Dabangg 2

Dabangg 2
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Arbaaz Khan
Produced by	Arbaaz Khan Malaika Arora Khan
Written by	Dilip Shukla[1]
Starring	Salman Khan Sonakshi Sinha Prakash Raj Arbaaz Khan Vinod Khanna
Music by	Songs Sajid-Wajid Background Score: Sandeep Shirodkar
Cinematography	Aseem Mishra Mahesh Limaye
Edited by	Hemal Kothari
Production company	Arbaaz Khan Productions
Distributed by	Arbaaz Khan Productions
Release dates	21 December 2012 (2012-12-21)
Running time	125 minutes[2]
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹840 million[3]
Box office	est.₹2.49 billion[3]

Dabangg 2 is a 2012 Indian action comedy film directed and produced by Arbaaz Khan under the banner of Arbaaz Khan Productions. It is a sequel to the 2010 film Dabangg and the second installment of Dabangg film series. It is written by Dilip Shukla. The story is set in the city of Kanpur. The film features Salman Khan and Sonakshi Sinha reprising their roles from the previous film, whilst Prakash Raj plays the antagonist.

Development of the project commenced after the release of Dabangg. Filming began on 9 March 2012 at Kamalistan Studios in Mumbai and it released on 21 December 2012. The first look poster was unveiled on 8 November 2012 whilst the theatrical trailer was premiered on 10 November 2012, on Khan's reality show Bigg Boss 6. The film broke the three-day record set by Ek Tha Tiger by netting around ₹583 million (US$8.7 million) in India. Dabangg 2 has become one of the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time in India and worldwide. Dabangg 2 is the second-highest grossing Hindi film of 2012 after Ek Tha Tiger.^{[b 1][b 2]}

Plot

The story carries on from the previous film— Inspector Chulbul Pandey (Salman Khan)— in charge of a local police station in Kanpur and resides there with his wife Rajjo (Sonakshi Sinha), brother Makkhi (Arbaaz Khan) and stepfather (Vinod Khanna). A boy gets kidnapped from a school therefore Chulbul deals with the problem. In Kanpur, an assassin murders a witness who is about to testify against a dreaded don. Chulbul tracks the assassin down, killing him at a coffeehouse. The don is Bachcha (Prakash Raj), a struggling politician. After several public altercations, Bachcha's brother Genda (Deepak Dobriyal) convinces him to get rid of Pandey, threatening Chulbul's stepfather to kill his entire family if Chulbul keeps on interfering in Bachcha's criminal activities.

Genda harasses a girl, arriving at her wedding to kidnap her. Chulbul arrives at the wedding and asks Genda to leave. Genda refuses to comply and continues to insult Chulbul. Chulbul breaks his neck, leading to his death. In the meantime his wife becomes pregnant, Pandey being advised by everybody to leave Bachcha alone for the sake of his family's safety. Bachcha, promising to avenge his brother's death, decides to do so before the election. He meets Rajjo and Makkhi whilst they are exiting from a temple where Makkhi is shot by Bachcha and Rajjo is pushed off the temple stairs. However both of them survive with Rajjo having a miscarriage and a head injury.

Chulbul is enraged at the loss of his first child. He enters Bachcha's location and kills all of his men. He tries to arrest Bachcha, but when Bachcha tries to tease him, he kills him instantly by grabbing a gun and shooting him with 2 bullets in the chest. Later, Chulbul and Rajjo have their first child, a baby boy. Right at the end, Chedi Singh's photographer (from the first film, Dabangg) arrives asking for a family photo. They all laugh and the photographer takes the picture.

Cast

• Salman Khan as Chulbul Pandey
• Sonakshi Sinha as Rajjo Pandey
• Arbaaz Khan as Makhanchand "Makkhi" Pandey
• Vinod Khanna as Prajapati Pandey
• Mahi Gill as Nirmala Pandey
• Prakash Raj as Thakur Bachcha Singh
• Nikitin Dheer as Chunni
• Deepak Dobriyal as Genda
• Gireesh Sahedev as Inspector Siddique
• Manoj Pahwa as Commissioner
• Flora Asha Saini in a cameo^[4]
• Sandeepa Dhar as Anjali^[5][6]
• Malaika Arora Khan in a special appearance in song "Pandeyji Seeti"
• Kareena Kapoor Khan in a special appearance in song "Fevicol Se"
• Rashami Desai in cameo appearance in song "Dagabaaz Re"
• Nandish Sandhu in cameo appearance in song "Dagabaaz Re"
• Tinu Anand as master in special appearance
• Manoj Joshi as a shopkeeper in special appearance
• Nitesh Pandey as doctor in special appearance
• Pradeep Kabra
• Pankaj Tripathi

