Dabangg 3

wogma rating: Switch channels if it's on cable ^(?)

quick review:

A slowwww clap for the social messaging—as slow as the slo-mo used, without which too the film would have been slow. A genuine clap for the attempt at story, though. As amusing and self-important as it was, at least they tried.

Director: Prabhu Deva

Cast: Salman Khan, Sonakshi Sinha, Kichcha Sudeepa

Running time: 165 minutes

Genres: Action, Comedy

More Movie Info

Dabangg 3 - Preview

Nope. I don’t have a single thing to say about what I think this will be like. More of the same. I hope the makers tried as hard to be less predictable too.
Dabangg 3 releases on 20 December 2019.

Music Reviews:
Bollyspice – "2.5/5"

- meeta, a part of the audience

The good news is that you get what you expect. Once you go in with that, there can be no bad news, right? You can then just be amused at it all. The attempt at a story, the attempt at delivering a social message, the attempt at being woke, the attempt at dialogue writing, the attempt at dialogue delivery...you get the drift? Everything has the scope to amuse you. In a smirky way.

The film was made because a mere grunt by Salman Khan is considered cheer-worth

In one scene, the villain, Balli (Kichcha Sudeepa) prays a goddess. A few scenes later, he promises to rape the next woman he likes because he was kind enough to not do that the last time and stopped at only killing her. Yes, I am as bewildered as you most likely are. Even more baffling is that this was in response to the hero Chulbul (Salman Khan) beating him up while saying, “Who says you have the right to rape, torch the woman you like because she doesn’t like you back?” And Balli goes, “I didn’t even do that! But next time I will.” Almost as if he stopped short of adding, “Hey mate, thanks for the idea!” I didn’t even know how to react to that. And yet, I cannot truthfully say that I was shocked or surprised. It was what one would expect. So much so that when there is a line about how smoking is injurious to health or how we should be sensitive to the water crisis or comment on dowry or spitting in public, I felt the film was mocking serious concerns rather than making a social comment.

It made me wonder how woke the writer must have felt when—absolutely out of the blue and with no context whatsoever—he had the hero (himself) tell his fiancée, Khushi (Saiee Manjrekar) that she could keep her maiden name after they got married. Now you know what I mean by the slowwww clap? Even so, I do acknowledge that there was an attempt at a story. Though I must say, I won’t be surprised if the backstory was as much for giving Chulbul motivation as it was to give Salman Khan an excuse to romance a girl less than half his age. It is another matter that the math still doesn’t add up. Unless you accept that Salman is playing a 20-25-year-old Chulbul when he’s with Khushi.

When you add that to Rajjo (Sonakshi Sinha) being a mere prop to be romanced by Chulbul, when she is not cutting vegetables that is, it is even more evident that the “woman empowerment” bit is only skin-deep.

Anyway, no one is kidding anyone. The film was made because a mere grunt by Salman Khan is considered cheer-worthy—this in a Pune multiplex. It had no larger purpose than that, and there is no attempt to mask it either—which is great. The humour and cheesiness have gotten worse in this half-prequel compared to the first two episodes in the series. The narrative is even jerkier.

Two lines stuck with me though, one about the police creating crime and one about good not being able to stoop to the level of evil to win over it. And while they can’t be the takeaways from the film, they will do for now. The rest is as same ol’ as one can think of.

- meeta, a part of the audience

33 reviewers^(?) - 7 yays 6 so-so 20 nays

Warning: clicking on "full review" will take you to an external website that could contain spoilers.

Thumbs up, by Russel D'Silva, Bollywood Life : ...Salman Khan aka Chulbul Pandey is unstoppable in the massy entertainer of the year... full review

Thumbs up, by Nairita Mukherjee, india today : ...Some films are experiences, and therefore, shouldn't be restricted with star ratings, or discussions about the film's merit.... full review

Thumbs up, by R.M. VIJAYAKAR, India West : ...Khan infuses his doses of overt yet subtle (yes, that’s the right way to describe it!) patriotism with references to conscientious duty... full review

Thumbs up, by Ambica Sachin, Khaleej Times : ...Even if you don't count yourself a fan, you'd find Dabangg 3 a highly entertaining masala movie which is true to its genre.... full review

Thumbs up, by Umesh Punwani, koimoi : ...Prabhudheva owned this zone with Wanted but he’s kind of repeating himself with Dabangg 3.... full review

Thumbs up, by Gaurang Chauhan, Times Now : ...Kichcha Sudeepa is another plus for the film. He is menacing and gets a meatier role.... full review

Thumbs up, by Harshada Rege, Times of India : ...There are ample clap-worthy and seeti-maar moments... full review

So-So, Bollywood Hungama : ...Salman Khan's story is weak and beaten to death.... full review

