# Dabangg (film series)

Dabangg is a series of Indian Hindi-language action comedy films produced in common by Arbaaz Khan, starring Salman Khan as the titular cop Chulbul Pandey, Sonakshi Sinha as his love interest Rajjo Pandey, and Arbaaz Khan as Chulbul's step-brother Makhanchand "Makkhi" Pandey. The original work is 2010 film, named Dabangg was directed by Abhinav Kashyap and produced by Dhilin Mehta.

## Overview
### Dabangg (2010 film)

A brave and honest and diligent police officer, Inspector Chulbul Pandey as (Salman Khan), faces challenges from his family, gangsters and politicians as Chedi Singh (Sonu Sood).

### Dabangg 2 (2012 film)

Inspector Chulbul Pandey as (Salman Khan) invites a fresh trouble when he kills the brother of a notorious politician and the former swears to wreak havoc in his life as Thakur Bachcha Lal Singh (Prakash Raj).

### Dabangg 3 (2019 film)

Assistant Superintendent of Police Officer Chulbul Pandey as (Salman Khan) encounters an enemy from his past, and his origin story as the fearless cop unfolds as Balwant "Bali" Singh (Sudeep Sanjeev).

### Dabangg 4 (2025 film)

Assistant Commissioner of Police Officer Chulbul Pandey as Salman Khan encounter an enemy from the past, and his origin story as the fearless cop unfolds Gujjar Singh and Dushasana Singh and Duryodhana Singh and Ravana Singh (Tinu Verma).

### Animated series

An animated series based on the film franchise, also titled Dabangg, premiered on 31 May 2021 as the title Dabangg Animated TV Series on Cartoon Network which was also produced by the same company and Cosmos Maya with CN India. It also aired on Pogo TV in February 2022.

## Films

| Film | Release date | Director | Screenwriter(s) | Story by | Producer(s) |
| Dabangg | 10 September 2010 | Abhinav Singh Kashyap | Dilip Shukla, Abhinav Singh Kashyap | Abhinav Singh Kashyap | Arbaaz Khan, Malaika Arora Khan, Dhilin Mehta |
| Dabangg 2 | 21 December 2012 | Arbaaz Khan | Dilip Shukla | Dilip Shukla | Arbaaz Khan, Malaika Arora Khan |
| Dabangg 3 | 20 December 2019 | Prabhu Deva | Dilip Shukla, Salman Khan, Prabhu Deva, Aloke Upadhyaya | Salman Khan | Salman Khan, Arbaaz Khan, Nikhil Dwivedi |
| Dabangg 4 | 17 October 2025 | Prabhu Deva | Prabhu Deva, Rohit Shetty | Rohit Shetty | Ajay Devgan, Salman Khan, Rohit Shetty, Arbaaz Khan |

### Dabangg (2010 film)

The first installment of the series centers on the fictional incidents. Chulbul Pandey is a cop who has his own way of dealing with corruption. His detractor Cheddi Singh manages to create a rift between Chulbul and his step-brother and uses it to his advantage. Dabangg was released on 10 September 2010, and gained positive reviews. Mathures Paul of The Statesman gave the film 3.5 stars and commented that "Dabangg aligns itself with viewers frustrated by the nonexistence of uncomplicated heroism on screen". It earned ₹219 crore worldwide against a budget of ₹42 crore.

### Dabangg 2 (2012 film)

After the success of Dabangg Arbaaz and Salman reunited once again for sequel. The second installment in this series, the plot focused on Chulbul Pandey, a wayward policeman, who kills the brother of a crooked politician. In retribution, the politician sends his henchmen to attack Chulbul's wife which leaves Chulbul infuriated. Dabangg 2 was released in 3500 screens in India and 450 screens overseas on 21 December 2012. It had the highest screen count for any film in India and worldwide, surpassing that of Ek Tha Tiger. It received mixed reviews from critics. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and said "Dabangg 2 has Salman Khan, Salman Khan and Salman Khan plus entertainment, entertainment and entertainment in large doses". The film was declared a blockbuster by Box Office India after its first week. Dabangg 2 grossed around $11.75 million in its total lifetime.

### Dabangg 3 (2019 film)

A circumquel, Dabangg 3, was commissioned after the success of the previous film and was directed by Prabhu Deva, with both Salman and Sonakshi reprising their roles and Saiee Manjrekar in a cameo role. The film focused on ASP Chulbul Pandey who enjoys an ideal family life while catching criminals in his own bombastic way. However, an enemy from his past returns and threatens to destroy everything he has worked for. The film was theatrically released worldwide on 20 December 2019, on the Pre-Christmas weekend, in Hindi, and dubbed Tamil, Telugu and Kannada languages to negative reviews from both critics and audience. Dabangg 3 opening day domestic collection was ₹24.50 crore. As of 19 January 2020, with a gross of est. ₹161 crore in India and ₹56.99 crore overseas, the film has a worldwide gross collection of est. ₹325 crore and has become the tenth highest grossing Bollywood film of 2019.

