Dabangg 2: Review
Cast: Salman Khan, Sonakshi Sinha, Prakash Raj, Vinod Khanna, Arbaaz Khan, Nikitan Deer, Deepak Dobriyal, Kareena Kapoor, Malaika Arora Khan
Director: Arbaaz Khan
Writer: Dilip Shukla
Music: Sajid-Wajid
Producers: Arbaaz Khan, Malaika Arora Khan
After breaking box-office records with Dabangg, actor Salman Khan is ready to entertain audiences in his popular avatar of Chulbul Pandey in Dabangg 2, which releases this Friday.
The notable facets of the character include his nonchalance, his wry sense of humor and his tongue-in-cheek dialogues.
In the first film, Chulbul was pitted against Chedi Singh a local goon. And Chedi Singh had killed Chulbul’s mother Naina Devi (Dimple Kapadia).
Thus his family now consists of his stepfather Prajapati Pandey (Vinod Khanna), his younger half-brother, Makhanchan “Makkhi” Pandey (Arbaaz Khan), Makkhi’s wife Nirmala (Mahi Gill). And his wife Rajjo (Sonakshi Sinha).
This film begins with Chulbul moving on from being a local inspector in a small town Laalganj to becoming an Inspector-in-charge of Bajariya Thana, a police station in Kanpur, the largest and most populous city in Uttar Pradesh.
After arriving in Kanpur, Chulbul immediately gets into action thus bringing him in conflict with Baccha Bhaiyya (Prakash Raj). Baccha Bhaiyya is a criminal turned politician. Baccha Bhaiyya is aided by his two brothers, the cool and collected Chunni (Nikitin Dheer) the archetypal brawn in the trio. And Gainda (Deepak Dobriyal) the impulsive, hotheaded younger brother.
On numerous occasions Chulbul and Baccha Bhaiyya end up at loggerheads. But Baccha Bhaiyya’s strong desire to go legit and the keen advice from the senior political leader Awadh Narayan Singh (Yuggal Kishore) prevent him from taking on Chulbul.
Chulbul continues to be aided by his trustworthy band of constables from Laalganj. And also makes new associates in Kanpur.
Chulbul also receives the whole-hearted support of SP Mathur (Manoj Pahwa).
If in the earlier film we witnessed Chulbul’s strained relationship with his stepfather Prajapati. In this film, we see Prajapati emerge as the true patriarch of the Pandey family. We witness Chulbul and Prajapati’s father-son bond grow and deepen through the film.
We also get to see the romantic Chulbul woo his new bride Rajjo. Rajjo now the lady of the house, exercises her rights and matches Chulbul in his wayward ways.
In a happy ending, Rajjo gives birth to Junior Pandey.
If Dabangg marked the return of action films, Dabangg 2 takes it to a higher level with some of the coolest action sequences ever conceived. The soundtrack of the film contains five original songs each with a promise of being a chartbuster like its predecessors. All in all, Dabangg 2 promises to be a full on entertainer, Chulbul Pandey and his sunglasses at all.
The original movie was directed by Abhinav Kashyap, but he opted out of the sequel due to some issues, following which Salman’s brother and producer Arbaaz Khan jumped in as the director.
Made under the banner of Arbaaz Khan Productions, Dabangg 2 has been written by Dilip Shukla. This will be Arbaaz’s first film as a director.
Dabangg proved to a turning point of actor Sonu Sood’s career, who played the main antagonist Chhedi Singh. Initially he was a part of the sequel too, but had to opt out because of date issues.
Now, Prakash Raj has been roped in to play the antagonist. Made at a budget of approximately Rs 50 crore, the film is likely to release in over 3,000 screens.
The songs of Dabangg 2 have also become popular, generating more interest in the film. While Dabangg had Malaika Arora Khan’s Munni badnaam hui, Dabangg 2 features actress Kareena Kapoor in item song Fevicol Se, which is ruling the music charts already.
Since the release of Dabangg in 2010, the movie and Chulbul Pandey have become a brand. Whether the sequel will be able to create the same magic as Dabangg remains to be seen.
After the release of Shah Rukh Khan’s Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Aamir Khan’s Talaash, both of which earned big bucks at the box-office, it would be interesting to see how Dabangg 2 does at the box-office and which Khan takes the top slot.