If Anurag Kashyap redefined Bollywood standards with his off-beat movies, here is his antithesis in the form of his brother.
Brilliant direction with popular tunes and hold-onto-your-popcorn-fellas dialogs, Dabang is a study in the art of making caricatures. It is unusual, at least with the audience being intelligent now, for an actor to pull off a movie solely on his charisma. Salman Khan is the man, make no mistake about it.
Dabang not only captures the zeitgeist of rural UP with its topical dialogs but renders an otherwise dark aspect of life outrageously funny. Don't expect any high-brow insights here, this is sheer ribaldry. Salmaan, Salmaan and more Salmaan. this is the Wild West of India, where every character has a mouth and can dodge bullets with élan. None of your high heeled sophistication here.
The idea is old, two step-brothers, one favored and the other relentless for love and acceptance. Sonakshi Sinha would have been better off with a more substantial role, though. Music is average, with a couple of songs made in the typical Bollywood Masala style. This is a movie where the hero's shirt doesn't follow the laws of Physics, this is a movie where poor potter has her hair layered and wears more paint then the toys she makes, this is a movie that oozes bollywood in its every frame.
Watch it if you need a break from life, but don't expect anything intellectually stimulating.
