Dabangg

I am not a fan of Salman Khan and try to avoid his movies as much as possible. He acts the same way in each movie, always trying to be some super cool American hero who wears tight clothes and tries to show of his biceps as much as possible. Thus, I feel there is no real depth to salman's acting and his array of mindless movies is but a testament to this fact.

So when a friend recommended this movie I refused to watch it until someone brought it over and I threw in the towel. To my utter astonishment I found myself really enjoying the movie, and all for the wrong reasons! First off the action is ridiculously bad. A punch causing a person to fly through the air ten feet away? Smashing through solid brick walls? Muscles growing to rip up shirts? But the worse the action got the more hilarious it became so I started enjoying it that way, threw out any logic and enjoyed it.

Salman's acting worked perfectly this time. I don't know if he was parodying himself or a typically bad action hero but it worked. His character of a Robin Hood type anti hero was not well developed but then again I think most of the thinking went into the action sequences and that's about as good as it gets in a salman khan movie.

Another funny aspect to the movie was his interaction with Sonakshi Sinha's character. I liked his bumbling and stumbling and it made a refreshing change from laughing at the action.

Sonakshi Sinha was pleasing to look and and did an okay job but it was a bit role and any actress could have done that. I wouldn't call this a starring role so any success attributed to the movie shouldn't really include her.

But the movie does have its drawbacks namely: The main plot. Thinly developed and poorly executed. It was just something to throw around the action.

The hullabaloo with his step father and step brother was so 80s and just plain awful. It's time to think of new side plots.

Om Puri was utterly wasted in a blink and you'll miss it role. He could have really upped the comedy portions for his role but sadly he wasn't properly used. Shame on the directors, and shame, in part, on Om Puri for taking such a role.

Arbaaz Khan was pointless. His character had no morals even when caught. He was just a selfish toad who did things only if they benefited him and to do an about turn towards the end smacked of typical bollywood scriptwriting hypocrisy.

Salman removing his shirt to show off his chest yet again. Really? Do we need to see this again? It's as if he has a clause in his contract where he must show off his chest and muscles in at least one scene every movie.

However, even with these glaring problems it's still a fun movie to watch. I really hope the filmmakers didn't take themselves seriously when thinking up the plot or during filming. I also hope that a second movie is made with the same over the top antics and acting.

Abhinav Kashyap's Dabangg was a resounding success, and yet I did not want to watch it. But I ultimately did, and boy am I surprised. This is one typical action-drama-musical-romance Hindi masala movie, but once you start watching it, there's no way you can stop. It's silly, it's ridiculous, it's mad, it lacks a real storyline, but it's so much fun. The movie has great action sequences, fantastic music, an all-star cast, but more than anything it has Salman Khan, who totally delivers in a role that is a caricature of his own image. That's Chulbul Pandey hands down. He's carefree, he's corrupt, he's cruel, he's tough, he's cool, he's got a good heart, and he's dabangg (fearless). He practically encompasses everything that Salman Khan is known for, and the actor wonderfully displays this fun mixture on-screen to create a role he will definitely be remembered for. In many portions, Dabangg works because it's unintentionally hilarious, and the funniest thing about it lies in the fact that it was actually the intention, and that's what makes it so terribly entertaining. And then it has several moments of drama, and they somehow manage to work. In a few words, Dabangg is one of the rarest of it kind, and is one of the best bad movies of recent years. I recommend you to watch it once, and then watch it again, and again, and again...

'Dabangg', 'Dabangg', 'Dabangg', 'Dabangg'.... the most-discussed chat of this week, finally has hit the silver-screen! And fortunately, 'Dabangg' lives up to it's gargantuan expectations!

Let me get this straight: 'Dabangg' is no path-breaking, life-changing cinema. It has an outdated story, which worked big time back in the 1980's, but it's presentation & execution is mind-blowing. This one's an out-and-out mass entertainer, with perfect direction, clap-worthy dialouge, Marvelous Action, Meldious Music & Salman like never before!

'Dabangg' starts with a bang, slips in the middle, but picks up big time in the final 30-minutes. The climax is bombastic, it's kick-ass & worth whistling. One more thing that works for this film, is that, it's not a violent experience. It has loads of Action, but there's hardly any bloodshed.

