Salman Khan, Arbaaz on the Dabangg animated series, Chulbul Pandey’s legacy, and plans for a fourth part-Entertainment News , Firstpost

Still from Dabangg animated series

Dabangg is the latest Bollywood film franchise to branch into animation. After Rohit Shetty’s Singham (Little Singham on Netflix India and Discovery Kids), Golmaal (Golmaal Jr on Nickelodeon Sonic), and Fukrey (Fukrey Boyzzz on Netflix India and Discovery Kids), Arbaaz Khan and Salman Khan’s Dabangg franchise has also been adapted into an animation show for Disney+ Hotstar VIP.

As hand-painted animation makes gradual strides towards global recognition with critically acclaimed films like Gitanjali Rao’s Bombay Rose, majority of the Indian animation industry continues to consolidate its domestic popularity, particularly among kids, by mining mythology for cartoon shows. After churning out cartoons from mythological characters like Hanuman and Bheem, animation studios have turned to Bollywood. Hindi film heroes are a mythology unto themselves.

Shetty, who is already expanding the Rohit Shetty Extended Universe a la Marvel with films like Simmba and Sooryavanshi, was the first mover from Bollywood to kids animation with Little Singham and Golmaal Jr. The perpetuity of these franchises help sustain the momentum for the kids animated shows as well. While the titular character of Singham (played by Ajay Devgn) continues to appear in Simmba, and next in Sooryavanshi, Golmaal already has four successful films as part of its franchise, along with a teaser of the fifth one in the song ‘Aankh Marey‘ from Simmba.

Fukrey, which has two films in the franchise, was a challenge to adapt into an animated show because the makers had to make the language of the film more child-friendly. But Arbaaz and Salman, in an exclusive interview to Firstpost, claim Dabangg was a no-brainer when it came to adapting the franchise into an animated kids show. “Let’s not forget, Chulbul Pandey won hearts. That character has a place in my heart. Now, seeing him having inspired a series, it’s truly heartwarming. They have captured the essence entirely, and it’s truly remarkable that the whole team brought this to life with so much love. It shows,” says Salman.

“Chulbul as a character is one of a kind, and he is so entertaining that it would fit in any form of entertainment.”

“Kids love characters who make a difference. Shin Chan, Doraemon, Moana — all these characters have struck a chord with children. With Chulbul being so loved across age groups, we thought, why not? He is so entertaining and so full of energy, it was hard not to picture an animated series that encapsulated his comical presence. Who doesn’t love a cop who can swing some classy moves?” says Arbaaz.

As a producer, however, Arbaaz does express concern about how far the Indian animation industry is from its optimum capacity. “I believe we are rapidly growing but are at the very early stages of exploring the field, and that as an industry, there is a high scope of a lot of good animation that can be produced in India. Definitely, with respect to content, we are trying to make animation more appealing to all age groups in the country with different storylines, relatable characters, and stronger narratives.”

However, Salman insists that the animation industry is targeting kids more than adults right now. “I believe that the medium is very powerful, and already has a lot of our youth and children actively engaged in it. There are so many things to learn from it. I hope the Dabangg animated series inspires many more to come forward.”

Dabangg has definitely been both a cash cow and a legacy for the Khans. But it has had its own share of controversies too. The latest instalment, directed by Prabhu Deva, released two years ago, was not received as warmly as the previous two parts. In the same year, Abhinav Kashyap, the director of the inaugural instalment, alleged that he was kicked out of the Dabangg franchise and his chances at venturing into other projects in the industry were jeopardised by the Khan brothers. Arbaaz, however, dismissed those claims.

“I believe that every director has their own vision when working with a project. Therefore, all directors cannot be compared on the same parameters. Regardless, I respect both directors for their work and what they have done is also remarkable, and I completely enjoyed watching all their projects,” Arbaaz says, when asked about what made his directorial debut Dabangg 2 distinct from the other two parts. Admittedly in the past, Arbaaz claimed he could not divide his duties as a producer, director, and actor (he plays Chulbul’s brother Makhi in the franchise) efficiently so decided to step away as the director in Dabangg 3.

His observation that all the three directors brought different sensibilities and perspective to their respective film in the franchise does hold true. But will there be a Dabangg 4? If so, who will be the director? Or for now, would the expansion of the Dabangg franchise remain limited to horizontal (animated show and other forms of entertainment), as opposed to vertical (more film instalments) ventures?

“I believe it is right to expand the universe not just in one, but in all directions. I believe that there should be adequate content available for kids as well as adults. Development horizontally also does not mean that vertical development has stopped. We never know what may cross our paths,” Salman leaves it at that.

Dabangg animated series is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar VIP. It also airs episodically on Cartoon Network.