How does one justify the amazing victory of a film similar to Dabangg, which is a cross between a Dharmendra and a Rajnikant movie?
Why has the Salman starrer collected more cash than Aamir Khan’s `Three Idiots’ and Prakash Jha’s `Raajneeti’, which have far better content? What has endeared it to the urban multiplex viewers although being meant at small-town India? Salman Khan and Sonakshi Sinha are the lead pairs of the movie.
The response lies within the reality that it is an natural entertainer embedded in Indian realism, say directors Mahesh Bhatt and Sudhir Mishra. “ Dabangg (fearless) reclaimed the space that Hindi pictures had ceded to Bhojpuri pictures because of the metrocentric awareness of Bollywood directors,” explained Bhatt.
Mishra, known for celebrated pictures such as `Dharavi’, `Chameli’ and `Hazaron Khwaishen Aisi’ stated, “Our directors are living in their heads in America, they are ashamed of making Hindi pictures.” Whopping pictures, according to him, happen from Indian reality “but of late, directors who come from Bollywood families have abdicated this space to small-town boys such as Vishal Bharadwaj, Raju Hirani and Anurag and Abhinav Kashyap.”
Bhatt said, “Just as Indian cinema was patting by itself on its back for having developed, the whole thing has been turned upside down!”.
Clearing up why the urban viewers liked the film, Bhatt said, “The sophistication of our metro audience is skin deep. Under the exterior, we are all unabashed lovers of the `mela’, and this film has that celebration sensibility. It has met that elemental appetite.”
Alankrita Srivastava, Prakash Jha’s helper whose first film, `Turning 30′, is in post-production, went to see `Dabangg’ with her acquaintances expecting nothing more than the filmi equivalent of a `nautanki’ (folk theatre). “We went to be entertained by Salman Khan and he did not disappoint us,” she said.“Of course, there are gaps in the narrative along with awkward moments within the film but no one was looking for the negatives.”
“This is not my sort of film but I made an exemption for `Dabangg’ being a previous Salman follower. His appeal lies in the reality that he retains that unaffected and unsophisticated character of a `tapori’ (streetside ruffian),” said Shrivastava.
Director Madhur Bhandarkar, who saw the film at Bandra’s Gaiety theatre, said Salman has struck a chord with the masses as well as classes with his unconstrained performance. “Fans went hysterical, clapping and whistling at Salman’s lines. The last pictures I saw receiving such reaction were `Gadar’ and `Lagaan’,” said the director who shot to fame with `Chandni bar’.
Paying tribute to Salman’s proficiency and as starlet, Bhatt said, “A weak quality cannot hold a strong plot but a strong character can hold a weak plot.” Certainly, even those who panned the film agreed that Salman has played the character of a shady but lovable cop with abandon.
The appeal of the film was that it was an unapologetic and unabashed Salman starrer which went the whole hog, said Mishra. Bhatt accepted the solitary mindedness along with audacity of the filmmaker, Abhinav Kashyap.
The pre-release promotion of the film and the reality that it delivered what it promised — a total Salman Khan experience — as well played its share in Dabangg’s victory, said Shrivastava.
However, film critic Deepa Gahlot does not think greatly of `Dabangg’ and dismisses it “a jazzed-up B-grade Bollywood film which Mithun Chakaraborty did by the dozen”. “It is just that this age group has grown up without watching such films.”
Information from On Line Review of Filim Dabangg