Dabangg
File:Dabangg poster1.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Abhinav Singh Kashyap
Produced by	Arbaaz Khan Malaika Arora Khan Dhillin Mehta
Written by	Dileep Shukla Abhinav Singh Kashyap
Starring	Salman Khan Arbaaz Khan Sonakshi Sinha Sonu Sood Vinod Khanna Dimple Kapadia Anupam Kher
Music by	Sajid-Wajid Lalit Pandit
Cinematography	Mahesh Limaye
Editing by	Pranav V Dhiwar
Distributed by	Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd Arbaaz Khan Productions
Release date(s)	September 10, 2010 (2010-09-10)
Running time	125 minutes[1]
Country	‹See Tfd› India
Language	‹See Tfd› Hindi
Budget	30 crore (US$5.99 million)[2]
Box office	215 crore (US$42.89 million)[3]

Dabangg (English: Fearless) is a 2010 Indian action film, directed by Abhinav Kashyap and produced by Arbaaz Khan under the Arbaaz Khan Productions. The lead actors in the film include Arbaaz's elder brother, Salman Khan and Sonakshi Sinha. The film marks the debut of Sonakshi as an actor, Arbaaz as a producer and Kashyap as a director. It features Arbaaz Khan, Om Puri, Dimple Kapadia, Vinod Khanna, Anupam Kher, Mahesh Manjrekar and Mahie Gill in supporting roles while Sonu Sood plays the main antagonist. Malaika Arora appears in the item number "Munni Badnaam Hui".^[4][5] The film is set in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and revolves around a cop named Chulbul Pandey. Made with a budget of 30 crore and marketed at 12 crore, the film was shot primarily in the town of Wai in Maharashtra, while other major scenes were shot in the United Arab Emirates.^[6] The film set records for hype and awareness among the audience before release.

Dabangg was released on Eid, 10 September 2010 in nearly 1800 screens worldwide. The film opened to generally positive reviews and broke several box-office records upon release. The film set another box office record, grossing 80.87 crore in its first week, thus becoming the highest opening week grossing Bollywood film, overtaking the previous record of 3 Idiots. The film went on to gross 215 crore worldwide and Box office India declared it an all-time blockbuster in the second week of its release. It is the highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2010 and, as of 2011, the third highest–grossing Bollywood film of all time.^[7] Dabangg went on to win several awards, including the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. It was later remade in Tamil and Telugu.

Plot[link]

Chulbul Pandey, a young boy, lives with his younger half-brother, Makhanchan "Makkhi" Pandey, stepfather Prajapati Pandey (Vinod Khanna) and mother, Naina Devi (Dimple Kapadia) in Laalgunj, Uttar Pradesh. His stepfather is always partial towards Makkhi which constantly angers Chulbul.

21 years later, a scene shows a gang of robbers trying to steal money from a bank, when Chulbul (Salman Khan), now a cop, tries to recover the money by beating up the robbers. It becomes clear later that he keeps the money for himself. Chulbul, who calls himself "Robin Hood" Pandey, still lives with his family and does not have a good relationship with his stepfather and Makkhi. Makkhi (Arbaaz Khan) is in love with a girl called Nirmala (Mahi Gill), whose father Masterji (Tinu Anand) opposed the relationship. And, Chulbul falls in love with a girl named Rajo (Sonakshi Sinha), whom he chances upon during a police encounter.

A goon by the name of Chedi Singh (Sonu Sood) meets Chulbul and tells him that the people he beat up and stole the money from are party workers and that they were getting money for the party. But, he offers to forgive Chulbul on the condition that Chulbul start working for him. Chulbul flatly refuses.

Makkhi asks his father to arrange his marriage with Nirmala, but his father refuses saying that he needs money to repay the loans he took to make his factory, so he needs his son to marry a rich girl. Makkhi, in desperate need of money, steals it from Chulbul's cupboard, but is caught red-handed by his mother. He tells her that he intends to give the money to Nirmala's father, who in turn will return the money after marriage through dowry. Although his mother refuses, he reluctantly takes the money and gives it to Nirmala's father.

