Review: With ‘Dabangg’, Salman Khan is back with a bang!

Abhinav Kashyap’s ‘Dabangg’ is a fitting ode to seventies and eighties cinema. It is a complete family entertainer, which is replete with dance, drama, comedy, action and emotions. Starring Salman Khan along with a hoard of B-town stars – Dimple Kapadia, Vinod Khanna, Arbaaz Khan, Sonu Sood and debutant actress Sonakshi Sinha, ‘Dabangg’ is the kind of film which instantly reminds you of Manmohan Desai school of filmmaking.

Spicezee Bureau

Abhinav Kashyap’s ‘Dabangg’ is a fitting ode to seventies and eighties cinema. It is a complete family entertainer, which is replete with dance, drama, comedy, action and emotions. Starring Bollywood’s eternal bachelor Salman Khan along with a hoard of B-town stars – Dimple Kapadia, Vinod Khanna, Arbaaz Khan, Sonu Sood and debutant actress Sonakshi Sinha, ‘Dabangg’ is the kind of film which instantly reminds you of Manmohan Desai, Ramesh Sippy and Prakash Mehra school of filmmaking. In ‘Dabangg’, Salman Khan plays Chulbul Pandey aka Robinhood Pandey – a policeman in the hinterlands of UP. A tough cop, Chulbul is a nightmare for criminals. The opening scene of the film shows Chulbul bashing a gang of thugs and taking away the loot for himself. Chulbul’s father – Prajapati is played by veteran actor Vinod Khanna and mother none other than the eighties icon Dimple Kapadia. Arbaaz plays Chulbul’s dim-witted brother Makkhi and Sonu Sood plays a local politician Chhedi Singh. The film is replete with country wit and local humour. If Salman plays the inimitable cop, Sonu reprises the baddie to the hilt. For instance, take one of the scenes where Chhedi Singh bashes his man for calling him the biggest goon and says, “Hum bachpan se hero banna chahte hain. Aur yeh hamein villain bana raha hai”. Sonakshi adds great charm and vivacity to the character of the local belle Rajjo. She is the perfect 'gaon ki gori' who mouths the killer one-liner “Pyaar se dar lagta hai babu, thappad se nahi” to a love struck Chulbul. And to top it all, we have Malaika Arora Khan gyrating to "Munni badnaam hui", an item number which has instantly become a rage among the masses. ‘Dabangg’ will intrigue you with its rustic banter and sense of humour. A complete family entertainer, it will be an instant hit among the masses as it will certainly take you back in the time of seventies and eighties cinema. Kudos to Kashyap for extracting out great performances from the entire star cast of ‘Dabangg’. Okay, there are certain scenes that completely go overboard, yet, they are very much in the spirit of the film. ‘Dabangg’ is an out-and-out Salman Khan film, which certainly does full justice to his star power and raw appeal. In all, ‘Dabangg’ is a complete family entertainer and a huge draw for the fans of Salman Khan. Do catch ‘Dabangg’ this weekend! Ratings: Four cheers for this one!