We first saw him in 2009. Known as Chulbul Pandey aka Robinhood Pandey, the corrupt yet loveable cop captured the imagination of the audiences(even the staunchest critics of Salman Khan). He was entertaining, funny and likeable! He returned on the silver screen in 2012 with Dabangg 2. All hell break lose and soon he became the most iconic characters of Hindi Cinema. This week releases Dabangg 3, the third film in the series….does he manage to weave his magic again…or is he a bore this time around…lets find out.

Dabangg 3 is in a way a prequel(significant portion of it but not entirely) to the previous 2 installments. The story is straight out of the 1980s. The screenplay(penned by bhai himself) seems as if it is written by a 10 year old. So cliched but if it was entertaining, I would have passed it. Sadly, except the fight sequences, the screenplay is a bore. You were almost relying on the audiences’ seetis and taalis to stay attentive! The dialogues are corny even though quite a few of them where met with seetis and taalis! The songs( there are around 28000 songs here, though I may have missed a couple🤔) are totally unnecessary and slow down the drama. Also, the screenplay follows a pattern- Action, Drama, Song, Repeat! Such a bore! The cinematography is good here and captures the fight sequences very well. Director Prabhudeva returning after Action Jackson, is inconsistent. While he shines in a few places, others require work!

Rajesh Sharma, Nawab Shah and Paresh Ganatra have their moments. Arbaaz Khan is below average. Sonakshi Sinha and debutant Saiee Manjrekar have very little to do except cook, scream and get kidnapped which is very sad. The women should have been given meatier roles. Kichha Sudeep as the main antagonist has excelled. Salman Khan Being(Human?) Salman Khan does what he knows best. He excels in fight sequences, makes his belt dance to the tunes but falters in the drama!

Dabangg 3 is a masala film that is very bland and lacks the chutzpah of the earlier two installments. More importantly, at almost 3 hours, it is very long and almost a snoozefest throughout. The audience will be divided between “Swagat Nahi Karoge Humaara?” and ” Yeh Sab Ho Kya Raha Hai?”, I am tending towards the latter!

PS : People were going crazy yesterday and seemed to have enjoyed it when bhai took his shirt off. Ahh then what do I know about cinema anyway! BTW Dabangg 4 bhi aayegi kya?