## Recurring cast and characters

This table lists the main characters who appear in the Dabangg Franchise.
   * A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film.
| Actor | Films | Films | Films | Films |
| Actor | Dabangg (2010) | Dabangg 2 (2012) | Dabangg 3 (2019) | Dabangg 4 (2025) |
| Salman Khan | Inspector, A.S.P, A.C.P Dhaakadchand "Chulbul" Pandey | Inspector, A.S.P, A.C.P Dhaakadchand "Chulbul" Pandey | Inspector, A.S.P, A.C.P Dhaakadchand "Chulbul" Pandey | Inspector, A.S.P, A.C.P Dhaakadchand "Chulbul" Pandey |
| Sonakshi Sinha | Rajjo Shreshawat Pandey / Miss Chulbul Pandey | Rajjo Shreshawat Pandey / Miss Chulbul Pandey | Rajjo Shreshawat Pandey / Miss Chulbul Pandey |
| Arbaaz Khan | Makhanchand "Makkhi" Pandey | Makhanchand "Makkhi" Pandey | Makhanchand "Makkhi" Pandey |
| Vinod Khanna | Prajapati Pandey | Prajapati Pandey | |
| Pramod Khanna | | | Prajapati Pandey |
| Dimple Kapadia | Naini Devi | | Naini Devi |
| Mahesh Manjrekar | Hariya Shreshawat | Hariya Shreshawat | Hariya Shreshawat |
| Shyamlaal | Chhedi's photographer | Chhedi's photographer | |
| Ram Sujan Singh | Constable Chaubey | Constable Chaubey | Constable Chaubey |
| Pradeep Chaudhary | Constable Tewari | Constable Tewari | Constable Tewari |
| Daddi Pandey | Constable Pichkari Yadav | Constable Pichkari Yadav | Constable Pichkari Yadav |
| Mahie Gill | Nirmala Pandey | Nirmala Pandey | |
| Tinnu Anand | Masterji | Masterji | |
| Malaika Arora | Munni | Munni | |
| Warina Hussain | | | Item number |
| Sonu Sood | Chedi Singh | | | |
| Prakash Raj | | Thakur Bachcha Lal Singh | | |
| Sudeepa | | | Balwant "Bali" Singh | |
| Tinu Verma | | | | Gujjar Singh / Dushasana Singh / Duryodhana Singh / Ravana Singh |

## Additional crew and production details

| Occupation | Film | Film | Film | Film |
| Occupation | Dabangg (2010) | Dabangg 2 (2012) | Dabangg 3 (2019) | Dabangg 4 (2025) |
| Director | Abhinav Kashyap | Arbaaz Khan | Prabhu Deva | Prabhu Deva |
| Producer(s) | Dhilin Mehta Malaika Arora Khan Arbaaz Khan | Arbaaz Khan Malaika Arora Khan | Salman Khan Arbaaz Khan Nikhil Dwivedi | Salman Khan Ajay Devgan Rohit Shetty Arbaaz Khan |
| Writer(s) | Dilip Shukla Abhinav Kashyap | Dilip Shukla | Salman Khan Prabhu Deva Dilip Shukla Aloke Upadhyaya Prabhu Deva Salman Khan Arbaaz Khan | Rohit Shetty Prabhu Deva |
| Composer(s) | Sajid–Wajid Lalit Pandit | Sajid–Wajid | Sajid–Wajid | Sajid–Wajid |
| Background score | Sandeep Shirodkar | Sandeep Shirodkar | Sandeep Shirodkar | Sandeep Shirodkar |
| Director of photography | Mahesh Limaye | Mahesh Limaye Aseem Mishra | Mahesh Limaye | Mahesh Limaye |
| Editor(s) | Pranav V Dhiwar | Hemal Kothari | Ritesh Soni | Ritesh Soni |
| Production companies | Arbaaz Khan Productions Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision | Arbaaz Khan Productions | Salman Khan Films Arbaaz Khan Productions Saffron Broadcast & Media Limited Salman Khan Films Arbaaz Khan Productions Saffron Broadcast & Media Limited | Cop Universe |
| Distributing companies | Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision UTV Motion Pictures | Eros International | Salman Khan Films (India) Yash Raj Films (International) Salman Khan Films(India) | Ajay Devgan Films (India) Salman Khan Films (India) |
| Running time | 126 minutes | 123 minutes | 141 minutes | 150 minutes |

## Release and revenue

| Film | Release date | Budget | Box office revenue |
| Dabangg | 10 September 2010 | ₹41 crore (US$4.7 million) | ₹219 crore (US$25 million) |
| Dabangg 2 | 21 December 2012 | ₹50 crore (US$5.7 million) | ₹253.54 crore (US$29 million) |
| Dabangg 3 | 20 December 2019 | ₹100 crore (US$11 million) | ₹230.93 crore (US$26 million) |
| Total | | ₹191 crore (US$22 million) | ₹703.47 crore (US$81 million) |

## Reception
### Critical reception

| Film | Rotten Tomatoes |
| Dabangg (2010) | 60% (6/10 average rating) (5 reviews) |
| Dabangg 2 (2012) | 33% (5.1/10 average rating) (12 reviews) |
| Dabangg 3 (2019) | 18% (3.7/10 average rating) (17 reviews) |

## Awards

Dabangg received accolades in major film award functions in India. Among them, it won a National Film Award for the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. It was given six awards at the 56th Filmfare Awards, including one for Best Film, seven Screen Awards, nine Zee Cine Awards and ten IIFA Awards. Dabangg 2 also received several awards.

## Influence

Many other film characters are inspired by the character Chulbul Pandey.

## Remakes

* Osthe (Tamil remake of Dabangg)
* Gabbar Singh (Telugu adaption of Dabangg)