Meanwhile, Chulbul meets Rajo and proposes marriage. She rejects it saying that she has to look after her father, Haria (Mahesh Manjrekar), who is always drunk and she cannot marry while he is alive. Chulbul then comes home to find his mother dead. He goes to his stepfather to make peace, as he is the only family left. But, his stepfather rejects and despises him as an outcast. Chulbul is then attacked at the railway station by Chedi's men, when he is with Rajo and her father, but, he beats up all of them in a fight. He sees Makkhi buying new clothes at the market. On approaching him, Makkhi says that he is getting married to Nirmala and invites Chulbul to the marriage. Chulbul tries to convince Rajo's father to give his daughter's hand in marriage to him and to stop drinking. Rajo's father accepts and after Chulbul leaves, he plunges into a lake and commits suicide, as he knows that his daughter will not marry anyone while he is alive. Chulbul takes Rajo to Makkhi's exuberant wedding and realizing that Makkhi has stolen his brother's money to finance the wedding, marries Rajo in an informal ceremony. Nirmala's father, Masterji feels disgraced and cancels the wedding.

Makkhi beats up one of the workers in his factory due to an accident. The workers go to the police station along with his mother to file a complaint. But, instead Chulbul beats up Makkhi in public, thus disgracing him. Chedi Singh decides to take advantage of the situation and suspend Chulbul. He takes Makkhi and his father to the police station. But, Makkhi's father resolves the situation by accepting an apology from Chulbul. Chulbul meets Dayal Babu (Anupam Kher), the leader of Lok Manch, who also dislikes Chedi Singh. They both come to an agreement to keep Chedi Singh in control. Chulbul adulterates the breweries of Chedi Singh due to which some people fall ill and Chedi Singh is blamed. Chedi Singh is confronted by Chulbul who openly reveals to him that he adulterated the breweries.

To take revenge, Chedi Singh burns Makkhi's factory. Makkhi's father gets a heart attack due to shock and is hospitalized. Makkhi, in desperate need of money for his father's treatment agrees to do anything for Chedi Singh, without realizing that it was Chedi Singh who burnt his factory. Chedi Singh, orders him to deliver a crate of mangoes to Dayal Babu's house. But, unknown to Makkhi, there is a bomb in it. After he leaves the house, it explodes, killing Dayal Babu. Chedi Singh gives Makkhi a task to kill Chulbul. Makkhi, knowing that he would not do it, accepts it and meets Chulbul. He confesses to Chulbul that he was sent to kill him by Chedi Singh. He reveals to Chulbul that Chedi Singh made him plant the bomb unknowingly. Chulbul forgives him and reconciles with his stepfather. Makkhi meets Chedi Singh, who thinks that Makkhi killed Chulbul and reveals to Makkhi that he had killed Makkhi's mother. Chedi Singh is then informed that Chulbul is arriving with a huge police force. Makkhi reveals to Chedi Singh that he did not kill Chulbul. In a final battle, Chulbul arrives and takes down all the goons and rescues Makkhi. He then kills Chedi Singh in a fight after Makkhi reveals to him that Chedi Singh killed their mother. In a happy ending, Chulbul gets Makkhi married to Nirmala in the presence of their father, while, Rajo reveals that she is pregnant.

Cast[link]

• Salman Khan as Chulbul Pandey,'Robin Hood' Pandey
• Sonakshi Sinha as Rajo Pandey
• Arbaaz Khan as Makhanchand 'Makhi' Pandey
• Vinod Khanna as Prajapati Pandey, Chulbul's step-father
• Dimple Kapadia as Naini Devi, Chulbul's mother
• Sonu Sood as Chedi Singh
• Mahesh Manjrekar as Haria, Rajo's father
• Om Puri as Kasturilal Vishkarma, Chedi Singh's to be father-in-law
• Anupam Kher as Dayal Babu
• Mahi Gill as Nirmala
• Tinu Anand as Masterji, Nirmala's father
• Malaika Arora as Munni in the item number "Munni Badnaam Hui"
• Murli Sharma as ACP Malik

Production[link]

Casting[link]

