Director: Arbaaz Khan
Cast: Salman Khan, Sonakshi Sinha,
Prakash Raj
In a scene from the film, Arbaaz
Khan's character Makkhi suddenly
realizes one fine day that he should
be doing something in life and goes
to his elder cop brother (Salman
Khan's Chulbul Pandey) pleading
even he wishes to be of some worth
and thereby be a policeman. And in
the next scene we see Makkhi
working as a cop. Perhaps that's
what Arbaaz Khan seems to have
done off the screen too. He turns an
instantaneous director while relying
on Salman Khan and his mere screen
presence to take care of everything
else in the film. And to an extent, he
is also successful in his endeavour.
More than a sequel, Dabangg 2 is a
Dabangg reboot. While it carries
forward the charm and chronicle of
Chulbul Pandey in the second part,
Arbaaz Khan employs exactly the
same formula from its predecessor in
designing the sequel. So the action
director and editor have to work
doubly hard to make up for the
lackadaisical attitude of the story
writer. Every song from the original
has an equivalent in the sequel in
terms of its tune, theme, treatment
and even the singers. The climax
comprises of the mandatory shirtless
Salman Khan combat but since the
new villain (a plump Prakash Raj)
doesn't have the physique for a bare-
body fight, there's a villain sidekick
(Nikitin Dheer) to do the needful.
However, one similarity which is the
saving grace is a moustached Salman
Khan, who exudes the same splendor,
swagger and style that kinda
smokescreens the scarcity of
substance.
From the small town, Chulbul Pandey
is now promoted to the city of
Kanpur where he soon gains fame for
his flamboyance and functioning. All
is hunky dory on family front thanks
to Chulbul's better bonding with
stepfather (Vinod Khanna) and
stepbrother (Arbaaz Khan) this time.
The new city comes with a new
criminal (Prakash Raj) and the film
eventually ends up being a regular
revenge drama.
The writing by Dilip Shukla is
essentially old school with cliches
galore. But the film hardly relies on
its plotline and the entire onus is on
Salman Khan to carry the film with
his appeal and aura. Since Chulbul's
character is already established in
the prequel, the idea is simply to take
his legacy forward. So you see him in
the same formal dressing, with glares
tucked behind his shirt, mouthing
dialogues in his trademark style,
gyrating like a non-dancer, giggling
like a clown and crying like a baby.
The sloppiness in the story is covered
up with the dynamism in dialogues.
And to add to his mass-appeal, his
character is clearly modeled such
that he is always a step ahead of the
baddies.
Scrutinizing sincerely, one would
realize that there is nothing much
happening in the film. The
screenplay merely alternates
between a song and an action
sequence for its major runtime and
for no rhyme and reason. Unlike
most sequels that are thematic in
nature, Dabangg 2 is a certified
continuation of the series and
thereby facilitates good camaraderie
between characters that are carried
forward. So Chulbul and father, who
were at loggerheads last time, share
a more relaxed relationship here.
Also since Chulbul is married now, his
chemistry with Rajjo (Sonakshi
Sinha) is more sweet-n-salty.
However the entire effort to
incorporate Makkhi's wife (Mahie
Gill) for a single scene seems too
forced. Mahesh Manjrekar, Dimple
Kapadia and Tinnu Anand are given
better symbolic tributes in the end
credits.
At the end you realize there is
nothing here but still there is a film
out there. And come to think of it it's
not an easy task to make something
out of nothing. While Dabangg 2 is an
outright celebration of formula, what
still works in the film's favour is that
it's easygoing and never hurts. Even
if actors feature only in special
appearances, you know they won't be
knocked off. This one is not
regressive like Rowdy Rathore , not
idealistic like Singham, not loud and
slapstick like Ready and not mindless
like Khiladi 786 . So while still being in
the likes of these films, there is
something that sets it 'slightly' apart.
Needless to say, Dabangg 2 belongs to
Salman Khan who rules supreme in
every frame. He has supreme screen
presence and Chulbul Pandey is
Salman's most enigmatic and alluring
characters in recent times. The film
works primarily because Salman
carries off Chulbul with elegance.
Sonakshi Sinha is likeable but carries
a standard expression as the sulking
wife. Arbaaz Khan hardly gives
himself any screen time and seems
silly even in that limited scope.
Vinod Khanna gets most scope after
Salman and is decent in his role.
Good talents like Deepak Dobriyal
and Pankaj Tripathi are
underutilized. Nikitin Dheer is only
employed for that one topless combat
in the climax. Malaika Arora Khan
appropriately reprises her Munni bit.
Kareena Kapoor exudes good sex-
appeal in her item song. Prakash Raj
hams hysterically with the same
angry and eye-popping expression on
his face throughout the film. It would
be nearly impossible to differentiate
him if his acts in Wanted, Singham
and Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap were to
be played in random succession.
Dabangg 2 ends with clear indication
of another sequel. With the frequent
servings of plot-less potboilers, while
audiences have eventually evolved
into digesting them more easily, we
would expect the next part to have
some more of storyline while
retaining the style quotient. Until
then this is your better option over
watching reruns of Dabangg on
television.
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