Film

Gabbar Is Back

Akshay Kumar plays a righteous vigilante who orchestrates elaborate public punishments for corrupt officials, sparking a cat-and-mouse game with law enforcement. It's a Bollywood action-drama that blends earnest social commentary with spectacle—part thriller, part revenge fantasy, entirely committed to its own moral certainty. For those who love Kumar's charisma and don't mind their justice served theatrically.

TMDb rating3.5

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Raees2017

Shah Rukh Khan plays an anti-hero gangster with similar moral complexity—a man operating outside the law who sees himself as justified. The action is visceral and the character work runs deeper than Gabbar allows.

But Nearly three hours, and it drags in the middle. The love story feels obligatory in a way that slows everything down.

Raees poster

Sooryavansham

Amitabh Bachchan in a revenge narrative where a vigilante takes justice into his own hands. The DNA of what Gabbar Is Back is trying to do, but with more gravitas and a star who owns moral ambiguity effortlessly.

But A three-hour film from 1999 with dated action sequences and heavy-handed messaging that will test your patience.

Article 152019

Ayushmann Khurrana investigates systemic corruption and caste violence as a police officer. Takes the same subject matter—rot in the system—but through procedural investigation rather than spectacle. Sharper and angrier.

But It's a police procedural, not an action film. Slower-burn, deliberately unsexy, and the crimes it examines are genuinely disturbing rather than cathartic.

Article 15 poster

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The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Night of the Hunter1955

Both feature charismatic men whose self-righteous certainty makes violence feel justified to their followers and themselves. The difference is that Hunter understands the danger in that certainty; Gabbar does not.

Charles Laughton's one directorial effort is a masterpiece of moral ambiguity—a charismatic preacher-killer whose justifications are as seductive as they are rotten. It's asking the same questions Gabbar asks, but with actual doubt baked in.

But Black-and-white, 1955, deliberately stylized and slow. It's a meditation on evil dressed as morality, not a thriller. Zero action in the modern sense.

The Night of the Hunter poster
More like this (7)

Thugs of Hindostan2018

Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan together in a period action-adventure that commits fully to spectacle and moral grandstanding. If you liked Gabbar's confidence in its own righteousness, this amplifies that energy.

But Widely considered a mess. Incoherent plot, bloated runtime, and the spectacle often obscures rather than clarifies what's happening.

Thugs of Hindostan poster

Naam Shabana2017

Taapsee Pannu as a secret agent taking out targets for national security. Compact, genuinely tense, and plays similar moral games about justified violence but with a smaller, smarter scope.

But A spy thriller, not an action showcase. If you're watching for Akshay Kumar's charisma, this won't scratch that itch.

Naam Shabana poster

Airlift2016

Akshay Kumar in a based-on-true-events thriller where an ordinary man takes action during a crisis. Smaller-scale than Gabbar but more grounded, with genuine stakes that don't rely on punishing bad guys for catharsis.

But The action is minimal. It's a survival thriller where patience and logistics matter more than fight choreography.

Airlift poster

Badlapur2015

Varun Dhawan in a dark revenge thriller about obsession and violence. Released the same year as Gabbar but far grimmer—it interrogates the vigilante impulse rather than celebrating it, making it a genuinely unsettling mirror.

But Brutal and unpleasant in ways that linger. Not cathartic—it leaves you sitting with the ugliness of vengeance rather than cheering for it.

Badlapur poster

Policegiri2013

Shenaz Treasury and Saif Ali Khan in a comedy-thriller about a woman and a cop. Lighter weight than Gabbar, but if you want Bollywood action with humor and charm but without the self-seriousness.

But A comedy first, thriller second. If you're looking for genuine stakes or action spectacle, this will feel fluffy and scattered.

Policegiri poster

Parasite2019

Both create systems where corruption justifies extraordinary action. But Parasite shows the machinery of inequality making villains of the desperate; Gabbar celebrates individuals punishing abstractions.

Bong Joon-ho's Oscar-winning class thriller constructs an elaborate system of deception where desperation makes violence feel rational to ordinary people. It's operatic, shocking, and morally ferocious without judgment.

But Not an action film—tension builds through architecture and revelation, not combat. The violence is brief and ugly, not cathartic. The ending offers no satisfaction, only recognition.

Parasite poster

The Raid 22014

Both are action films obsessed with taking down corrupt systems. But The Raid 2 understands that fighting corruption with violence turns you into what you're fighting. Gabbar doesn't entertain that doubt.

Gareth Evans' Indonesian action masterpiece where an undercover cop infiltrates a crime syndicate. The choreography and filmmaking are poetry, and it grapples with how violence corrupts even righteous causes from the inside.

But Not in English. Graphic and relentless—the violence is stunning but also genuinely exhausting and repetitive in a way that wears on you.

The Raid 2 poster

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Race Gurram, Nela Ticket, Khiladi