Dabangg 3
Year: 2019
Director: Prabhu Deva
Cast: Salman Khan, Sonakshi Sinha, Saiee Manjrekar, Arbaaz Khan, Kichcha Sudeep

The original Dabangg-(if you could call it that!)- was released in 2010 and it introduced audiences to Chulbul-cum-Robin Hood Pandey, a fearless cop-crook who doesn’t play it by the book with criminals. Salman’s central character revived the magic of the 70s and 80s ‘All-in-one’ heroes. He was someone who could bash the baddies; woo the heroine; carry emotional baggage; and play to the gallery with ‘dialogues’ and dance moves; and do everything oozing oodles of street-smart machoism.

The template was successfully repeated 2 years later in Dabangg 2 and now after a rather long hiatus of 7 years, the third installment arrives. The first one was directed by Abhinav Kashyap; the second by Arbaaz Khan and now this third one is by Prabhu Deva.

What’s the plot?

Dabangg 3 serves like a prequel to the first film and presents the back-story of Dhaakad Pandey before he became the tough cop ‘Dabangg’ Chulbul Pandey. It is about young Dhaakad’s budding romance with a girl (Saiee) and his run-in with a ruthless gangster (Kichcha Sudeep) who wipes out that dream. Cut to the present, and the same villain, now a kingpin of a girl-trafficking racket, is again threatening to destroy Chulbul’s near and dear ones. Obviously, it is action time; payback time!

Verdict

Director Prabhu Deva melds his loud, broad South style in this North India-based plotline. The Masala elements- the comic touches, the song-and-dance sequences and the action scenes are deftly handled. The storyline cleverly connects characters, dialogues and songs to the first film. It almost seems like an ode to the original! At 2 hour 40 minutes, the film stretches too long and a tighter edit with less songs would have made it crisper.

Salman breezes through the title-role as only he can and carries a totally unbelievable, outlandish film like this on his shoulders. Love him or hate him, you just can’t ignore his chutzpah. The leading ladies- the debutante Saiee and the ‘veteran’ Sonakshi play the coy side-wheels. Kichcha Sudeep makes his mark as the dangerous adversary.

So what’s new in this Dabangg? Nothing actually! Dabangg series, or for that matter, practically every Salman Khan- film is about repackaging and re-presenting the old reliable Sallu-Bhai in slightly new garb, and this film does the same. It is an out and out Sallu-masala movie with all the standard trappings, which works like a charm for fans like me, but may prove to be a pain in a difficult place for many others!

Rating

2.5 stars