Kabzaa

<p>During the , Amareshwara, a North Indian Maharaja and a freedom fighter, gets brutally killed by the British, where his wife Tulasi Devi ( ) and sons Arkeshwara and Sankeshwara, relocate to Amarapura and work as flag sellers. In 1971, Arkeshwara ( ) becomes an pilot, while Sankeshwara ( ) 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 ( ), who is the daughter of the head and maharaja of Amarapura Veer Bahaddur ( ). Amarapura has always been involved in gang wars between three gangsters: Khaleed (M. Kamaraj), Bagheera ( ) and Malik (John Kokken). When 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 ( ). 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 ( ) 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 . 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 Vikram ( ) 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 ( ), along with his battalion. Just as he is about to retaliate against them, a mysterious gangster named Siddhantha ( ) arrives with his gang and aims his weapons at both Bakshi and Arkeshwara, ordering them to be fired, thus hinting a sequel. The film’s shoot was stopped due to COVID-19 pandemic and it was resumed in March 2021. Meanwhile joined the cast in 2022. Meantime actor joined the shoot in October 2021 and later joined the sets in December 2021. The film marks the debut of in Kannada. The team later announced that has done a cameo appearance in the film. The music of the film is composed by in his maiden collaboration with both and . The soundtrack was released by . 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. 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. was theatrically released on 17 March 2023 in Kannada alongside Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam languages in 4000 screens in India. acquired the theatrical rights for Tamil Nadu. The Hindi distribution rights of the film was acquired by . Telugu rights were bagged by 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. The satellite rights of the film were secured by , while the digital rights were secured by for (US$17 million). The film was premiered on Amazon Prime Video from 14 April 2023 in Kannada and dubbed versions of Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam languages. The film was reported to have collected on its opening day domestically . The first weekend gross was reported to be ₹170.60 crores. The 8 day collection was reported to be ₹207.19 crores. At the end of 11 days, the collections were reported to be ₹307 crore. The film grossed 320 – 345 crore in 20 days against a budget of ₹120 crore and became a box office success. received positive reviews from critics who praised the cinematography, action sequences, Upendra’s performance, its screenwriting, and music. Harish Basavarajaiah of 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 wrote “Upendra’s 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 ‘s films enjoyable” Yatamanyu Narain of 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”.</p>