If you think Upendra’s Kabzaa looks like a copy of Yash’s KGF, you’re not alone

Kabzaa was written and directed by R. Chandru, who has collaborated with Upendra many times in the past. The film seems to mark a departure from the run-of-the-mill romantic tales Chandru has made so far. His last directorial outing was titled I Love You starring Upendra. And the movie made headlines in 2019 for all the wrong reasons. The film’s female protagonist, Rachita Ram, has expressed regret about having a “daring” song sequence in the film.

Kabzaa’s teaser hints at a film that goes beyond Chandru’s typical taste and talent. He seemed to have a reference point for every shot, scene and emotion in the movie. The teaser suggests that the film will deal with themes of poverty, perhaps with a mother-son relationship at its center, the disease of slavery and even the rise of a flamboyant, power-hungry savior. It just feels, reads and looks like a copy of .

And Kabzaa’s makers aren’t even keeping it a secret. Upendra is happy that the film was compared to his KGF. Chandru also said earlier in the interview: “The KGF is my inspiration. To score a goal, I have to look at the goalpost first. I am so proud of Prashant Neil. He did the KGF and turned heads across the country. So I realized there was a market for a movie with this much directing value.Language was not a barrier.I put all my experience into making a Hollywood-like movie.”

Clearly, Kabzaa is indebted to the KGF universe in many ways. And it remains to be seen if R Chandru simply plagiarized his KGF or if he went ahead with what Prashanth started.

As the late legendary filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard said, “It’s not where you take things, but where you take them.”