Production

Development

When director Abhinav Kashyap opted out of directing the sequel, Arbaaz Khan himself jumped in as the film's director.^{[d 1]} Prakash Raj was confirmed to have been chosen to play the main villain.^{[d 2]} Kareena Kapoor has been roped in to play an item number in the film,^{[d 3][d 4]} despite initial reports considering Katrina Kaif for the role.^{[d 5]}

In Feb 2012, it was reported that distribution rights were sold to UTV Motion Pictures for a price of ₹ 1.40 billion, the highest for a Bollywood film till date.^{[d 6]} But later UTV Motion Pictures reported the news as completely fake & nonsense. UTV Motion Pictures has brushed aside rumours of purchasing the rights of the sequel to Salman Khan-Sonakshi Sinha starrer, Dabangg 2 for ₹ 1.40 billion.^{[d 7]} The national emblem framed on the wall of Chulbul Pandey's police station was depicted incorrectly. Sensitive to the slightest abnormality pertaining to national sentiments, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has asked producer-director Arbaaz Khan to simply blur the corner of the film's frames where the national emblem appears.^{[d 8]}

Filming

Shooting for the film began in March 2012.^{[f 1]} The producers announced plans to shoot the film in Kanpur.^{[f 2]} A set depicting the city of Kanpur was created at the Kamalistan Studios in Mumbai, where the first schedule of the film was shot.^{[f 3]} The entire studio was rented for the film, making it a first in Bollywood.^{[f 4]} The phase consisted of shooting a qawwali song under neon lights.^{[f 5]} Following the shoot, filming is expected to take place in film city in Mumbai. The last schedule has been planned to be shot at Satara.^{[f 3]} Three days after the film went on floors, it was reported that Salman Khan replaced cinematographer, K. K. Senthil Kumar, with Aseem Kumar. A song titled "Fevicol" was choreographed as a dance number and considered as an equivalent to "Munni Badnaam Hui" from Dabangg. Reports indicating that Salman would essay an important involvement in the director's role were dismissed by Arbaaz.^{[f 6]}

Pre-release business

• The figures don't include the Print and Advertising (P&A) costs.

Soundtrack

The songs are composed by Sajid-Wajid while the lyrics were penned by Jalees Sherwani, Irfan Kamal & Sameer. There is an item song named "Fevicol Se" featuring Kareena Kapoor.

The film score is composed by Sandeep Shirodkar.

Track listing

Marketing

Chulbul Pandey, Khan's character in Dabangg 2 appeared in STAR Plus soap Diya Aur Baati Hum to promote the film. It aired on 12 and 13 December 2012.^{[m 1][m 2]} Salman and Sonakshi promoted the film on the sets of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. Dabangg 2 was screened at the Ketnav theatre in Khar, a western Mumbai suburb, on 17 December 2012.^{[m 3][m 4][m 5][m 6]} A Dabangg 2 special screening was done for the star kids on 19 December 2012.^{[m 7]} Another premiere was held on 20 December 2012 in which Aamir Khan also attended.^{[m 8]}

Release

Dabangg 2 released in 3500 screens in India and 450 screens overseas on 21 December 2012.^{[re 1][re 2][b 3]} The film was made on a budget of ₹600 million (US$8.9 million) including prints and advertising. This figure does not include Salman Khan's fee which can go as high as the budget of the film itself. Dabangg 2 had the highest screen count for any film in India and worldwide, surpassing that of Ek Tha Tiger. The trailers for Kai Po Che! and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag were released with Dabangg 2.^{[re 3][re 4]}

