Dabangg

Dabangg has all sort-of filmy ancestory associate with it. Of course there is the one and only non-stop, non-sense creator Salman Khan in the lead with brother Arbaaz Khan and sister-in-law Mallaika Arora Khan producing the film and playing bit roles. Dabangg is also the launch pad for khaamosh Shatrughna Sinha's daughter Sonakshi Sinha and Anurag Kashyap's brother Abhinav Kashyap.

The sound of a Kashyap-Khan rings a weird bell. But we live in a strange world. What is disturbing though is a combination of bits of information doing the rounds -

Influences of my brother's style of filmmaking are definitely there since we have worked together in 1995. There will be overlapping sensibilities, but the subject of this film (Dabangg) is very different from the kind of subjects Anurag chooses for his films.

The same article goes on to quote Abhinav Kashyap -

We work in a democratic set up… everyone throws in their ideas. Yes, we did change certain things in the film, but everything was not dictated by Salman. We all sat together and brainstormed and decided to mould the vision of the script a little bit. It was a collective process

So, we actually have a Anurag Kashyap-Salman Khan influence on the film. I have no clue whether that'll make 'a best of both worlds' film or a broth that is spoilt by the proverbial too many cooks.

But the balance of course is tilted towards Khan -

once we made up our minds that we are going to make a commercial pot-boiler, we thought of going the whole unapologetic way, the Salman Khan way

And you sure have the target audience, the 'Salman Fan Club' drooling -

Bollywood Hungama - First Look promo of Arbaaz Khan Production's Dabangg gets over leaving you gasping for breath and panting for more.

Blogger Papa Bear - Dabangg, for me, has one of the best Hindi movie trailers of all time.

Passion for Cinema - The movie does not promise to be a path breaker or an achievement beyond excellence. It's an entertainer meant to rigor our senses and connect with the audience. Let it be so!

While it looks like Salman Khan fans are going to have a blast, lesser mortals like us cannot complain about not being warned if the director says -

I don't know who said that but I read somewhere that 'Cliché is a cliché because it works'. Dabangg will work. There is a reason why such films do well

And the actor is absolutely clear about his skills as a performer -

I can get caught for anything, but not acting. I’m on screen just the way I am in real life. I’ve never played any characters. When you’re acting, you’re basically taking a character from somewhere. With me, it’s like Jo line aya hai, jaisa bolne ka hai, waise bolo, khatam karo. Aage bhado. (Read the line and move on) I’m not one of those who comes on the set and says ‘Give me half an hour, I want to get into character

...

I think multiplex audiences have money and are more conscious of what people will say if they clap and whistle. That’s it. We are trying to change that in Dabangg, get them off their high horses and make them scream and shout

Anyway, the party has started well -

Milliblog - Two listenable tracks is a lot for this soundtrack!

Apun ka choice - Music directors have done full justice to the album and to Salman’s character

Yahoo! - has mass appeal

Bollywood Hungama - something in store for mass as well as class

Sudeep Shukla - Some might find [sic] is too cheesy with all those lyrics and some might see it more loud

Megzone - Just waiting to catch a glimpse at Malaika’s jhatkas and matkas