New Delhi: Actress Shruti Haasan, the daughter of legendary actor Kamal Haasan said she was very happy with people's response to Gabbar Singh and thankful that she did not have to face the inevitable comparison with Sonakshi Sinha whose role she reprises in the Telugu remake of Salman Khan's blockbuster film Dabangg.
"The reaction (to Gabbar Singh) has been very, very positive. I'm really happy. I hear people have enjoyed the film a lot," Shruti said over phone.
Gabbar Singh is on its way to becoming a major box office success. The Pawan Kalyan starrer has proved all predictions correct. According to early estimates, Gabbar Singh is going to be one of the most successful Telugu films of recent times. Film trade analyst Taran Adarsh said the film made a total of $577,090 in the US in the opening weekend.
This will be Shruti's first major hit film. "Every actor wants a hit, but I wasn't going looking for one. To me, every film I do is special. Every film tests me," Shruti, who hasn't had a major hit before Gabbar Singh, said.
"It was such a pleasant surprise, not being compared to Sonakshi," she said. Shruti reprises Sonakshi's role of the fiercely independent village belle in Gabbar Singh. Shruti plays Bhagyalakshmi in the film. In an earlier interview, before the release of the film, she said she was playing a village girl but the filmmaker had made changes to her role to suit the nativity.
"There are also modifications in terms of role and content. It has been very exciting for me. This is completely different from all the characters I've been playing in Tamil and Telugu," she said. "This is a girl who thinks "I know how to do my stuff, I will take care of myself", she is very much like that.
Fortunately so far all the female characters I played definitely have a mind of their own. Be it from Seventh Sense or Dil Toh Bachha Hai Ji', somehow there is a common trait in the characters which I get which is well defined. They did have chutzpah, which is interesting."
Her father, who is out of the country filming Viswaroopam, hasn't yet seen the film but is happy with the response as well. "This doesn't change anything for me, I will keep on focusing on good films, as I have in past, in every film I acted in," she said.
Adarsh said Gabbar Singh's USA collection could be higher than what was reported ($ 577,090), since the collections are of 'reported screens' only. The Telugu film can surpass the business of more publicized Hindi films such as 'Rockstar', 'Desi Boyz', and 'Agent Vinod''s US opening weekend.
This is not an easy feat to achieve for any Indian regional language film in the US. "Point to be noted is that Gabbar Singh 'reported screens' in USA are half or 1/3rd of those Hindi biggies, yet the total will be bigger," Adarsh said. Directed by Harish Shankar, 'Gabbar Singh' is the Hindi remake of Salman Khan's 'Dabangg'. The film stars Pawan Kalyan, Shruti Haasan and Abhimanyu Singh in the lead roles.
