Son of Sardaar

Plot

The story revolves around two families, whose patriarchs killed each other many years ago. Their respective sons, Jaswinder Randhawa and Balwinder Sandhu, are sworn enemies. Jaswinder has been in hiding in London, whereas Balwinder is waiting for his return in Punjab so he can avenge the death of his father.

In the present day, Jassi Randhawa (Ajay Devgan) is an unemployed good-for-nothing man who receives a letter from the Punjab government about buying his property in Punjab. To sell the property, Jassi leaves for Punjab. On the train, he meets and falls in love with Sukhmeet (Sonakshi Sinha). In Punjab, Jassi accidentally meets Billu (Sanjay Dutt) and, seeing he is new to the area, Billu invites Jassi to his home, where he treats Jassi like a god. There, Jassi realises that Billu is Sukhmeet's brother. Soon enough, it is revealed that Billu is Balwinder Singh and Jassi is short for Jaswinder. However, Billu's family has to follow one Punjabi rule: A guest in the house should never be harmed. Now, Billu must wait for Jassi to leave the house to kill him. Jassi learns about it and comes up with a hilarious plan to foil Billu's shenanigans.

Cast

Development

Son of Sardaar is a remake of Telugu comedy thriller film Maryada Ramanna directed by S. S. Rajamouli starring Sunil and Saloni Aswani in lead roles. In an interview, director Ashwni Dhir replied that it was only the plot that was remade; the rest was changed.

Maryada Ramanna has also been remade in Kannada as Maryade Ramanna starring Komal Kumar and Nisha Shah, and in Bengali as Faande Poriya Boga Kaande Re starring Soham Chakraborty and Srabanti Chatterjee. In fact, each and every antic in Son of Sardaar is prominently depicted in the Bengali remake. The movie was also re-made in Tamil Vallavanukku Pullum Aayudham starring comedian Santhanam in a hero role with new-comer Ashna Zaveri as the heroine. The movie was also remade in malayalam as Ivan Maryadaraman starring malayalam actor dileep in the hero role with Nikki Galrani as the heroine.

Production

₹300 million (US$4.7 million) was spent on making Son of Sardar. However, an all-inclusive price tag of ₹850 million (US$13 million) was also announced in the media.

The Punjabi Cultural Heritage Board raised disagreements due to some objection regarding certain scenes and dialogues. The producer and lead actor Ajay Devgn understood the objections and edited the scenes. "The creativity of the film has not been affected in any way. Every film is rectified, sometimes it's made even better," said Devgn during a press conference. "The objectionable things were very small. The writer and director of the film is Punjabi and we took care of things. Even the guy who tied my turban was from Punjab", he added.

Release

Son of Sardaar released in 2,000 screens in India and 350 screens overseas. Son of Sardaar got 300 more screens in its second week.

Two weeks before Diwali, Ajay Devgn FFilms sent an intimation notice to Yash Raj Films through their lawyer at the Competition Commission of India. The notice accused Yash Raj Films of monopolistic business practices and stated that they used "their dominant position in the Bollywood film market" to secure many high quality single-screens for their release Jab Tak Hai Jaan.

Yash Raj Films responded by saying that they were shocked and questioned Devgn's motives. The studio dismissed Devgn's claim that high-quality single-screens were unavailable by pointing out that they had only booked 1,500 single-screens for Jab Tak Hai Jaan out of the 10,500 available in India. The studio added that Ajay could have changed the release of his film as Yash Chopra announced on 27 June 2011 Jab Tak Hai Jaan would come out on Diwali 2012. Ajay announced the date of Son of Sardaar on 29 May 2012 and finalised distribution deals on 4 October 2012. He had a year to avoid a simultaneous release. Lastly, Yash Raj Films stated it was unfair to say they were in a dominant position. The studio only released a handful of films in 2012 while the makers of Son of Sardaar, Viacom 18 and Eros International, released dozens the same year.

After the statement made by Yash Raj Films, Ajay Devgn responded by saying he only managed to book 600 single-screens for Son of Sardaar and would take legal action if not allotted more. He denied having anything against Shahrukh Khan and said that distributors cannot be allowed to enter into an arrangement which adversely affects competition. Yash Raj Films entered into a tie-in arrangement with exhibitors that made it compulsory for them to show an untitled Yash Chopra film on Diwali and keep it in cinemas for at least two weeks thereafter. Devgn claimed that this violated provisions of the 2002 Indian Competition Act. Senior film critic Vinod Mirani said that YRF's move of blocking single screens may not help much. "Single screens watchers will have more affinity towards an action film such as SOS. Moreover, JTHJ's length and the fact that music has still not picked up, will not go down well with the movie goers." The Competition Commission dismissed the case against Yash Raj Films on 6 November 2012. Ajay Devgn has appealed to Competition Appellate Tribunal after rejection of petition against Yash Raj Films. The Competition Appellate tribunal bench headed by chairman Justice V. S. Sirpurkar refused Devgn's stay against Jab Tak Hai Jaan but stated that the case against Yash Raj Films will be reviewed again. Both films were released on 13 November 2012.

