DABANGG 2 - Its all about a Superstar enjoying his stardom on the screen and nothing else. (Review By Bobby Sing)

Salman Khan returning in the year’s last festive season with his sequel of the blockbuster DABANGG was exciting news for many including myself. So, spiritedly as I glanced through the newspaper’s entertainment section today, it was full of lists of theaters and uncountable shows of DABANGG 2 running all over the city like a carnival. Hence the very doubt of whether the film will work or not was completely out of question as there was no way it is going to flop with such a wide and mega release irrespective of its content. In fact that is the latest success formula of Bollywood in which you can make anything with the Stars and still churn out money, following this perfect business strategy without fail. Hence instead of thinking about the film’s box office performance I was just interested in enjoying a good time in the theater with Salman and his hugely likable mannerisms and that’s it.

The film began with exactly a similar action sequence as seen in its part one and within few minutes it clearly revealed that there’s only going to be a new city with some fresh villains in the storyline and nothing beyond that. Therefore in the entire first half we only have a smoothly progressing film with few occasional light moments and many songs but nothing great. However since its neither anything bad or intolerable so one doesn’t mind watching it calmly till an impressive scene comes right before the interval providing you the much needed energy to stay in.

Post intermission as one is willing to see many (predictable) fiery confrontation sequences with some never before kind of action performed by Salman Khan, it all suddenly happens pretty fast and ends on a very uninteresting note without making any kind of solid impact on the viewer. In other words, the second half doesn’t have anything grand or significant happening on the screen in terms of clashes, dialogues or action which was a lot less than what was being expected from a DABANGG Part 2. Yet on the positive side, its clean entertainment all the way (except the avoidable FEVICOL song) lacking any novelty, reminding you of all those revenge based movies featuring Dharmendra in the 80s with titles such as PAAP KO JALAA KAR RAAKH KAR DOONGA. So all together we have a new age macho man here in the form of Salman Khan (who has a friendly image off and on screen), punching the villains in another new film of his based on a routine script and that’s all.

As a director Arbaaz Khan just calls the shots and rest is done by Salman Khan himself who visibly keeps improvising on the spot in most of his scenes. To be honest the Superstar seems to be enjoying every frame of his stardom in the film without any fear or doubt. And therefore we don’t have Chulbul Pandey on the screen in reality but always Salman Khan playing the character given to him at his own pace or ease till the end. He entertains you with his dialogues, excels in his action and even makes you laugh through his awkward dance moments which in turn don’t let you write off the film completely even if you wish to. Therefore as one walks out, he is neither willing to say that it is great nor able to rate it bad in actual terms which should be a good news for all the fans out there.

Being a Salman Khan film, the entire supporting cast remains there to support only and never rises above that level as expected. Sonakshi plays it routine, Arbaaz is just okay, Vinod Khanna is fine but both Mahie Gill and Deepak Dobriyal remain wasted. Further it was really sad to see Prakash Raj once again being used as the same old villain waiting to be beaten by the hero in the end without any newly added gimmicks or flavor. To speak the truth here is an actor who is being used in great variety in South but always given the same repeated roles in each new big film without any vision here in Bollywood.

Musically, it has a good soundtrack no doubt but still a little weak if compared to its part one. Though few of the tracks have already become chartbusters due to the star value associated with them, yet they are way behind DABANGG as far as the melody is concerned. Plus I have my own objections to the songs like ‘Fevicol’ which I have discussed in another write-up for all friends here in the link below.

Summing up, DABANGG 2 doesn’t really fulfill the responsibility of giving something different or new in the sequel after the big success of its original. Its just the same biryani with some newly added colours served to you in a fresh plate. But since the taste is not bad at all, therefore you may not mind having it once again just to satisfy your timely hunger.

Ratings : 2 / 5

(For friends interested in reading about the points I have to raise against the song ‘FEVICOL’ and Salman Khan’s recent statement regarding the ‘Disgusting Rape Instance of Delhi’, do read the detailed article by clicking on the link below)

What does a song like ‘UP Bihar’, ‘Shiela’, ‘Munni’, ‘Chikni Chameli’, ‘Anarkali’, ‘Tinku Jiya’, ‘Halkat Jawani’ and ‘Fevicol’ actually contribute to the society?