Gabbar Singh

Gabbar Singh ( _hi. गब्बर सिंह), is a fictional character in the Hindi film "Sholay", produced in 1975. The character was played by the debuting actor Amjad Khan. In the movie, Gabbar Singh is a dacoit, who leads a group of Dacoits into looting and plundering the villages in the region of Ramgarh.

Gabbar Singh's full name in the movie is known to be Gabbar Hari Singh. No information is disclosed on his background except that he was an infamous dacoit and the villages in his area were terrorized by him and his clan. The character was based on a real-life dacoit of the same name who was active in villages around Gwalior in the 1950s.

Personality

His personality is of a Sadistic and desensitized thug who reigns over the mountainous regions surrounding the Ramgarh village, one who insists on killing whenever required to continue his undisputed status and to take revenge on his enemies. Gabbar Singh also has a taste for ethnic dances and regularly visits the Banjara dance troupes when they come by his region.

Appearance

Gabbar Singh wears a Moss Green outfit. He sports a mustache and a carelessly trimmed beard. He is also seen with a Bullet Belt in some parts of the movie, adding to the traditional Dacoit outfit. He has curly hair and wears black boots.

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Gabbar Singh is portrayed as the biggest and most fearsome dacoit who loots the villages upon will and taxes the people for protection from his tyranny. The government is after him but due to villagers fearing him, the police officials regularly fail in their attempts to imprison him.

However, the honest police officer, Thakur Baldev Singh (played by Sanjeev Kumar), who resides in the Ramgarh village which is heavily influenced by Gabbar Singh, decides to end Gabbar's terror once and for all. He manages to imprison Gabbar following a warning from the Dacoit that he will face dire consequences, Gabbar is sent off to Jail. Some time later, Thakur is informed that Gabbar Singh has escaped. Gabbar returns to his territory and takes his revenge by killing Thakur's family, Thakur chases Gabbar in retaliation but is lured into his hideout in the mountains, where Gabbar cuts Thakur's arms from the shoulders.

Thakur vows to get Gabbar pay for his actions some day. Gabbar continues his reign of terror over the villages until he is faced by Viru and Jai, Thakur's hired vigilantes with the sole mission of bringing Gabbar to Thakur in return of a reward. After a series of bloody battles, Gabbar's men are killed and Thakur completes his revenge on Gabbar by giving him a torturous death.

Legacy

The film Sholay gave the character of Gabbar Singh massive popularity. With his immortal dialogs being played on Audio cassettes throughout the captivated nation. It also skyrocketed the actor Amjad Khan into stardom. Since then Gabbar Singh has enjoyed being a part of the popular culture of India.

There have been numerous Gabbar Singh impersonations in many movies and soap operas after Sholay, stand up comedians and mimicry artists have often mimicked him in their performances. Many of the villains in the movies that followed Sholay were inspired by him.

Gabbar Singh has been considered one of the best antagonists of all time in Hindi films.