Bahaddur wins the election and becomes the CM. Madhumati informs her decision to him on marrying Arkeshwara, but Veer Bahaddur disrespects her decision and Arkeshwara, leading her to elope with him. Arkeshwara kills Bagheera and Malik, and occupies their empire, where he becomes a dreaded gangster overnight.

In 1973, Arakeshwara leads a family life with Madhumati, their two children and Tulasi Devi, in a massive palace. On their wedding anniversary, Madhumati heads to Veer Bahaddur for reconciliation, but he holds her captive in a cell and tells her about how he used Arkeshwara as a weapon to destroy Bagheera, Khaleed and Malik. He also reveals to her that he tried to get DSP Vikram (Dev Gill) arrest Arkeshwara, but to no avail as he died at the hands of Arkeshwara. Veer Bahaddur then separates Madhumati from her sons and proceeds to burn them alive.

Meanwhile, Arkeshwara gets worried about Madhumati and their children. He calls up Veer Bahaddur to find about their whereabouts, but later gets surrounded by the ruthless cop Bhargava Bakshi (Kiccha Sudeepa), along with his battalion. Just as he is about to retaliate against them, a mysterious gangster named Siddhantha (Shiva Rajkumar) arrives with his gang and aims his weapons at both Bakshi and Arkeshwara, ordering them to be fired, thus hinting a sequel.

Production
The film's shoot was stopped due to COVID-19 pandemic and it was resumed in March 2021. Meanwhile Asha Bhat joined the cast in 2022. Meantime actor Nawab Shah joined the shoot in October 2021 and later Sudeep joined the sets in December 2021. The film marks the debut of Murali Sharma in Kannada. The team later announced that Shiva Rajkumar has done a cameo appearance in the film.

Music
The music of the film is composed by Ravi Basrur in his maiden collaboration with both Upendra and Kichcha Sudeepa. The soundtrack was released by Anand Audio. The first single titled "Kabzaa Title Track" was released on 4 February 2023. The second single titled "Namaami Namaami" was released on 16 February 2023. The third single titled "Chum Chum Chali Chali" was released on 26 February 2023.

Marketing
The motion poster of the film was released on the birthday of Upendra on 18 September 2021. The film's teaser was released in September 2022.

Theatrical
Kabzaa was theatrically released on 17 March 2023 in Kannada alongside Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam languages in 4000 screens in India.

Lyca Productions acquired the theatrical rights for Tamil Nadu. The Hindi distribution rights of the film was acquired by Anand Pandit. Telugu rights were bagged by Sudhakar Reddy Ruchira Entertainments and N Cinemas banner. Chandru himself will distribute the Kannada version. Malayalam rights were bagged by LGF Studios and distributed through E4 Entertainments in Kerala.

Home media
The satellite rights of the film were secured by Colors Kannada, while the digital rights were secured by Amazon Prime Video for inr 1400000000. The film was premiered on Amazon Prime Video from 14 April 2023 in Kannada and dubbed versions of Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam languages.

Box office
The film was reported to have collected ₹11.10 crore on its opening day domestically though the makers claimed the first day worldwide gross collections to be ₹25 crores. The first weekend gross was reported to be ₹20.60 crores. The 5 day collection was reported to be ₹27.19 crores. At the end of 8 days, the collections were reported to be ₹30 - ₹31 crore. The film grossed ₹34.5 crore in 11 days against a budget of ₹120 crore and became a box office bomb.

Critical response
Kabzaa received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics who praised the cinematography, action sequences, and Upendra's performance, but criticized its screenwriting, music, and similarities with K.G.F.

Harish Basavarajaiah of The Times of India gave 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "There are many one-liners and punching dialogues which play to the gallery. Shivarajkumar’s entry in the climax brings another twist in the tale and is one of the main points in the movie. The story, visual presentation, and ensemble cast makes the movie worth watching". Bhuvanesh Chandar of The Hindu wrote "Upendra’s gangster drama is similar to ‘KGF’ in more than just the looks, flavour, and genre; it's a rip-off loaded with empty shells of everything that made Prashanth Neel's films enjoyable"

Yatamanyu Narain of News 18 gave 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Kabzaa is the right film for you if you are craving to see an anti-hero like Rocky Bhai wreak havoc on the enemies in a full-fledged commercial set-up weaved with the help of adrenaline-pumping action sequences, edge-of-the-seat thrill, and larger than life characters. You’re bound to enjoy the twists and turns and the climax will leave you wanting for more". Vivek M V of Deccan Herald gave 2 out of 5 stars and wrote "Kabzaa' is a clueless film with little emphasis on emotional resonance. For all its showboating notwithstanding, it lacks a soul to make us care for it". Saketh Reddy Eleti of ABP Desam gave 2 out of 5 stars and wrote "Kabzaa is a poor imitation of KGF where nothing works out. Climax has absurd ending and Telugu dubbing was bad".

123telugu gave 2 out of 5 stars and wrote "On the whole, Kabzaa is a loud and boring period action drama that fails to live up to its expectations. Upendra and the cinematography are the only solaces in this tiresome flick. The routine story, uninteresting narrative, and lack of emotions make it a disappointing fare. You can comfortably skip this film". Haricharan Pudipeddi of Hindustan Times wrote "The film has nearly half a dozen villain characters but not even one among them manages to impress. Even on the action front, the stunts are too exaggerated to even make us root for Upendra, who sleepwalks through a role that’s interesting on paper but isn’t written in a way that it could become as popular as Yash’s Rocky from the K.G.F franchise. Both the roles – which are about a common man’s rise to the top - have so much in common but Arkeshwara feels lifeless". Prathibha Joy of OTTplay gave a negative review of 1.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Kabzaa ends with the promise of a sequel. Trouble is that the original itself is so lacklustre that no one is going to line up to watch Kabzaa 2, if and when it gets to theatres". Maalai Malar gave 2.75 out of 5 stars.