I hadn’t liked Dabangg…there, I said it. But I know I am in minority and there is no denying that Chulbul Pandey was loved enough to warrant at least one more outing. And so, here comes the sequel at a time when Salmania is at its peak.
The film starts in Kanpur, Pandeyji has made peace with his step father and brother and his wife Rajjo is expecting. In the course of his duty, he comes across Bachcha Bhaiya, a politician cum goon who is ruling the city along with his two brothers and then starts the good cop-bad villain drama and action. Needless to say that we have seen this story zillion times in the past and frankly, no one expects any better story anyways from this film. Also, you can’t help but notice that makers have only tried to imitate the first edition in everything from setting to dialogues to music to dance to action. But despite this imitation, the question is whether it entertains and the answer thankfully is yes, it does, albeit only in parts.
The film is made for Salman Khan and he carries it entirely on his shoulders. His Chulbul Pandey plays completely to the gallery and his mannerisms, jigs, giggles and goggles are all seen before yet likable once more. The camaraderie between him and Vinod Khanna is fantastic and few sequences between them are bound to bring you genuine laughters particularly the prank calls ones. The action sequences are shot well and you wonder how at times you still like one man beating scores of people alone. His entry, shirtless action scenes in climax and his first confrontation with Bachcha Bhaiya are bound to get whistles in single screen theatres.
But the film is not without lot of blemishes with the biggest of them being its weak villain. Prakash Raj, who has been brilliant earlier in Wanted and Singham, doesn’t get a chance to be at his menacing best, the altercations between Chulbul and Bhaiyaji are very few leaving you wanting for more of them and so the climax doesn’t thrill you the way it should. The side track between Arbaz Khan and Mahie Gill is irrelevant to main story, second half doesn’t have light moments like in first half and though the music is good, songs look forced in the narrative with couple of them only for the sake of having them. Also, Fevicol despite being peppy and addictive fails to match Zandu Balm.
In terms of other performances, everyone is strictly ok with Sonakshi Sinha only filling the heroine slot with single expression and multiple songs.
Overall, the film with its nonexistent content remains watchable only because of Salman Khan; I have never seen a mainstream hero enjoying himself so much on the silver screen. And that’s why this almost xerox copy of Dabangg is good enough for his fans to rejoice. For all those who don’t like non-sense, brainless, hardcore commercial masala entertainers, this film offers nothing to change their liking. Cinema Analyst's Take – Average but if you know what to expect from a Salman Khan film, you won’t come back disappointed.
