Despite its lowbrow sensibilities, ‘Dabangg’ has gone on to break box office records thanks to the charms of superstar Salman

Anil Singh | TNN (MUMBAI MIRROR.COM; September 21, 2010) Salman Khan is one of the main reasons behind the success of Dabangg, say industry people

How does one explain the stupendous success of a film like Dabangg, which is a cross between a Dharmendra and a Rajnikant movie? Why has the Salman-starrer grossed more money than Aamir Khan’s 3 Idiots and Prakash Jha’s Raajneeti, which have (arguably) far superior content? What has endeared it to the urban multiplex audience despite being aimed at small-town India?

The answer lies in the fact that it is an unpretentious entertainer rooted in Indian reality, say directors Mahesh Bhatt and Sudhir Mishra. “Dabangg (fearless) reclaimed the space that Hindi films had ceded to Bhojpuri films because of the metrocentric sensibility of Bollywood directors,” explained Bhatt.

Mishra, known for acclaimed films such as Dharavi, Chameli and Hazaron Khwaishen Aisi said, “Our directors are living in their heads in America, they are ashamed of making Hindi films.” Big films, according to him, come 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 itself on its back for having grown up, the whole More >