Controversy

Chief judicial magistrate (CJM), Muzaffarpur has ordered to lodge an FIR against seven artists of Dabangg 2, including Salman Khan, Arbaaz Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha and others under Section 156 (clause 3) of the CrPC and submit a report within a week in connection with a complaint filed against a song "Fevicol...." in Hindi movie Dabangg 2. The complainant filed the case demanding a ban on the song immediately, claiming that such songs are likely to fuel sexual harassment and misbehaviour against girls at a time when the entire nation was experiencing an unprecedented shame due to the recent gang rape and death of a 23-year-old girl in Delhi.^[8]

Critical reception

India

Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and said "Dabangg 2 has Salman Khan, Salman Khan and Salman Khan plus entertainment, entertainment and entertainment in large doses".^{[r 1]} Resham Sengar of Zee TV rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars, noting "But the actor cum director has kept the standards of the film intact like a pro. So much so that it was hard to believe that a newbie in film making has directed the film. So, go on and book your ticket to enjoy this paisa vasool film with your friends and family and don’t forget to grab a tub of popcorn".^{[r 2]} Srijana Mitra Das of The Times of India gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and praised the overall style.^{[r 3]} Mid-Day gave it 3 out of 5 stars and said the film was a treat for diehard Salman Khan fans.^{[r 4]} Rubina Khan of First Post India gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and said it didn't matter what score she gave the film, it would still do great business.^{[r 5]} Filmfare stated "Dabangg 2 is a fanboy's dream and wouldn't disappoint the first comer either".^{[r 6]}

Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the film a score 2.5 out of 5 stars reviewing "This film might also end up raking in a much larger box office booty than Dabangg did, but assessed strictly as a pure entertainer designed for instant mass gratification, it isn’t half as successful. Unfortunately, the Dabangg 2 screenplay is devoid of any fresh ideas".^{[r 7]} Gaurav Malani, also from The Times of India gave the film a mixed review and recommended skipping it by "watching reruns of Dabangg on television".^{[r 8]} Raja Sen of Rediff gave it 2.5 out of 5 stars and felt Dabangg 2 was less unwatchable than its predecessor and it had "absolutely nothing new to offer, and nothing to remember, quote or take away from the theatre".^{[r 9]} The Indian Express rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and said "Arbaaz should have given himself some more time" to make the film watchable.^{[r 10]} Stardust publishers Manga gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars also calling it a "one-time watch potboiler". Anupama Chopra of the Hindustan Times gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and said Dabangg 2 does not match "the zing of the original" and "there wasn't one line that stayed with me after the film".^{[r 11]} Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and stated what the "film needed was personality and character, what it's left with is sameness. But that's probably enough for Salman Khan fans".

Aniruddha Guha also of DNA India rated the film 2 out of 5 stars and called it "wannabe-Dabangg".^{[r 12]} After giving it a 2 out of 5 stars, the Daily Bhaskar panned Dabangg 2 by saying "you'd feel like a moron spending the last day on planet Earth filling your mind and lowering your IQ with rubbish like this".^{[r 13]} Business of Cinema gave the film 2 out of 5 stars and said it was a copy of the original and offered nothing new.^{[r 14]} Reuters gave it a negative review and raised objections to the content and said the film "objectified women in the worst way possible".^{[r 15]} Sanjukta Sharma from Live Mint (The Wall Street Journal) said "Dabangg 2 is a disappointment. It had nothing to keep me engaged".^{[r 16]}