Salman Khan, who had played several police roles in the past, including in his previous film Wanted, played the lead role. According to him, he was comfortable with it role because of his grandfather's involvement in the police department. The actor lost weight for the film as he wanted to look "ribbed" for the role. He also put on a moustache after consulting with his brother and prepared his hair to suit his role.^[8] For the former, he had to try out nearly fifty styles in a span of four months before commencement of the filming. Photo-shoots were held in order to finalize his look.^[9] Abhinav Kashyap, in an interview with Bollywood Hungama, revealed that initially he had considered a few others for the role of Chulbul Pandey but eventually changed his mind and roped in Salman.^[10] The film's antagonist, Sonu Sood, was reported to have claimed that he had been offered the role initially.^[6] Abhinav had seen Arbaaz in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, doing a cameo and approached him to be a part of the project. After reading it, he had instantly accepted to produce and star in it.^[10] Sonu Sood was selected for playing the lead antagonist. He revealed that his character was that of a "youth leader with grey shades."^[11] Mahesh Manjrekar was later roped in to play the heroine's father, even though he had plans to quit acting.^[12]

In April 2009, it was revealed that Sonakshi Sinha, the daughter of Shatrughan Sinha, had been signed for her debut role and would be playing the lead alongside Salman Khan.^[13] Salman had seen her at a function engaging in dancing and offered her the role.^[6] Speaking about it, she said that she had lost a weight of 30 kg over a period of two years in order to prepare for her character of a village girl by "a combination of proper diet and vigorous exercise". She also added that she had been "observing people and trying to pick up nuances" as a step of further preparation.^[14] Malaika Arora, who had performed a few item numbers in her career, most notably in Dil Se.., was confirmed to do the same in the film. This was the first of its kind in her home production.^[15]

Filming[link]

Dabangg's shooting took place primarily in Wai and the United Arab Emirates.^[6] The film's shooting commenced in September 2009.^[16] The cinematography was performed by Mahesh Limaye. The first schedule began in the town of Wai and continued for a period of 45 days,^[9] during which Sonu Sood, the main antagonist fractured his nose.^[17] A schedule, primarily involving a song shoot, was captured in the Khalid Bin Al Waheed station in Dubai, thus making Dabangg the first film to be shot there.^[18] Some scenes were also canned at the Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.^[19]

The film, involving around five action sequences, was choreographed by S. Vijayan, who previously served as the stunt director of Wanted, and shot over a period of 60 days. Later, special effects were incorporated into those scenes.^[20] In one of the scenes, the antagonist was required to be tanned too "look realistic."^[21] The film's songs were choreographed by Raju Khan and Shabina Khan,^[4][22] while Farah Khan choreographed the item number, "Munni Badnaam".^[23] The shooting was completed in early June 2010, and the film went into post-production.^[24] A party was held to commemorate the completion of the shooting and the success of the theatrical promo. It was attended by the film's main cast and crew.^[25]

Pre-release[link]

The film's theatrical trailer, running for about two and a half minutes was released on 23 July 2010, alongside Priyadarshan’s Khatta Meetha.^[26][27] The promo was an instant hit and increased the pre-release buzz surrounding the film.^[25] Dabangg was described as one of the most anticipated films of the year by the Indian Express.^[28] It was reported to have broken pre-release records for hype by Cinematix, a filming awareness product originated by Ormax Media.^[29] The special screening of the film took place at Film City on 6 September 2010.^[30] The premiere of Dabangg was held in Mumbai on 9 September 2010.^[31]

Release[link]

Dabangg released worldwide on 10 September 2010. It opened up across 1,800 screens in India and around 300 screens overseas.^[32][33] The film was also screened in Norway at an international film festival.^[34] The film's DVDs and VCDs were launched by the Reliance Big Home Video on 12 October 2010.^[35] The film was released on YouTube on 28 January 2011 for free viewing to audiences in India.^[36] The satellite rights of the film were pre-sold for a nominal 10 crore to Colors.^[37] A sequel to Dabangg, titled Dabangg 2 is currently in filming stage and has been planned for a release in 21 December 2012.^[38] The film was remade in Tamil as Osthe by S. Dharani with Silambarasan playing the lead role.^[39] The film is also being remade in Telugu as Gabbar Singh, starring Pawan Kalyan.