Abhinav's direction is perfect. The Screenplay is Mass-Meant, it has Action, Romance, Comedy & little bit Melodrama. Cinematography is satisfactory. Stunts are marvelous. The Music is a chart-buster!

In the acting department, Salman is the life of the show. As Chulbul Pandey, he performs fearlessly & leaves you in awe of him. Chulbul Pandey is sure to go down as a legendary character. Sonu Sood is another topper. He excels as the conniving villain. Sonakshi makes a good debut. Dimple is wonderful in a brief role. Arbaaz Khan is decent. Vinod Khanna is able. Om Puri is wasted. Ditto for Anupam Kher. Mahesh Manjrekar is good. Tinnu Anand is effective. Mahi Gill is casual.

On the whole, The Legend of Chulbul Pandey is worth your time and money. A Fearless, Thumbs Up!

Now it's not written in the Holy rule books of Filmography that a movie has to be thought provoking, emotional, influential, coherent and real; to be regarded as respectable. Dabangg is a joke. A joke in the form of a movie. And it's the finest of jokes i've ever seen happening. And sometimes movies don't need the fine touch of a commendable story or a cinematic sequence, if the dramatization and build of the 'protagonist' is as impeccable as in Dabangg. The Jokey names in Dabangg make you whicker more than often, but when it comes to the dialogues and one-liners, you can't help but literally laugh your ass out. I bet even Scorsesse or Tarantino would enjoy such a film, if not tend to laugh their ass out. The background music is like one of those cowboy gunfight tracks, and it combines brilliantly with Salman's patronizing attitude. On the whole , Dabangg owns a new style, and i won't be surprised if it gives rise to a whole new genre , something like film-noir. I'd like to remind you again , the best joke in the world is not about two hunters in a jungle, it's Dabangg - The Bang.

Director Abhinav Kashyap puts Salman Khan in Rajnikant's shoes in action sequences while the film's setting in U.P gives it a grand scope to explore the bhojpuri realm and take advantage of it for entertainment through dialogs and characters. Although the plot is dead simple, it still has enough juice in it to keep its momentum going with action, romance, comedy and Salman's screen presence. There is something about Salman's performance here that may not necessarily be charismatic but it engages you enough to make you whistle even in a multiplex (although this is totally a G7 or Chandan movie). This is Sunny Deol on drugs and Rajnikant revamped for Bollywood. Dabangg is different from 'Wanted' yet similar in Salman's prowess against adversaries.

The music by Sajid-Wajid-Lalit is hummable with Tere Mast Mast and full of masti with Munni Badnaam and Humka Peeni hai. Reminiscent of 'Omkara's title song is Hud Hud Dabangg with excellent cinematography. Salman in all these songs is a charmer and looks to be enjoying the filming completely. There is no choreography. Just some drinks on- the- house.

As the unstoppable Macho-man, Salman Khan excels in action sequences. He is, of course known to be stiff and it becomes very apparent while he is dancing but it is fun to watch no doubt, when he lets loose in most songs and just goes wild. Delivering bhojpuri dialogs, threats and romanticism, Salman Khan earns your whistling and hooting. Wanted and Dabangg both would've been catastrophic flops if it weren't for Salman re-inventing himself. Here, he doesn't look like he is out to prove that point. Most of the time, you can see him simply enjoying himself. Arbaaz Khan is passable but could've been sillier to add to the fun as Makhi. Om Puri, Vinod Khanna and Anupam Kher in cameos were superlative while Mahesh Manjrekar delivered a shockingly good performance as a drunkard father. Sonu Sood has been better in 'Jodha Akbar' but he is quite adequate as Chulbul Pandey's adversary. Newcomer Sonakshi Sinha looks beautiful, can put up a straight face pretty well and can compete well against her contemporaries.

It goes without saying that Dabangg was never going to be an intellectual enricher. This is pure, flawed entertainment and that is how it needs to be enjoyed. The action seems like a spoof of our southern counterparts and therefore, is fun to watch. Dialogues, however rude at times: 'haraamzade se yaad aaya, aapke sasur kaise hai?' are thoroughly laugh worthy and the sensational cinematography around Salman's entry at various points in the film augments his heroism. Considering these factors, Dabangg offers tremendous value for money and is no surprise that it opened to such an overwhelming response. Nevertheless, this is not going to be a revolution in Bollywood but just a passing tide and it better remain that way.