Bad sequels are a bad thing, especially so if they have high expectations. Truth be told, i had enjoyed Dabangg a lot- it was a standard masala movie but the entertainment quotient was high, the treatment was different, the songs were catchy, it had right mix of emotion, comedy and action, and in Chhedi Singh, a worthy villain. Dabangg 2 on the other hand brings nothing new to the table- stale wine in antique bottle.

Chulbul Pandey is back to clean up a new city this time round- Kanpur, he has a new nickname (Kungfu Pandey) and he has the license to kill, not necessarily thrill. The rest of the original cast including Sonakshi Sinha, Vinod Khanna, Tinnu Anand return to reprise their roles in unimpressive fashion, but the most valuable member of the team, Abhinav Kashyap does not - perhaps he too saw nothing of value in the script, and Arbaaz Khan makes a dud as his directorial debut- not even a patch on the original. the story is largely the same that we have seen in the recent spate of action comedies or whatever you want to call this breed of movies- our swashbuckling, superhuman, club smashing, rod bending, larger than life Robin Hood cop with questionable morals picks up a feud with the local alligator Baccha Singh, played by Prakash Raj (channelizing his Singham act) and his thuggee brothers, Genda and Chunni.

In the meantime he also gets time to romance his missus and banter with his brother and dad. Things turn ugly when Chulbul gives a 180 degree spin to Genda, played by Deepak Dobriyal, who by the way is excellent in a short role. Rest of the movie is an insipid mishmash of unfunny one-liners, forgettable songs and slow motion fights. The feel is almost soap opera like, Salman looks like he is trying to have a good time but also looks tired and his left eye is positively droopy, probably cannot hide his neuralgia anymore. Sonakshi resembles an eggshell, Vinod Khanna rarely gets a good line and Arbaaz Khan is flatter than a railway track. And at the end, the manner in which Baccha is dispatched to his heavenly abode begs to ask the question why Chulbul took 2 hrs to decide his time was up and pump in some lead into him. Perhaps just to prolong our torture?

Yes, the shirt does come off, Munni returns along with a tandoori chicken impersonating Kareena, and the ending promised more sequels- In the current mood of things I feel the next city Chulbul will clean up is Delhi, hope Abhinav Kashyap is back again. Yes the action is plenty, the cinematography largely good, and the movie will rake in big bucks. And why not, Salman Khan has done what even SRK failed to do, that is, clear the field - no major movie releasing in this holiday season in fear of Dabangg 2. External forces are in its favor, but not internal. Neither bigger and neither better than the original, Arbaaz Khan makes the mistake of sticking too close to THE formula. Even though this will be Bollywood's most successful franchise, a terrible story is a terrible story, and for me, even Salman Khan cannot save this turkey- Dabangg 2 gets a 5/10 and my advice to soak in the holiday spirit, watch The Hobbit again.

Story of a 100cr movie:

1.Villains bro tries to kidnap girl from wedding ceremony. 2.Salman Khan kills the kidnapper. 3.Main villain pushes salmons pregnant wife from staircase and shoots at salmons bro in revenge. 4.Salmon khan kills the villain.

100cr for this ... pathetic... I guess we should ask Salmon khan to organize stage shows where his fans can see him flex his muscles and listen to his one liners..so that rest of India is spared form his shitty movies.. and for god sake m not a srk lover please... nd I think its high time now bollywood should be renamed as "sillywood"

The arrogant swagger is back, and there's no reason not to strike while the iron is hot. A phenomenal success in 2010 that once again cemented Salman Khan's box office clout than never before, leading to a string of blockbuster after blockbuster, Dabangg 2 turned out to be fun in most parts, but overall it didn't feel that it pulled off the charm of the original, even with most of the cast returning for a second outing. Written by Dilip Shukla and this time directed by Salman's brother Arbaaz Khan, who also plays his screen brother, Dabangg 2 is that sequel that tried to emulate its predecessor for the most parts, and didn't manage to bring something new to the table.

As the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. So despite the film's Robin Hood aka Chulbul Pandey (Salman Khan) being transferred to the big city that he wanted to where we last left off, we find him in the city of Kanpur, where his adventures seemed to mirror that from his original outing. He continues to bring his small town sensibilities and police force corruption aka welfare fund donation modus operandi to his new station, with nothing less than a big bang entrance and obligatory effects laden fight to whet the audience's appetite for more to come.

The opening credits recapped most of the key scenes from the first film, before you get to hear the rehashed Hud Hud Dabangg track that's reworked for this sequel in Dabangg Reloaded. And in fact there are a couple of tunes here that sounded like upgrades from those in the earlier film, with a conscious decision to adapt and update to achieve a kind of aural link between the movies. Which was unnecessary, but felt that it provided a consistent sound, and feel, that we're in the same consistent world the characters are in. And not to mention an opportunity to continue from the previous songs too. There's the item number with the policemen getting rowdy in celebration, a night out to the sleazy alleys where Kareena Kapoor turned up in the Item Number Fevicol, and a couple of romantic ballads to reinforce that Chulbul is still very much in love with his wife Rajjo (Sonakshi Sinha).

The relationships with his father Prajapati (Vinod Khanna) and brother Makki (Arbaaz Khan) have vastly improved given the end of the previous movie, now brought over here for completist sake, with the former being comedy fodder, and the latter obviously given a smaller role since Arbaaz is now at the helm behind the camera. The focus in this installment is centered upon family, with a significant number of scenes dealing with Chulbul and his relationships with each family member, whether making fun of dad, being lovey dovey with wife, or ribbing his brother, who's in his own marital rut. There's a new addition, though I felt it was hastily developed for the final act, just to give Chulbul reason enough to unleash hell.

The drama though served as a counterpunch in trying to save the film. While Chulbul Pandey is fearless, or Dabangg, family and the threat of having them harmed, somewhat blunted his approach for a bit, leaving him to think about loved ones, rather than to charge headlong with gusto to right the wrongs, and to deliver his brand of no-nonsense justice, often ending up with a villain's death through rough-handling, or via Chulbul's accuracy with a firearm. Don't expect ultra violence here, since the violence dished out by the hero continues in its cartoony style, and Salman being Salman, you will expect a ripped shirt for the sake of, sending his admirers and supporters into thunderous raptures.

What served to be disappointing is the lack of a strong villain in this one. We know how powerful Chulbul Pandey is, so it's important to get a credible villain who could hold his own as an equal. Here, there are three brothers who serve as the sequel's primary antagonists, led by Prakash Raj who plays Baccha Singh. But Raj, the fine actor that he is, cannot seem to break out of his usual negative triad leader role he had held on from his Singham days (also a cop movie),which in a way was too close for comfort with Singham and the earlier Dabangg film. If anything, there's a curious link between gangsters and politicians, and the corruptness that flows being the two groups, with one aspiring to become the other, and bringing about lawlessness to the wards they promise to look after.

Dabangg 2 still retains most of the formula of what made the first film work, with some cheeky wink-wink jokes for fans thrown in for good measure. But it's a real pity that structurally it was Dabangg all over again, for another outing. It's fun, but could have been a whole lot more. Oh, and do look out for Salman's new dance move that will likely be the talk of the town, involving that belt buckle hook and dance of his that's taken on a new, impossible, though crowd pleasing twist. Watch this with a rowdy bunch of fans for maximum impact!