Overseas

IGN gave the film 4.5 out of 10 stars and criticized the weak script and direction. Mufaddal Fakhruddin wrote "the screenplay and script is majorly lacking, and whatever story it does have is stretched out in a way that it becomes blatantly obvious. There were number of times where I went, "why did I just watch this scene?". Dabangg 2 felt lost. They say not all those who wander are lost, but Dabangg 2 actually is.^{[r 17]} Digital Spy gave the film 2 out of 5 stars and objected to the content. Priya Joshi wrote "Khan revels in the shameless display of narcissism, but there is little to commend the performance. The dialog is trite, there is no depth to the characters and most of the effort has been applied to the elaborate fight sequences. With the emphasis on violence and the objectifying of women, it's a step back in time, where the women are either dutiful, temple-going housewives or cleavage-baring prostitutes". Joshi recommended skipping the film and added instead of watching it, we could "use the time, perhaps more wisely, pondering whether we have enough brussels for Christmas dinner".^{[r 18]} Asian review website Wogma rated the film 1.18 out of 5 and criticized all aspects, from direction to performances by the lead actors. The reviewer broke down the rating of the film and gave "1 out of 5 for direction, 1 out of 5 for the story, 1 out of 5 for lead actors performances, 2 out of 5 for character artists, 2 out of 5 for dialogues, 1 out of 5 for screenplay, 1.5 out of 5 for the music, and 1 out of 5 for lyrics". Simon Abrams of The Village Voice said "before they really screw up [the film], Dabangg 2's creators do a good job of not taking themselves too seriously".^{[r 19]} Trisha Gupta from First Post International said the film was a rehash of Dabangg.^{[r 20]} Instead of giving a review, the New York Daily Times objected to the content of the film. Quoting William Nicholas Gomes, a visiting fellow at the University of York, they said Dabangg 2 "glorified the practice of torture by police forces" and would "raise wider public support in favour of torture and ill treatment [of prisoners] in custody".^{[r 21]}

Accolades

Box office

India

Dabangg 2 was the second-highest grosser of the year behind Ek Tha Tiger. It netted ₹220 million (US$3.3 million) on its opening day, the biggest non-holiday opener beating the previous record held by Rowdy Rathore.^{[b 3]} On its second day however, the film witnessed a drop due to "excessive screenings and cold weather" but still collected around ₹180 million (US$2.7 million).^{[b 4]} The film's business grew on Sunday and it collected ₹285 million (US$4.2 million), taking the first weekend total to ₹693 million (US$10 million), beating the previous three-day record set by khiladi 786.^{[b 5][b 6]} After a successful weekend, the film had a strong Monday where it made ₹120 million (US$1.8 million), beating the previous record held by Dabangg.^{[b 7]} Dabangg 2 collected around ₹150 million (US$2.2 million) on Tuesday (Christmas day).^{[b 8][b 9]} Dabangg 2 netted around ₹77.5 million (US$1.2 million) on Wednesday.^{[b 10]} The film collected ₹60 million (US$890,000) on Thursday, bringing the first week total to ₹990 million (US$15 million).^{[b 11]} The film collected ₹200 million (US$3.0 million) in its second weekend taking the film's collections to ₹1.19 billion (US$18 million).^{[b 12][b 13]} The film was declared a blockbuster by Box Office India after its first week.^{[b 14]} Dabangg 2 has collected around ₹320 million (US$4.8 million) nett in five days of its second week as it grossed a huge ₹80 million (US$1.2 million) crore plus on Tuesday as it was New Years Day, taking its total to ₹1.42 billion (US$21 million).^{[b 15]} According to Box Office India, the film became the second highest-grossing film of 2012 in 13 days, adding ₹ 30 million nett on that day.^{[b 16]} Dabangg 2 collected solid figures of ₹464 million (US$6.9 million) nett in its second week.^{[b 17]} After successful two weeks, the film further netted ₹75.0 million (US$1.1 million) in third weekend to make a total of around ₹1,465 million (US$22 million) nett.^{[b 18]} Dabangg 2 collected a good figure of ₹287 million (US$4.3 million) in its third week.^{[b 19]} It netted around ₹1.78 billion (US$26 million) nett after the completion of its theatrical run.^{[b 20]} The final distributor share of the film in India was ₹940 million (US$14 million).^{[b 21]}

Overseas

Dabangg 2 collected close to US$8.5 million overseas in its opening weekend.^{[b 22]} The film reached $8 million overseas in 10 days and was declared a 'super-hit' by Box Office India. Dabangg 2 has taken its overseas total to around $10.25 million in 17 days and has become the third biggest overseas hit of 2012 behind Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Ek Tha Tiger, both of which earned the 'blockbuster' status overseas.^{[b 23][b 24]} Dabangg 2 grossed around $11.75 million in its total lifetime.^{[b 25]}

Sequel

It has been reported that Dabangg 3 may be a prequel which will be the third installment in the Dabang series.^[11]

References

Development

Filming

Marketing

Release

Critical Reception

Box office

External links

• Dabangg 2 at Box Office Mojo
• Dabangg 2 at Bollywoodhungama.com
• Dabangg 2 at the Internet Movie Database