There is no denying the fact that the Dabangg franchise gave us one of the most endearing versions of Salman Khan on screen – Chulbul Pandey! His punch lines were legendary, and he was a character Salman made his own. The over the top swag, the dramatic situations – somehow everything mysteriously fit into the larger-than-life persona with the actor and character sewn together seamlessly!
But Dabangg 3 is basically lazy filmmaking. If the makers think that a film can be created by simply putting certain ingredients into a raging bowl of expectations without measure or method, it’s no wonder the result would be unpalatable. That’s what Dabangg 3 is. Salman Khan worked, so he, of course, is there. In every frame, but also as the screenplay writer along with director Prabhudeva and Aloke Upadhyay.
Robinhood Pandey fighting for the underdog worked well for the franchise, so that’s what he does here too – sometimes for hapless women, sometimes against corrupt politicians, sometimes taking on this evil goon who has bodies buried in his backyard. His silly romance worked so we have Salman and Sonakshi every few minutes in this 163-minute-long tiring run time dancing to one forgettable song after another. Salman’s generosity also worked. Sonakshi was given a huge platform to debut. This time around we have Mahesh Manjrekar’s laughter Saiee playing his love interest. Though she gets a raw deal and a very shrunken screen time.
Even with all these ingredients, Dabangg 3 is a feeble attempt at trying to match up to the magic of the original. Sudeep roped in as the main antagonist never had a chance. And the big fight reserved for the climax is such a bad display of CGI and unnecessary slo mo that they could well have had a narrator talk us through it, and we would frankly have been better off.
The messaging here about respecting women and their choice is so forced one feels guilty for laughing at it. Salman’s Pandey ji is so good that he doesn’t take dowry but will instead give it. When he sees a picture of Khushi (Saiee), he falls in love with her and goes to her parents’ house and says he will take care of all her “padhai ka kharcha”. The woman, by the way, till then is as mute a spectator as the saucer on which Pandey ji rests his chai ka cup. He then becomes her “rakhwala”! Sigh! But even then he couldn’t save the film. It had nothing we haven’t seen already. Nothing we would want to see. 1 Quint out of 5!
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)