We haven’t had many dance and 3D films, both of which can attract youth in hordes in theatres. ABCD 2 is both and moreover, it also rides on the star power of Varun Dhawan and Shraddha Kapoor. Hence, the excitement obviously was tremendous for the film. And thankfully, it does turn out to be a decent entertaining fare and has some riveting moments. But it doesn’t go beyond the first part. Also, a stretched narrative dilutes the impact.
The story of the movie: Suresh(Varun Dhawan) and Vinnie(Shraddha Kapoor) are the lead dancers of their dance group Mumbai Stunners. The dance group participates in a reality show but is booed and criticized for copying dance style of a foreign dance group. Undeterred, they decide to participate in a world hip hop dance competition which is to be held in Las Vegas, USA. They find a choreographer, Vishnu Sir(Prabhu Dheva) who agrees to coach them, although initially he is reluctant. However, the journey is not going to be easy for them as it’s a world championship, where the best dancers from all across the world are going to try their luck. And not to forget, they also have to battle the constant ‘cheater’ jibe.
ABCD 2’s first half is excellent and makes one feel that it’ll definitely go beyond part one. The opening credits are stunning and the lead characters face their first struggle within the first 10 minutes itself. Vishnu Sir’s entry is fun and the entire portion of he being persuaded by Suresh and his gang makes for a fun watch. The entry of new dancers is again nice and the best part of the first half is the Bangalore auditions – it is superb! The twist in the tale in the intermission point is quite unexpected and intrigues the viewers. Post-intermission, the fun continues initially. But after a point, the film starts becoming unnecessarily long. Too many problems arise but they are quickly solved, which is fine. But why venture into so many sub plots in the first place? The Vishnu Sir track is fine but the rest of them could have done away with, at least a few, or should have been shortened. Also, after a point, the viewer has seen so many dance performances that the novelty and appealing factor wears off. And this is not fair, especially for those dancers who have worked pretty hard in showcasing their moves. Thankfully, the finale dance is a bit different.
Performance wise, Varun Dhawan shines and rocks. The performance here is not as good or better than Main Tera Hero, Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania and Badlapur but is entertaining nevertheless. In emotional and dramatic scenes, his performance is quite arresting – one can’t help but concentrate simply on Varun. And obviously, his dance moves are killer! Shraddha Kapoor looks immensely cute and gives a first rate performance. She also gets a chance to exhibit her dance moves and takes full advantage of it. Post- ABCD 2, Shraddha Kapoor will definitely be seen in new light and here’s hoping the makers smartly utilize her dance moves in future! Prabhu Dheva raises laughs and also moves viewers. Thanks to Varun and Shraddha, the main focus is not on him but he does makes his presence felt firmly. Lauren Gottlieb(Olive) makes a late entry but looks stunning and gives a fine performance. And watch out for her smile! Dharmesh Yelande(Dharmesh) is excellent and contributes to the fun quotient. Punit Pathak(Vinod) has a challenging role but he performs with élan. Sushant Pujari(Vernon) is quite good. Tisca Chopra(Swati) makes an impact and so does Master Jeenit Rathi(Manu). Pooja Batra plays herself and looks like a million bucks. Murali Sharma(Shetty) is alright. Remo D’Souza, Terrence Lewis and Seema Pandey play the role of judges quite well. The surprise is Shashank Khaitan(judge at Bangalore auditions). He is the director of Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania and acts quite nicely! Others are fine.
Sachin-Jigar’s music is contemporary and goes very well with the narrative. Bezubaan Phir Se is the best of the lot. In fact, all the songs – Sun Saathiya, Chunar, Naach Meri Jaan, Happy Hour, Tattoo, If You Hold My Hand, Hey Ganaraya and Vande Mataram – are beautifully picturized. Background score is nice too. Vijay Kumar Arora’s cinematography is top-class, especially in the Grand Canyon scenes – truly breathtaking! 3D is good but there’s definitely scope for improvement. VFX is splendid. Mayur Puri’s dialogues are simple, straight out of life and appealing. Remo Dsouza’s choreography is splendid, eye catching and a visual treat and there’s no doubt about it. His story, inspired from real life, has all the right ingredients. But screenplay(Remo Dsouza, Tushar Hiranandani) is a bit ordinary at places, especially in the second half. Same goes for Remo Dsouza’s direction. At some places, he shines while in the few scenes, he could have done a much better job. Parallels can also be drawn with Happy New Year here which also was about an Indian dance group participating in a world dance championship. But the screenplay and execution was such that the film never got repetitive or stretched at any point. That’s sadly not the case with ABCD 2. Nevertheless, a fine job by Remo the director and definitely, he’ll do a far better job in his forthcoming films as he surely has the ability!
The story of the movie:
Mumbai Stunners gets booed
Vishnu Sir’s entry
Suresh and gang try to persuade Vishnu Sir
Dharmesh and Vinod’s entry
All songs of the film
The intermission point
Vishnu Sir meets Swati
Vinnie breaks silence about her feelings
Vinnie-Olive talk about Suresh
The final dance
On the whole, ABCD 2 is a fairly entertaining ride which will definitely appeal the youth and dance lovers. Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor and Prabhu Dheva deliver brilliant performances. Choreography is splendid without doubt and the songs are beautifully shot. On the flipside, the second half is a bit long and there are too many dance performances in the film, which dilutes the impact to an extent. The movie has taken the biggest opener of the year and although it might not sustain in the coming weeks, it still might turn out to be Varun Dhawan’s first 100-crore-grosser!