So-So, by Analita Seth, Filmfare : ...If you’re a fan of Salman Khan, this one should be on top of your list this festival season... full review

So-So, by Vishal Verma, Glamsham.com : ...So if you have loved DABANGG and are an admirer of Salman Khan then it’s time to say Hud Hud Dabangg Dabangg otherwise stay away.... full review

So-So, by Manjusha Radhakrishnan, Gulf News : ...There’s nothing new or inspiring in ‘Dabangg 3’ and the degree to which you will enjoy this film depends largely on your devotion towards Khan.... full review

So-So, by Giridhar Jha, Outlook India : ...Remember, a Bhai film is what a Bhai film does.... full review

So-So, by Joginder Tuteja, Planet Bollywood : ...There is one major action scene that appears every 15 mins and as a result at least 5-6 long drawn sequences come up.... full review

Thumbs down, by Sonal Pandya, Cinestaan : ...The music numbers (some pleasant, others not) break up any momentum the story has going for it.... full review

Thumbs down, by Rahul Desai, Film Companion : ...Dabangg 3 is the insecure adult that is neither excitable nor impressionable but keeps dancing alone at weddings to prove he once was.... full review

Thumbs down, by Anna MM Vetticad, FirstPost : ...The effort to retain his cross-sectional appeal is evident throughout this dated, dull and clichéd film, which is what makes it such a mish-mash of conservatism and liberalism, almost amusing in its confusion.... full review

Thumbs down, by Shubha Shetty Saha, Free Press Journal : ...one suspects that the director Prabhudeva and his team just conjured up the wafer thin plot in the time it takes to down a few cups of tea or something harder.... full review

Thumbs down, by T J Reddy, fullhyd.com : ...All the food we consume is either converted to the energy we expend or the reject we dispose of. The Dabangg franchise was once popcorn cinema, which the audience consumed with glee, and now its latest installment has reached the end of the digestive cycle.... full review

Thumbs down, by Soumya Srivastava, Hindustan Times : ...Salman Khan ticks feminism off his list, can we hope to end unchecked police brutality in next?... full review

Thumbs down, by Shubhra Gupta, indian express : ...Cringe fest... full review

Thumbs down, by Uday Bhatia, Live Mint : ...There’s one passable joke.... full review

Thumbs down, by Vinamra Mathur, MiD DAY : ...Prabhudeva fills the film with slapstick gags, cringey humour, and way too many slow-mo shots.... full review

Thumbs down, by Pankhurie Mulasi, Movie Talkies : ...The very first scene gives you an idea how big a torture the movie is going to be... full review

Thumbs down, by Kunal Guha, Mumbai Mirror : ...ssaying the superlicious Chulbul Pandey is the demise of all introspection... full review

Thumbs down, by Saibal Chatterjee, NDTV : ...The drab storyline scrapes the bottom of the genre barrel despite an impressive performance from Kichcha Sudeep.... full review

Thumbs down, by Rajeev Masand, News18.com : ...Chulbul may have a progressive outlook when it comes to women, but the same can’t be said about the film’s unmistakably sexist gaze.... full review

Thumbs down, by SUKANYA VERMA, Rediff : ...Its action amounts to forcefully drawn fights where threats look like gym subscription flyers and confrontation a VFX-aided duel... full review

Thumbs down, by Nandini Ramnath, Scroll.in : ...The tedium never lets up, and the heavily advertised dust-up between Chulbul and Bali is drowned in slow-motion and obvious wirework.... full review

Thumbs down, by Vinayak Chakravorty, Sify Movies : ...In a film where various sharp objects play a major role in the killings, the only action Sonakshi Sinha gets with a knife is chopping vegetables in the kitchen... full review

Thumbs down, by Namrata Joshi, The Hindu : ...What do the random, needless references to rape and women empowerment add up to? I am still scratching my head.... full review

Thumbs down, by Stutee Ghosh, The Quint : ...The messaging here about respecting women and their choice is so forced one feels guilty for laughing at it.... full review

Thumbs down, by Priyanka Roy, The Telegraph : ...The law of diminishing returns kicks in with the third film of the action-comedy franchise, in what is both a prequel and a sequel to the first two films.... full review

Thumbs down, by Tanul Thakur, The Wire : ...Further, even the only original element in the movie – Chulbul’s first love interest, Khushi (debutant Saiee Manjrekar) – is tainted by predictable strains.... full review

Twitter reviews for this movie are not available.

1 readers - 1 yays 0 so-so 0 nays

Yay! Thumbs Up, by somnath : 95.89

This page has additional observations, other than the ones noted in the main review.

Parental Guidance:

Violence: Loads, some of it gruesome too.
Language: Clean
Nudity & Sexual content: A making out scene, an item number, letching and mention of rape
Concept: Good vs evil
General Look and Feel: Standard kitschy material