A movie that deliberately tries to be a takeoff on Westerns, typical Bollywood masala movies and Rajni style over-the-top potboilers at the same time, should definitely be called Dabangg (Fearless)! This time bomb succeeds to a large extent due to one man – Salman Khan as Inspector Chulbul Pandey who uses his quirks and eccentric acting to great effect. Leave your finer sensibilities at home and you are sure to enjoy this movie.
“Dil se bulbul aur dimag se dabangg” – that’s Inspector Chulbul Pandey for you in this crazy ride through UP heartland. He is the "Robinhood Pandey" of the masses, the apparently corrupt cop with a heart of gold. He beats up goons with flamboyance, in action scenes that look like they are straight out of a video game. But what sets Chulbul apart is how he breaks into a jig in the middle of one such encounter when a cellphone starts playing a song from ‘Wanted’. He is also the loving son to his mother (Dimple Kapadia) and the ignored son of his arrogant stepfather (Vinod Khanna). His relations with “mand-buddhi” step-brother Makkhi (Arbaaz) are not too pleasant either. On his knuckle-cracking way he falls in love with the beautiful village belle, Rajo (Sonakshi Sinha) and almost bullies and hustles her into marrying him. On the other side of the fence we have Chhedi Singh (that’s Sonu Sood and really, who thought up the character’s names in this movie!) – evil doer and aspiring political party leader who’s always practising his smiles before the camera.
Chulbul Pandey works not despite, but because of Salman’s swagger. His major attitude and his corny one-liners are designed to draw a “seeti” from the audience. Salman looks fresh (and interested) after a long time. He delivers outrageous punchlines, beats up goons and romances his lady love with an equal mixture of in-your-face style and pelvic thrusts. It is hard to imagine anyone else pulling off this “sanki” (eccentric) character so well. Sonakshi Sinha makes an assured debut. She is beautiful and has good screen presence – making her presence felt in what is essentially Salman’s show. She fares better than Arbaaz who bumbles his way through even in his own home production. Sonu Sood is good and perhaps an underrated actor. What people like Vinod Khanna, Dimple Kapadia, Mahesh Manjrekar, Om Puri and Anupam Kher are doing in this movie was a mystery to me since their roles did not warrant the use of their talent. Especially Om Puri and Anupam Kher’s roles were just like bit parts that anyone could have performed.
Director Abhinav Kashyap’s debut venture faces limitations in the form of a weak script and perhaps loses the plot in trying to be too many things at the same time. On one hand it is a no-holds-barred comic spoof type and on the other it still tries to be serious enough for son-avenging-mother’s-death type cinema. This attempt to straddle different spaces makes the narrative somewhat disjointed and one is not quite sure what to focus on – Chulbul’s dysfunctional family, his relationship with his father, his pursuit of Rajo, the political machinations in the state or the conflict with Chhedi Singh. Finally one has to decide to just forget everyone else and go with what Chulbul Pandey says and does – that’s the only way to enjoy the mayhem. Don't question the sudden change of heart of Vinod Khanna's character or the chances of Rajo reciprocating the love of a terror like Chulbul. The movie is also quite crass in several instances so be warned. From toilet humour to sexual innuendo, this has it all. They are gunning for every kind of audience and they go forth with all guns blazing.
The songs are quite good especially ‘Tere mast mast do nain’ if you can get over Salman’s bizarre dance moves which look like something he thought up himself. ‘Munni badnaam hui’ is off course the chartbuster to dance to if you want to let your hair down and go crazy.
Watch it to have a laugh with your friends. And watch it to understand that you may like him, you may hate him, but you can’t ignore Salman Khan.
For providing some good timepass of the kind that we more often look down upon, this one gets a 7/10.
“Dil se bulbul aur dimag se dabangg” – that’s Inspector Chulbul Pandey for you in this crazy ride through UP heartland. He is the "Robinhood Pandey" of the masses, the apparently corrupt cop with a heart of gold. He beats up goons with flamboyance, in action scenes that look like they are straight out of a video game. But what sets Chulbul apart is how he breaks into a jig in the middle of one such encounter when a cellphone starts playing a song from ‘Wanted’. He is also the loving son to his mother (Dimple Kapadia) and the ignored son of his arrogant stepfather (Vinod Khanna). His relations with “mand-buddhi” step-brother Makkhi (Arbaaz) are not too pleasant either. On his knuckle-cracking way he falls in love with the beautiful village belle, Rajo (Sonakshi Sinha) and almost bullies and hustles her into marrying him. On the other side of the fence we have Chhedi Singh (that’s Sonu Sood and really, who thought up the character’s names in this movie!) – evil doer and aspiring political party leader who’s always practising his smiles before the camera.
Chulbul Pandey works not despite, but because of Salman’s swagger. His major attitude and his corny one-liners are designed to draw a “seeti” from the audience. Salman looks fresh (and interested) after a long time. He delivers outrageous punchlines, beats up goons and romances his lady love with an equal mixture of in-your-face style and pelvic thrusts. It is hard to imagine anyone else pulling off this “sanki” (eccentric) character so well. Sonakshi Sinha makes an assured debut. She is beautiful and has good screen presence – making her presence felt in what is essentially Salman’s show. She fares better than Arbaaz who bumbles his way through even in his own home production. Sonu Sood is good and perhaps an underrated actor. What people like Vinod Khanna, Dimple Kapadia, Mahesh Manjrekar, Om Puri and Anupam Kher are doing in this movie was a mystery to me since their roles did not warrant the use of their talent. Especially Om Puri and Anupam Kher’s roles were just like bit parts that anyone could have performed.
Director Abhinav Kashyap’s debut venture faces limitations in the form of a weak script and perhaps loses the plot in trying to be too many things at the same time. On one hand it is a no-holds-barred comic spoof type and on the other it still tries to be serious enough for son-avenging-mother’s-death type cinema. This attempt to straddle different spaces makes the narrative somewhat disjointed and one is not quite sure what to focus on – Chulbul’s dysfunctional family, his relationship with his father, his pursuit of Rajo, the political machinations in the state or the conflict with Chhedi Singh. Finally one has to decide to just forget everyone else and go with what Chulbul Pandey says and does – that’s the only way to enjoy the mayhem. Don't question the sudden change of heart of Vinod Khanna's character or the chances of Rajo reciprocating the love of a terror like Chulbul. The movie is also quite crass in several instances so be warned. From toilet humour to sexual innuendo, this has it all. They are gunning for every kind of audience and they go forth with all guns blazing.
The songs are quite good especially ‘Tere mast mast do nain’ if you can get over Salman’s bizarre dance moves which look like something he thought up himself. ‘Munni badnaam hui’ is off course the chartbuster to dance to if you want to let your hair down and go crazy.
Watch it to have a laugh with your friends. And watch it to understand that you may like him, you may hate him, but you can’t ignore Salman Khan.
For providing some good timepass of the kind that we more often look down upon, this one gets a 7/10.
