Dance movies have always followed a formulaic story, the underdogs who no one believes in, take part in a popular competition and beat the evil ‘other team’ to prove themselves. ABCD 2 is no different.

It follows the template of a dance movie so well that there are no surprises. In fact, they even repeated the life threat to an endearing character, from their own prequel by doing it to the same character, again.

But, we all know this, we’ve known this every time we’ve walked excitedly into theaters every time a movie about dance came along. We do so because it’s never about the plot, it’s always about the dance. And ABCD 2 delivers just that, jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring, foot-tapping dance.

ABCD 2 is a technically beautiful film. The music is great and there’s enough of it every 10 minutes or so. But, the really impressive thing about the movie is the immersive 3D experience. Some scenes really make your eyes pop with the cool use of the 3D and you lean forward in your seat gleefully.

Now, let’s get to the movie itself. Warning – Spoilers ahead. The movie is supposedly inspired by a true story of a dance crew from Nalasopara (that place in Bombay that every participant in BoogieWoogie was apparently from) that made it to the finals of an international dance competition. Suresh (Varun Dhawan) is the choreographer of The Mumbai Stunners who have just made it to the finale of a reality TV talent hunt. The whole country is cheering for them while they perform the routine that will win them the contest, but it is soon discovered that their whole routine was stolen from an international group’s routine. They are disqualified and they face harassment and shame wherever they go.

Shraddha Kapoor & Varun Dhavan in ABCD 2

Enter Vishnu Sir. Prabhudeva has really outdone himself in this role, he’s charming and funny, if you can look past the inadvertently funny accent he speaks Hindi in. The gang begs Vishnu Sir to help them win back their dignity by helping them get to the finals of an international dance contest to beat the team they stole their routine from. Vishnu reluctantly agrees.

But the real heroes of the film, are Dharmesh and Puneet. Their dancing is crisp, original and mind-blowing, their acting sometimes better than Shraddha Kapoor‘s. They bring to the screen, exactly what you have come to witness.

The rest of the film follows through in true dance-movie fashion. They struggle with funds, fight bullying from rivals, face betrayal from an insider, lose a core dancer to an injury who gets fortunately replaced (by Lauren Gottlieb, thank god) and of course make it to the finals after beating their original competitors who they stole their routine from.

At this point this movie turns into Happy New Year so fast you begin looking for a cameo from Shahrukh Khan. There is more ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ at the end of the film than you expect from a Republic Day parade. However, if you look beyond the misplaced nationalism, the crew delivers the heavy duty finale performance you hoped they would.

Understand this when you walk into the theaters ,  you are not here to watch an important piece of cinema, ABCD 2 is an entertaining movie. And entertain you, it will.

Credits: Kamlesh Gade