Cast: Salman Khan, Sonakshi Sinha, Kicha Sudeep, Arbaaz Khan, Saiee Manjrekar

Director: Prabhu Deva

Rating: ***

The wait is finally over as the much-awaited Dabangg 3 is here so let's jump straight to what new Salman Khan brings on screen in the third installment of Dabangg for his fans.

Dabangg 3, a part prequel to previous Dabangg films starts in the town of Tundla, Uttar Pradesh with a grand whistle worthy entry of Chulbul Pandey aka Robinhood Pandey who is an A.S.P. now, at a marriage function, there to save the day and obviously people in danger followed by a larger than life title song.

Salman Khan owns the film from his very first scene with his mammoth screen presence and Chulbul Pandey's Dabangg persona outshining everyone else on-screen and without a doubt, it is gonna be a delight for his die-hard fans.

Soon after, Makkhi (Arbaaz Khan) who is a police officer now, reaches alone to save minor girls from the clutches of a gang involved in human trafficking and prostitution but he isn't enough for the goons and again Chulbul Pandey saves the day. This leads to Chulbul and Baali (Kicha Sudeep) seeing each other after a long time who Chulbul has a terrible past with.


The film then takes us into flashback when Chulbul was not 'officer Chulbul Pandey' but a regular young lad 'Dhaakad' who fell in love with Khushi (Saiee Manjrekar) but a ruthless gangster 'Baali' sets his eyes on Khushi and once he wants something he gets it by hook or by crook. What follows in Chulbul and Khushi's story leads to Dhaakad becoming inspector Chulbul Pandey and is the backbone of Dabangg 3's plot.

The story of the film is old and predictable but most of the time the screenplay keeps you entertained throughout the film with some dull moments, some unnecessary songs and Chulbul Pandey saving the damsel in distress in between.

Prabhu Deva's direction brings in over the top action of South in the film and the colorful massy songs which might work for single screens but are a disturbing factor breaking the pace of the narrative to someone who is not a masala movie lover. Still, it is all tolerable if you love Salman or just masala Bollywood entertainers.


Salman Khan dominates the film completely as the morally corrupt yet upright A.S.P cum 'he-man' Chulbul Pandey. He lights up every frame being the savior of the film in its dull moments putting the much-needed life into the long-stretched screenplay. The whole film relies on his shoulders making it a one-man show.

Kicha Sudeep as the merciless and cruel Baali Singh, the arch-rival of Chulbul Pandey, has put a lot of heft in his character. He is magnificent in every scene in a praiseworthy negative performance and holds his ground against Salman.


Sonakshi Sinha is good once again as Pandey Ji's sexy wife Rajjo and her chemistry with Salman is entertaining and enjoyable. Saiee Manjrekar looks beautiful on-screen as Khushi but her character has very little screen presence so she doesn't get to do much here and Arbaaz Khan fits the role of a devoted brother like always.

The background music of the film provides a lot of support to the screenplay and even gives you goosebumps in the beginning. The only good song here is 'Awaara' by Salmaan Ali and Muskaan which is soothing and a delight for your ears and a perfect tune for Chulbul and Khushi's love story.

The climax of the film has ample amount of action and dramatic dialogues which combined with Salman's trademark shirtless fight scene with Kicha Sudeep makes up for his fans' 'Paisa Vasool' moment. The film also offers many nostalgic surprises from the previous films and a cameo too.

Overall, Dabangg 3 is kind of a prequel-sequel of the previous films with everything you need in a Dabangg film. Chulbul Pandey - check, an evil & barbaric villain - check, damsels in distress - check, massy one-liners - check, shirtless climax - check, so Salman Khan fans, go watch it without a second thought! regular moviegoers, go only if you like Bollywood masala entertainment.