Dabangg

If Anurag Kashyap redefined Bollywood standards with his off-beat movies, here is his antithesis in the form of his brother.

Brilliant direction with popular tunes and hold-onto-your-popcorn-fellas dialogs, Dabang is a study in the art of making caricatures. It is unusual, at least with the audience being intelligent now, for an actor to pull off a movie solely on his charisma. Salman Khan is the man, make no mistake about it.

Dabang not only captures the zeitgeist of rural UP with its topical dialogs but renders an otherwise dark aspect of life outrageously funny. Don't expect any high-brow insights here, this is sheer ribaldry. Salmaan, Salmaan and more Salmaan. this is the Wild West of India, where every character has a mouth and can dodge bullets with élan. None of your high heeled sophistication here.

The idea is old, two step-brothers, one favored and the other relentless for love and acceptance. Sonakshi Sinha would have been better off with a more substantial role, though. Music is average, with a couple of songs made in the typical Bollywood Masala style. This is a movie where the hero's shirt doesn't follow the laws of Physics, this is a movie where poor potter has her hair layered and wears more paint then the toys she makes, this is a movie that oozes bollywood in its every frame.

Watch it if you need a break from life, but don't expect anything intellectually stimulating.

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.

I saw this film recently, because of all the hype around the film and breaking 3 Idiots' box office records and I could say for the first time, I enjoyed watching Salman Khan in a 'mass' movie!! :) I watch Telugu/Tamil films a lot and when I say 'mass' movie, I mean like masala (songs, fights, dances, senti-scenes, all that good stuff). It was a difference experience watching a Bollywood star do this kind of film, whereas in South India, there are hundreds of films like this one. But still, DABANGG is the BANGG!! I don't like to watch much of Salman khan's films like MAMK, Yuvvraj, films with David Dhawan, etc but this movie was great to see Salman Khan perform. I know there are a lot of cheezy fight sequences and silly dance steps but it was fun to see Salman in it.

Camera work was really good. Nice brown and reds throughout the film..I did not like the camera-work/Artwork of Salman's previous film WANTED because it looked too colorful..these kinds of movies need to bring down the color..Story is very weak but directions takes over. The movie is only 2 hours, 8 min. so definitely no boring scenes..

I recommend this film for one and all. Have a Blast!!

Before watching this film i had doubts about if i am wasting my money on it , but no . The movie is worth it . Very rare bollywood films are liked by me and this is one of them . From start to end its filled with entertainment and those who think it has only meaningless comedy , please refresh your mind and go watch it. Comedy is great and the best thing is its not just about comedy but about relationships . Never expected Arbaaz Khan to direct such a great film , Salman Khan's acting was awesome and as the title says was pretty DABANNG . Sonakshi , daughter of Shatrugan Sinha making her debut through this film . She looks very cute in the film , very lovable . She has a good future ahead

OVERALL REVIEW : A must watch . Some of rare great bollywood films .

'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!