BY JYOTHSNA HEGDE
Cast: Arbaaz Khan, Deepak Dobriyal, Nikitin Dheer, Prakash Raj, Salman Khan, Sonakshi Sinha, Vinod Khanna Director: Arbaaz Khan
Dabangg 2 – Reformatted Version Of Original Dabangg 2 – Reformatted Version Of Original
Dabangg,
if nothing else has created a phenomenon and superstar that is, Salman
Khan. While Rajni Sir is the sole proprietor of this coveted title and
celebrated fan following down south, it seems Salman Bhai is garnering
the same blind faith from Bollywood fans. Foraying into direction for
the first time, Arbaaz Khan chooses the safe route, mostly adhering to
the framework set up in the original. There is nothing new here, no
little surprises like the shirt that comes off on its own, just
everything you expected, predicted and anticipated, all nicely packaged
to present the super hero of Bollywood at his diverting, devious and
delightful best.
This time around, the charming cop
Chulbul Pandey (Salman Khan) is beating up bad boys in the city of
Kanpur, saving helpless, harassed citizens from the clutches of the
evil Bachcha Singh (Prakash Raj). The Pandey parivaar now lives here
minus the mother, previously played by Dimple, who is sorely missed in
this edition. Sonakshi Sinha as Rajjo is the demure, dutiful wife
repeatedly told “You don’t have to obey every instruction of mine.” by
her super cop husband, lest you must think he was an MCP, and held no
respect to his better half. Nope, this cop is all heart, all the way.
Chulbul
also makes time to play pranks on his step dad played by Vinod Khanna,
now reconciled with his son and a rather half-witted step brother
played by Arbaaz Khan. While he is all naram with his family, he takes
no time to shift into garam mode as soon as it is time to bash up
baddies “shooting so many holes into the enemy that he won't be able to
figure out which end to breathe from and which end to fart from”, a
line retained from the master copy.
Somehow the new villain
Bachcha Singh seems less powerful than the original and more caricature
like. This is sad because Prakash Raj is truly one of the renowned and
gifted actor, villain in particular, we have around. Bachcha’s brother
played by the talented Deepak Dobriyal, gets to be vicious and vocal
about his clout in the city, only to be mocked by one of Pandeyji’s
henchmen “Personality ke hisab se, kuch zyada nahin bol raha?" (Based
on his personality, don’t you think he is over estimating himself) –
one of the better lines in the sequel.
And in case you are wondering, the shirt comes off towards the end too.
With
brothers Arbaaz as director and Salman in the lead, sister in law
Mailaika Arora as producer and sister Alvira as designer, Dabangg 2 is
a completely Khan-daani affair. It appears that there is every effort
to stick with the original blockbuster format. Arbaaz as a debutant
director is well aware of the franchise’s significance and does fairly
well fitting in scenes and sequences that match the initial version. I
earnestly wish that Arbaaz had taken chances and tried to build a
stronger storyline for Chulbul, who is such an enticing, entertaining
and simply engaging character.
Salman seems to have had fun
strutting his stuff - he gets to repeat all of the antics from before,
romance his loving wife, gyrate to catchy numbers with Malaika and
Kareena with some new moves, defy gravity as he oppresses his
opponents, and munch on tamarind with his staff who seem to adore him,
who pockets bribes one minute, advises them not be rude to senior
citizens the next! Yes, let’s not forget Chulbul has a heart of gold.
Salman seems so embedded and entrenched into the character of Chulbul
that it is hard to really distinguish the two. That is probably what
works best for Dabangg. Salman’s fan following is a rather devoted
bunch. It appears that they will watch as long as their hero is on
screen, it does not matter what he says or does, he just needs to show
up, heroines, item girls, villains and pretty much the rest of the cast
seem insignificant. Music is good but not as inspired as Dabangg.
With
nothing fresh to offer, Dabangg 2 is pretty much a reformatted version
of the original. But if you are an ardent fan of Salman, like most of
fans usually are, there is much fun to be had. Dabangg 2 is all you
expect it to be, and to its credit is unpretentious, unapologetic and
unassuming. Those of you keen on robust narratives and realistic cinema
may want to reconsider your decision to watch the fearless super
cop Kung-fu Robinhood Pandey in action. It is however a must
watch for all Salman fans.
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