Critical response[link]

The film generally received positive reviews from critics, most of whom praised the performance of Salman Khan. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars in his review and concluded, "On the whole, Dabangg is a full on entertainer with three aces - Salman Khan like never before, stylish action and super music. Sure to fetch an earth-shattering opening, the film will create a pandemonium at the box-office, cementing the status of Salman Khan as the darling of the masses and making the distributors laugh all the way to the bank. It has Blockbuster written all over it!"^[41] Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India awarded 4 stars while commenting, "For anybody who wants to know what is the on-screen definition of Bollywood, Dabangg is truly text book fare. It's loud, crazy, zany, exaggerated, larger-than-life, almost nonsensical, totally make-believe, comic book like, complete kitsch, generously peppered with the mandatory desi tadka (garnishing) of songs and dances that keep popping out of nowhere and is literally oozing with star charisma."^[40] Komal Nahta of Koimoi gave it a rating of 4/5 and stated, "Dabangg may be a routine subject but its other plus points will ensure that it proves a big hit from North to South and East to West. It will be loved by the masses and classes, the young and the old, the girls and the boys, the men and the women. Business in single-screen cinemas will be historic, of course, but collections in multiplexes will also be outstanding."^[42]

Aniruddha Guha of Daily News and Analysis rated it 4/5, remarking, "In spite of the film's ‘dated’ appeal, first-timer Kashyap gives Dabangg a novel treatment, which lends it zing. He plays to the gallery brazenly, but ensures the film is held together by a strong premise - that of a dysfunctional family that comes together in crisis. Dabangg is slightly mad, and terribly entertaining."^[43] Mathures Paul of The Statesman gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and commented, "Dabangg aligns itself with viewers frustrated by the nonexistence of uncomplicated heroism on screen."^[44] Abhishek Mande of Rediff gave the film 3 out of 5 stars while stating, "Dabangg is not a movie for non-Salman fans. But for those who worship him it's a film you simply cannot afford to miss."^[45] Anupama Chopra of NDTV rated it 3/5 stating, "It's the role of a lifetime and Salman Khan bites into it like a starving man devours a feast. He inhabits it fully, strutting and swaggering and even, spoofing himself."^[46] Sukanya Venkatgarhavan of Filmfare rated it 3/5 stating, "Dabangg rides totally on Salman Khan's magic.Had director Abhinav Kashyap cast a less popular actor, it’s doubtful the film would have the chutzpah that Khan has lent to it."^[47] Gaurav Malani of Indiatimes Movies rated the movie 3/5, saying that "As much as the film doesn’t care a damn for coming up with any innovative storyline. Like the intrepid Chulbul Pandey who tries to intermittently hide his soggy eyes behind his sunglasses, the film tries to camouflage its deficiency of substance with an abundance of Salman’s splendid style....Try to find a novel storyline and there is none in Dabangg. Try to find Salman Khan and there is nothing else."^[48] The film received a few mixed reviews from other critics. Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN rated the movie 2.5/5, arguing that "Dabangg' is ordinary, at best average... Blame it on the disjointed screenplay if Dabangg works not so much as a coherent, consistent film, but as a string of set-pieces. As a result it feels way longer than its two-hours-and-five-minutes running time, and the climatic action scene that takes place outside the villain's den seems never-ending."^[49] Shobhaa De of the Bangalore Times was critical of the film, concluding, "Let’s hand it to Salman who has pulled off the stunts and pelvic thrusts. Nothing new there. But it is the naughty self-parodying, which is so camp, so out there, which delivers the biggest punch. What’s left for this guy now — all he needs is a cape. And he can call himself Superman."^[50]

Controversies[link]

