Movie Review – Dabangg 2 (Hindi) - Chulbul without his amulet!!

The year 2010 saw the advent of Abhinav Kashyap’s Dabangg and its sweepstake Chulbul “Robinhood” Pandey, and from then he ruled our hearts. It was far-fetched to despise this messiah of masses. A gawk of a policeman, arbitrating north Indian jingoism by flaunting his brash virility and clumsily heaving hips and babbled biceps. Albeit a routine fare, the movie had its sheen – A robust and rollicking protagonist, different dialogue, a hearty and unipolar mockery on the police establishment which ran through the tawdry narrative.

Now it’s the end of 2012, to be precise the so called world’s end and the stage is set for its sequel, Dabangg 2. This time the baton has been shifted to Arbaaz Khan, so the film lacked three vital Cs – Content, Clarity and Creativity. Pandey who started his life’s innings as an abandoned child by his biological father and detested his step family, is now a complacent son-brother-husband-and towards the end, a father. The backdrop of the film moves from Lalgunj – a town in UP - to Kanpur because Mr Chulbul wants to display his towering machismo in larger-than-life action sequences, and a city canvas would help him quench his thirst.

Apart from these unfussy requisites, the director and the writer, Dilip Shukla, deconstructed an already slender story-line into an even languid revenge drama. The hero, the villain, their allies and sidekicks - surprisingly, act as catalysts in the narration; and some embellishments in the form of insipid songs makes up for the film. Rather than telling a story, the director collates bits and pieces to form a collage that’s akin to the previous one that very well justifies the lame conclusion. The only effort put by him is to give the film a touch of sequel. You can see some allusions to its predecessor – Our hero makes a thumping entry with a montage of sequences from Dabangg in which he bashes and batters bulky goons in slipshod slow-motion shots – dishoom dishoom, thud thud, dishoom dishoom, thud thud… Needless to say, every action sequence parrots the one foregoing it.

Please don’t sleep through the review. Abhi bahut kehnaa baaki hai…

Dabangg 2 is the practice of a banal writer/director. It’s a film that swaggers ahead to accomplish its deliberate purpose – to rake in the moolah by offering very little. Chulbul Pandey breathes life into the film with his machismo and puerile mirth – the way he spirals in the item number alongside Kareena evokes many whistles from the audience, but he has to part with his amulet owing to the lackluster script. The music by Sajid-Wajid fails to impress and every song goes unregistered. You like Fevicol Se for the obvious reasons and not for its music. So, even for the most reverent disciple of Salman Khan, Dabangg 2 might be a discontent.

The film extends its portrayal of police department ensnared in an irretrievable web, and Chulbul Pandey giggles at it and plays on it. He is a jester, a scoffer, and Mr. Kill-Will. That’s right. He can kill at will and is exalted above the system. He tries to control anarchy by rejoicing it. Alas! The derision in his character does not construe charmingly on screen, and what you get to see is a run-on-the-mill flick with one policeman against the corrupt system and fighting lawlessness all alone.  

Apparently Dabangg was one of Salman’s finest performances wherein he juggled being an actor and a hero. Now the sequel Dabangg 2 transports him back to Bodyguards and Readys of the world. He tries to enthrall the audience with his witty lines – “Akal ke aane ke liye shakal ke bigadne ka kyon intezaar kar rahe the tum” etc., but his over dependence on a few patented expressions and done to death slow-motion stunts rule the roost. This again pops up the question – Who is Salman Khan?? An actor or a hero!!

Sonakshi Sinha has very less to offer in this film. Her rustic beauty of a village belle is lost in her new avatar as a conventional wife. Vinod Khanna looks and delivers the same from the original. Prakash Raj as a bad guy with UP accent is a wet firecracker and fails to make a mark. His character is nowhere close to that of Sonu Sood. The surprise package is Deepak Dobriyal who plays the villain’s brother - a petty goon in the town. May be the fine-tuning he received while working with the likes of Vishal Bharadwaj and RGV came handy in delivering such a performance with poise. And let’s stay away from discussing the acting skills of Arbaaz Khan. 

Bottom-line: I want to reiterate that Dabangg 2 is devoid of three Cs – Content, Clarity and Creativity. Hence it’s a disappointment. Your patience slowly wears thin with no novelty in story-telling. But to everyone’s surprise, the question that’s doing rounds is whether this film breaks the records set by Ek Tha Tiger or not?? Argh!! A takeaway from the film is that there’s no takeaway (rehash from Kungfu Panda – triggered because Chulbul pandey is referred as Kungfu Pandey in the film). The film has nothing new to offer, and nothing stays with you once the curtains are down. If you treat Salman Khan as a new genre in cinema, then this film is for you. Don’t forget to watch it on single screens amidst all the whistles to taste every bit of this masala potboiler. Or simply watch Dabangg on DVD and play Dabangg 2 songs in the background for an utterly disruptive experience.

My Rating: Expectation – 6/10; Reality – 3/10