Dabangg

Whenever I see a Salman Khan movie, I am reminded of my time in Chennai for a couple of years. 1998 Diwali saw the release of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. What I wasn’t expecting though is the reaction that the crowd gave to the entry of Salman. The only other time that I have seen such adulation for any actor in Chennai would obviously involve “Rajni mera god, rajni mera bhagavan, rajni mera sab kuch”. I was seriously surprised that the PVR Mulund crowd turned out to be very well behaved with just a little bit of whistling and cat calls when Chulbul a.k.a. Robin Hood Pandey (Salman Khan) makes his appearance sporting an absolutely fabulous new look which most people that I have spoken to have liked. Yes Salman, the verdict on the pencil moustache is that you must keep it on… at least for a while.

Anyways, getting to the story. Chulbul and Makkhi Pandey are step brothers. Prajapati Pandey (Vinod Khanna) and Naini (Dimple Kapadia) get married when she loses her husband and is left with a 2 year old son – Chulbul….. yes you can laugh your guts out at this stage itself…. I mean parents would have really hated their kids to name them Chulbul and Makkhi!!!!! Nevertheless, CB grows up under the shadow of a step father with no bonding whatsoever and swears that he will make it his mission in life to be more respected that either of them when he grows up. 21 years later, we find CB chasing down a bunch of dacoits who have just looted a bank. In the ensuing fight, he gets the money back but decides to keep it with himself (don’t ask why OR how). Turns out that the money belongs to Chhedi Singh (Sonu Sood) and Mr. Dacoit was part of his band of goons collecting funds for the upcoming elections. CB, however, refuses to pay obeisance to Chhedi and a delectable rivalry develops.

In the meantime Makhanlal b.k.a. (“better known as” for the not so logical ) Makkhi (Arbaaz Khan) has grown up to still disappoint his father and continues to be good for nothing. How he manages to find himself a woman is beyond me but he is romantically involved with Nirmala (Mahi Gill) and they want to get married. But Nirmala’s father (Tinnu Anand) will hear nothing of it coz Sr. Pandey wants a huge amount in dowry. So he asks Makkhi to first sort out his differences with papa dear. As luck would have it, Makkhi gets his hands on big brother’s cupboard keys and promptly steals the money, gets cot by mummy in the process, but with no choice, keeps the money. As all of this is going on, CB has already gone bonkers over Rajo (the oh so gorgeous Sonakshi Sinha).

Yes it is true… what the promos are calling out… He is back this Eid… And he is back with Dabangg!!!! An amazingly cheesy movie with absolutely nothing new in the story. And yet the crowds go gaga and were whistling and cat calling through the little over 2 hours that first time director Abhinav Kashyap dishes out. A repeat of Wanted from last Eid. But this one is kind of pale in comparison. Sallu Bhai retains his pivotal role and brilliant dialogues which take some time to grow on you. So if you are not a fan of the movies such as Wanted then avoid Dabangg like the plague. But seriously…. Why would you not be a fan of movies such as Wanted would be difficult for me to comprehend. To give you a flavor of some of the viginettes - , “Varna Chhedi Singh hum tum mein itni chhed karenge ki conphuse ho jaaoge ki saans kahan se le rahe ho aur paad kahaan se rahe ho”!!!! No one can beat Sallu Bhai in a role like this one. With all due respect to Rajni Sir and our younger gentlemen friends sprinkled South of the Vindhyas.

I personally thought, Abhinav Kashyap’s direction was pretty good and he makes the cut. The action sequences were good but finished just a bit tackily like they do in the movies that come out of Ramoji Film City. He does his best to get whatever he can out of yet another debutante in Sonakshi Sinha who I am not sure can act. That she barely had a role didn’t help. Also under strict instructions from Papa dear there was not much skin showing. But who says u have to show skin to look sexy???? On that count, I am glad to inform that we have a sizzler on our hands folks. The rest of the cast is pretty much relegated to the back seat. The music is quite good with a guarantee that “Munni Badnaam” will be playing through the year @ discos and is definitely part of the new years eve list. Signing off with a big Thank You to Sallu Bhai for giving us yet another entertainer. I am giving this 5 on 10 purely because as a movie there were way too many gaps. But out of personal choice - SUPER HIT HAI BHAI… I would not mind seeing Dabangg again…. Anyone game????