Dabangg was the subject of several controversies. One of the film's songs, "Munni Badnaam Hui", included a brand name, 'Zandu Balm', in its lyrics, much to the displeasure of Emmami, the makers of Zandu Balm. A trademark case was settled by the producers and Emmami out of court and Malaika Arora Khan was later roped in to for an official ad campaign promoting Zandu Balm.^[51] Activist Rajkumar Talk filed a case in the Bombay High Court, demanding that the word "Hindustan" be deleted from the song and claiming that the censor board had not responded to his queries in regard to the "defaming" lyrics. He found them "highly objectionable" and "unpardonable" and labelled the song a "mockery" for the country, as a girl was "indecently" dancing in the presence of corrupted officers, which, according to him, threw bad light on the nation and "hurt the patriotic sentiments of every Indian".^[52]

Before release, critic and writer Shobhaa De called for a boycott of Dabangg, due to Salman Khan's comments on the 2008 Mumbai attacks. She criticised it as "arrogance, ignorance and plain stupidity." This sparked off a fight with the producers of the film via Twitter, later continued after her negative review of the film.^[53] Another controversy occurred when Anurag Kashyap, brother of Abhinav Kashyap tweeted that "Salman khan thinks he made my brother's life.. Hope he can do the same for his brother Arbaaz with Dabanng 2." This was taken as "slamming" Salman, and resulted in Arbaaz retorting back by referring to the comment as "attitude" instead of "gratitude". However, Anurag later apologised for his remarks, which Arbaaz accepted.^[54]

Box office[link]

Domestic[link]

In India, the film had a strong opening with occupancy ranging between 80-100% in multiplexes and nearly 100% in single screens.^[55] Box Office India described the film's opening as "earth shattering" saying, "despite bad weather in the North, the response was simply mindboggling."^[56] The film went on to break the record opening day collection of 3 Idiots netting 14.5 crore (US$2.89 million) on its first day of business, thus becoming the highest opener of all time across India.^[57] It netted 16.5 crore (US$3.29 million) on the second day of release, again breaking the all time second-day collection record set by 3 Idiots.^[58] The film continued its record breaking run at the box office, netting 18.5 crore (US$3.69 million) on the third day of release, bringing the total nett collections to 49.5 crore (US$9.88 million) at the end of its first weekend, the highest ever first weekend collections, overtaking the 38 crore (US$7.58 million) net record of 3 Idiots.^[59][60] The film netted 10.6 crore (US$2.11 million) on Monday,^[61] 8.6 crore (US$1.72 million) crore on Tuesday,^[62] 7 crore (US$1.4 million) on Wednesday,^[63] and 6 crore (US$1.2 million) on Thursday taking the total nett collections to around 81.5 crore (US$16.26 million) in its first week of release.^[64] It subsequently became the highest opening week net grosser, again surpassing the previous record of 3 Idiots.^[64] The first week distributors share of the film amounted to 50.15 crore (US$10 million).^[65]

The film continued its successful run at the box office during the second week of its release. It netted 6.2 crore (US$1.24 million) on the second Friday,^[66] 7.5 crore (US$1.5 million) on Saturday and 10.5 crore (US$2.09 million) on Sunday, for a 23.75 crore (US$4.74 million) second weekend, a drop of around 50 per cent from the opening weekend.^[67] The film netted 36 crore (US$7.18 million) in the second week, the second highest second week collections ever after 3 Idiots, taking the total nett collections to 116 crore (US$23.14 million) in just two weeks. The film thus surpassed the lifetime record collections of the 2008 Aamir Khan-starrer Ghajini and became the second highest grossing film of all time within just two weeks.^[68] The distributor share of Dabangg was declared to be 77 crore (US$15.36 million) — the second highest ever in Bollywood after Three Idiots, which made 99 crore (US$19.75 million).^[69]

The film collected 16 crore (US$3.19 million) during the third week^[70] and 6 crore (US$1.2 million) in its fourth week, taking the domestic net collections to 140 crore (US$27.93 million).^[71] The domestic nett collections in eleven weeks was 140.10 crore (US$27.95 million).^[72] It eventually progressed to 141 crore (US$28.13 million).^[73]

International[link]

