Review of Dabangg 2 (2012) by Anoop K — 27 Dec 2012

Dabangg 2 (Hindi).

Making a sequel to an entertaining story line is no easy task especially if the previous installment was a rip roaring commercial success. While Dabangg forged a strong, insurmountable and impregnable commercial foundry for Salman Khan, Dabangg 2 only seems to further it in pure cinematic essence - nothing more nothing less.

Plot:

Setting is moved to the city of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh and Chulbul Pandey aka Robinhood Pandey (-SALMAN KHAN-) gets transferred over there to continue his eccentric policing. A regular police investigation leads Chulbul to local MLA Bachcha Bhaiya (Prakash Raj) and rest of the film is an entertaining ride through good triumphing over bad.

Analysis:

The movie starts off with a pretty good rewinding analogy from it's predecessor Dabangg by clearly explaining it's plot while not wasting time for credits at the same time. First half of the movie is pretty routine stuff with three songs and ample number of fights required to keep the spirits up. From a story perspective there is not a whole lot going around but at the same time there are no boring and lagging aspects lingering around. The tiff between hero and anti-hero is appropriately set for pre-interval episodes and that attempt to jingle up some adrenaline pans out correctly.

Second half of the film is where we have the meat - well atleast some ounces of it. The tiff between main characters reaches biblical proportions as the film progresses and reaches it's zenith towards the end of the film.

Performances:

Salman Khan as Chulbul Pandey was simply at the best of his elements. He grooves exceedingly well in songs and moves very well during action episodes (most them are gun & bullet episodes and not much raw power except for the last fight). The man is built like a bull and must consider shedding some weight just for that leaner look but otherwise he was top notch in his eccentric badass cop look. While he caressed through a rustic and nonchalant character in the initial film, this one saw him through family, care and affection more than anything else.

Sonakshi Sinha as chulbul's wife has a believable enough role to play. Prakash Raj as the main anti-hero is totally wasted in the film and all other characters are adequate as per script's demand. Music by Sajid-Wajid is passable but their background score was exquisite. Cinematography by Aseem Mishra looks impressive especially during action sequences. Director Arbaaz Khan must be commended for handling the director's chair along with acting in the movie but regular inexperience with direction is clearly visible in certain scenes.

Entertaining moments:

--> Romance episodes between hero and heroine.

--> Teasing episodes between hero and his dad.

--> Salman's conversations with his constables.

--> Couple of songs - especially "Pandey jee ki seeti" and "Fevicol se".

Tail Piece:

None of the scenes from telugu movie "Gabbar Singh" have been improvised in this version.