★ He’s back! Chulbul Pandey is back...Dabangg 2 !

(December 21, 2012)
Banner: Arbaaz Khan Productions
Producers: Arbaaz Khan, Malaika Arora Khan
Director: Arbaaz Khan
Cast: Salman Khan, Sonakshi Sinha, Arbaaz Khan, Vinod Khanna, Prakash Raj, Deepak Dobriyal, Rashmi Desia, Nandish Sandhu
Music: Sajid-Wajid



He’s back! Chulbul Pandey is back! Salman Khan is back! Dabangg is back! The madness is back! Five reasons why you must NOT miss watching this enterprise. Simply put – Salman Khan, who is synonymous with pure entertainment, is back!

Dabangg 2 is pure, unadulterated entertainment from the word ‘go’. Even though the pace drops post-interval, and the punch lines in the second half don’t compare with those in the first half, you fall for the movie, hook, line and sinker.

After watching one of the biggest franchises in Indian cinema, Dabangg 2, it is safe to call Chulbul Pandey the ‘Desi 007’. The two major differences between the Videshi 007 and Desi 007 is – the Videshi 007 romances every girl in sight but our Desi 007 is committed to his wife; and the second, the Videshi 007 depends majorly on gadgets and gizmos while our Desi 007 relies on his brain and believes in using his fists. The one thing in common between the two 007s is that they believe in just one thing – entertaining the audience. And they both succeed every time they appear on screen.

If we’ve seen Chulbul Pandey and his antics in the previous version, director Arbaaz Khan and writer Dilip Shukla have tried to reveal some hidden facets about him in the second version. Apart from bashing up goons and poking fun at everyone, we also see him weeping at the loss of his child and the emotional bond with his father. These scenes have been shot with flamboyance and full marks to the director and writer. Also, if the previous version had the scintillating item number by Malaika Arora Khan (Munni badnaam), this one has Malaika as well as Kareena Kapoor in a sensuous number – Fevicol se. Double the fun! Dabangg was based in a small town but its sequel shifts to a city – Kanpur. Pandey seeks a transfer to Kanpur, a city in the grip of criminal-turned-politician Bachcha Bhaiya and his two younger brothers, Chunni (Deepak Dobriyal) and Gainda. Inevitably, Pandey is on a collision course with Bachcha Bhaiya. And since it’s election time, Bachcha Bhaiya has no choice but to shelve his murderous plans for after the election or risk being disqualified. However, Pandey kills Gainda and now Bachcha Bhaiya and Chunni are bloodthirsty with revenge. What follows forms the crux of the film.

Remember the movies made in the ’90s – Ghayal, Anth, Divya Shakti, Damini, Elaan, Mohra, Ziddi, Salaakhen and so on? They all had two things in common. First, they were revenge dramas and, second, Dilip Shukla was a part of the writing teams. Times have changed but it seems Shukla hasn’t. Kudos to Arbaaz Khan for his decision to not go South but to return to the roots of masala entertainment and bringing back Shukla. The result is a perfect masala entertainer. Kudos also to Shukla for retaining his signature story and not moving with the times.

If you watch the film as a critic, sure you can point out numerous cinematic liberties. On the other hand, if you’re intention is to be entertained, you will get more than your money’s worth. Also, there are some softer moments to the new and improved Chulbul Pandey. Chulbul’s bonding with his subordinates, wife, brother and father are touching. The sequences where Makkhi (Arbaaz Khan) misses his wife (Mahie Gill) and forgets how to do things are hilarious. Another hilarious scene is the one where his wife comes to meet him and he solves the puzzle given to him by Chulbul Pandey. When Pandey cries after realising that Makkhi wants to work is very touching as is the one where Chulbul learns that he has lost his unborn child. Dabangg 2 is filled with a medley of emotions – there are moments that touch your heart; there are moments that make you laugh; there are moments that keep you on the edge of your seat like the fight sequences; and there are moments that are shocking like the one where Chulbul kills Chunni.

There are tunes which make you hum along and there are lyrics that make you sing along. And, above all, there’s choreography that makes you dance along.

Arbaaz Khan makes his debut as a director with this film yet not one frame betrays the fact that he’s never done this before. Right from the way the scenes are conceived to their treatment… everything is first rate. Don’t be surprised if he ends up among the top five contenders for the Best Director awards of 2012. Dilip Shukla is in form once again.

Cinematography is superb. Editing is crisp. Another highlight of the film is the songs (Sajid-Wajid). All the songs are superb and the same can be said about the choreography. The action scenes are a major highlight of the film. Background score is top class.

To say that Salman Khan as Chulbul Pandey delivers a splendid performance is an understatement. To say that no one but Salman Khan can play Chulbul Pandey is also an understatement. So just one word for Salman Khan as Chulbul Pandey – EXTRAORDINARY.

In this sequel, Sonakshi Sinha gets more screen time as well as dialogue. She looks pretty and does a very good job. Arbaaz Khan is superb. His dance in the Fevicol se song is hilarious. Mahie Gill, even though in only a couple of scenes, leaves a mark. Vinod Khanna is lovable. Prakash Raj plays his part well but is underutilised. One expected a lot from him. Nikitin Dheer is all right. Deepak Dobriyal doesn’t have much screen time but his performance in the scene before the interval is mind-blowing. All the constables under Chulbul Pandey deserve a pat on their back. They are all adorable and perform well.

BOI