The film opened to a positive response in the overseas markets as well. It grossed a total of US$ 4.20 million in the international markets at the end of its second weekend, being declared as a hit overseas by Box office India.^[74] In the United States, the film opened at No. 23, collecting US$628,137 from 62 screens in its opening weekend^[75] and $1,068,589 at the end of its second weekend.^[76] In the United Arab Emirates, the film collected 3.2 million Dirhams in the opening weekend,^[75] and $1,550,000 at the end of the second weekend.^[74] The film fetched up a $5.50 million total, making it the fifth biggest grosser ever in UAE with a $2 million gross.^[77] In the United Kingdom, the film opened at No. 12 collecting £332,673 from 41 screens in its opening weekend.^[75] and £570,566 by the end of its second weekend.^[74] In Australia, the film collected A$126,000 from 14 screens in the opening weekend,^[75] and A$272,909 at the end of its second weekend.^[74] In Mauritius and South Africa, the film collected US$25,000 each in its opening weekend.^[75] In Fiji, the film collected US$20,000 in the opening weekend.^[75] In other territories of Europe and Africa, the film collected $100,000 in its opening weekend.^[75] The final overseas collections accumulated to US$ 5 million.^[78]

Awards and nominations[link]

Dabangg received various accolades in different categories in major film award functions in India. Among them, it won a National Film Award for the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. It was awarded six awards at the 56th Filmfare Awards, including one for Best Film, seven Screen Awards, nine Zee Cine Awards and ten IIFA Awards.^[79]

Soundtrack[link]

The soundtrack of the film have been composed by the music director duo of Sajid-Wajid and Lalit Pandit of the famed duo Jatin-Lalit while the lyrics have been penned by Faiz Anwar, Lalit Pandit and Jalees Sherwani. Lalit Pandit did the song titled "Munni Badnaam Hui".^[80] The music was launched on 6 August 2010 in Delhi.^[81] The album contains five original songs, four remixes and one theme song.^[80] The audio rights of the film were sold for about 9.5 crore.^[82] In August 2010, the track "Tere Mast Mast Do Nain", as performed by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, reached #1 on the Official Asian Download Chart in the UK based on legal downloads in that country.^[83]

The track "Munni Badnaam Hui" is said to be inspired by an old Bhojpuri folk song "Launda Badnaam Hua Naseeban Tere Liye". Director Abhinav Kashyap accepted using the folk song saying that he himself being from Uttar Pradesh, was familiar with the song since his childhood so he suggested the very song to be improvised and rephrased to fit the film's requirement.^[84] Although some people have alleged that it is inspired from Pakistani song "Ladka Badnaam Hua" from the film Mr. Charlie (1992). However some plagiarism experts like Karthik S, says, "I can say that I could not find direct lifts at all. M Ashraf was perhaps trying to recreate the 60s Hindi film sound in his own way. That perhaps did not go down well in Pakistan."^[85]

Track listing[link]

Reception[link]

Upon release, the film's soundtrack received generally positive reviews from music critics. Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama rated the album 3/5 and said, "Dabangg delivers what it promised. One expected a masala soundtrack and this is what one gets with a couple of item song sequences, a couple of theme tracks and two love songs which are actually the highlight of the film. A soundtrack that has something in store for mass as well as class."^[86] Atta Khan of Planet Bollywood gave it 6/10 saying, "Sajid and Wajid’s brand of music appeals to the mass audience because it’s simple, catchy, easy on the ears and fun. Dabangg further showcases their ability to connect with the mass audience".^[87] Devesh Sharma of Filmfare also gave the album a rating of 3/5 and said, "Overall, the soundtrack scores high on energy quotient. But its time Sajid-Wajid gave some thought to melody too".^[88]

The music of Dabangg performed well on the charts after its release. The songs, "Tere Mast Mast Do Nain" and "Munni Badnaam" became chart busters^[89] and entered the list of top 20 most frequently played songs on radio in India. As of 10 September 2010, "Munni Badnaam Hui" was ranked first on the list,^[90] while "Tere Mast Mast Do Nain" was ranked second.^[90]

See also[link]

Bollywood portal

• List of highest-grossing Bollywood films

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Dabangg at the Internet Movie Database
• Dabangg at Box Office Mojo
• Dabangg at Rotten Tomatoes
• Dabangg at Bollywood Hungama
• Dabangg's channel on YouTube