Movie Review: Dabangg 3

Producers: Salman Khan, Arbaaz Khan, Nikhil Dwivedi

Director: Prabhu Deva

Star Cast- Salman Khan, Sonakshi Sinha, Sai M Manjrekar, Arbaaz Khan, Kitcha Sudeep, Dimple Kapadia, Pramod Khanna, Rajesh Singh and Paresh Ganatra

Genre- Social
Rating *

Clichéd and Predictable!

Jyothi Venkatesh

This is for all those of you who have seen both the earlier Dabangg versions and are keen to know the back-story of how the young boy Dhaakad came to be called Chulbul Pandey, and right from the very first frame till the last is just a dreary mish-mash of the previous ones, besides also qualifying to be a cringe-fest. The flashback takes us many years back to when our hero falls for a sweet young thing Khushi (Saie Manjrekar), who when not smiling and simpering, has ambitions of becoming a doctor. Like in the good old 90’s, even the villain who goes by the name of Balli Singh (Kitcha Sudeep), has an army of henchmen, illegal mines, and a side-business of prostitution and political backing

The less said about acting the better. Salman takes off his shirt, flaunts his well-toned, perfectly-greased body and beats up the goons to pulp. Though the action is raw and solid, some action scenes (like Chulbul's introductory sequence) are unreasonably stretched to the point of testing your patience. If Salman Khan just caters to the gallery with his loud juvenile acting, Sonakshi Sinha who plays Chulbul’s wife Rajjo hardly has any scene to be proud. Saie Manjrekar has been wasted in a role which could have been done by any other actress. Arbaaz Khan as Makkhi keeps on appearing in intervals and one does not male out whether he is playing a positive cop or a cop with negative shades.

Kitcha Sudeep is okay and has a screen presence which sir menacing enough but looks too old to fall for an 18 year old Khushi. The lowest common denominator is reached over and over again: fart jokes, camera lingering on female bosoms and juvenile double meaning toilet jokes. Take for example the thief asking a old man after looting his stuff and searching his pant pockets “Why are you carrying a gulab jamun in your pocket?' and he replied with a poke face, “I have torn pockets” and you are expected to roll down the aisle with laughter.

While Pramod Khanna is okay as Chulbul’s father in the role which Vinod Khanna had played in the eater versions, Dimple merely sleep walks through her role with nothing extra ordinary to contribute to the story. Rajesh Singh has been wasted in a grotesque role while I wonder what on earth prompted an otherwise good actor like Paresh Ganatra to take up the role of the sidekick. The film, with a run time of 2 hours and 42 minutes, seems inordinately very long and could have done with a tighter edit. The narrative is also interrupted by a long line-up of songs, of which, the memorable ones are 'Munna Badnam Hua' and U Karke, which are soothing and lilting and catchy to the core.

The biggest drawback of the film si the story as well as screenplay which h have been penned by Salman Khan himself and but naturally every scene has him in the pivotal space, with the other characters being merely hangers on in the plot. The 54 years old superstar takes off not only his shirt, but also takes off his pants too. While music by Sajid- Wajid is excellent, the intrusion of song at every shot interval leaves a lot to be desired. Prabhudeva makes you wonder whether Wanted was really directed by him because his ‘chhaap’ is missing and it looks like Salman Khan has meddled in each and every department in the film.

To sum up, you will enjoy watching the film only if you happen to be an ardent Salman Khan fans. Or else I have no hesitation to say that it is nothing but clichéd and predictable to the core

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Tags: Bollywood, Bollywood News, Bollywood Updates, Television, Telly News,  Dabangg 3, Salman Khan, Sonakshi Sinha, Sai M Manjrekar, Arbaaz Khan, Kitcha Sudeep, Dimple Kapadia, Pramod Khanna, Rajesh Singh, Paresh Ganatra