Critical reception

Son of Sardaar received mixed to negative reviews. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave it a score of 4 out of 5 stars and said "Son of Sardaar is for lovers of hardcore masala movies. If you liked Wanted, Dabangg and Rowdy Rathore, chances are you will relish Son of Sardaar as well. The North Indian audiences in particular and those residing abroad will be simply delighted by this chatpata, masaledaar fare." Gayatri Sankar of Zee News gave it 3 out of 5 stars while commenting "Certain portions are a bit of a drag, but the comic sequences will make up for the monotony. The cast has put up a good show. Overall, SOS is worth a watch, a complete family entertainer. Rediff gave 2 out of 5 and stated Son of Sardaar has a lot for the masses but it lacks a good story. Filmfare gave 2 out of 5 stars and stated "Comedy is more than just gags and slapstick. Sadly SOS gets it wrong." Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave 2 out of 5 stars and stated Son of Sardaar "is only sporadically entertaining, and peddles the same tired stereotypes of Punjab and Sikhs. A cameo by Salman Khan, sadly, doesn’t make up for the film's many flaws." Hindustan Times gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, describing it as "exhausting, painfully loud and way too long, with too few laughs", while the Telegraph stated that it was "run-of-the-mill", but that it could be a "guilty pleasure" for some viewers. Like the Hindustan Times, IBNLive gave the movie 2 out of 5, with a slightly lower grade coming from Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV, who rated the film 1.5 out 5, stated that it was "A tangled mess that has no way of working its way around the sloppy screenplay." The Hindu stated that there's nothing more torturous than watching an unfunny film that's trying so hard to be funny.

India

Son of Sardaar had opening of around 70% on average at multiplexes, especially in North India. The single screens opening was similar. It earned around ₹107 million (US$1.7 million) on its opening day. It shows very good growth of 70% with a collection of around ₹160 million (US$2.5 million) net on its second day. It netted ₹390 million (US$6.1 million) nett in its first three-day weekend. Son of Sardaar net grossed ₹510 million (US$8.0 million) in first five days of release. The film held up well with a collection of ₹579 million (US$9.0 million) in its extended week of six days. The movie brought its extended first-week collection to ₹830 million (US$13 million) nett.

After its first week, the film continued its successful run and collected ₹830 million (US$13 million) nett in ten days. Son of Sardaar had netted ₹800 million (US$12 million) after its second weekend. Son of Sardaar dropped in week two, collecting around ₹152 million (US$2.4 million) net. The film netted a total of ₹1.05 billion (US$16 million) in four weeks. Son of Sardaar has distributor share of 49–500 million.

Overseas

Son of Sardaar grossed $2 million in seven days. Son of Sardaar did a business of around $3 million overseas, which BoxofficeIndia.com called it "average".

Soundtrack

The music of the film was composed by Himesh Reshammiya while the lyrics were penned by Sameer, Shabbir Ahmed, Irshad Kamil & Manoj Yadav. Only one song, "Yeh Jo Halki Halki Khumariya", composed by Sajid-Wajid was also included in the album.

Soundtrack reception

The album received mixed to positive reviews. Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama gave the album 3.5 out of 5 stars and stated that "Son of Sardaar lives up to its promise of a high-on-energy soundtrack with not many dull moments in its 50-odd minutes duration. " Koimoi gave it 3 out of 5 stars and said, "Overall this album is more than a decent affair where Punjabi 'tadka' makes it reasonably happening. While the tracks Son of Sardaar and Bichdann will certainly do well, Kabhi Kabhi Mere Dil Mein and Rani Tu Mein Raja also carry potential to make their presence felt." IBNLive gave it 3 out of 5 stars and said, "The album is woven around the theme of the film and manages to justify it well, although the sound gets a bit monotonous at times."

Sequel

On May 27, 2015. Actor Ajay Devgan quoted on Twitter saying "Sorry yaar, duniya bekar bina Son of Sardaar! Releasing date of sequel of son of sardar is not confirmed."