There is no lack of dancing talent in India, and our dance reality shows brought this talent to our living room. The ABCD franchise takes this one notch further and presents this talent on a global scale.
Scripted, directed and choreographed by Remo D’Souza, ABCD 2 showcases the story of an underdog dance group who make it large at a global hip-hop competition. The choreography part of it is perfect, no qualms on that front, but the storytelling and direction are extremely mediocre. While ABCD established characters and then sought dancing, ABCD 2 barely establishes any; they are all just there and you are supposed to know them. This doesn’t help in the audience connect with the dance group on an emotional level. Remo did try to infuse Indian spirit to get that connect, but that’s only towards the latter half. Another failing point of this unnecessarily long 154 minutes dance film is excess melodrama. Every scene is exaggerated to an extent that you almost start giggling. The dance sequences too get boring after a while for there are so many. ABCD 2 proves for sure that any body can dance, but not everyone can direct.
Varun Dhawan and Shraddha Kapoor put their best foot forward and perform exceptionally well in almost every dance sequence. They give the professional dancers a run for their money, but they barely act. The professional dancers, in fact put up a better act than them. Prabhu Deva is good and performs with ease. Dharmesh and Raghav’s acts are commendable.
Music by Sachin-Jigar is foot tapping, as required. Cinematography by Vijay Arora is perfect; he ensured that all dance sequences look spectacular on-screen. 3D effects are worth mentioning. Editing by Manan Sagar is mediocre; this kind of movie can’t be over 2 hours long, and Manan should have ensured that.
Is it worth your time and money?: Well, it’s a difficult question. Yes, the dance sequences are spectacular, and the leads put in great effort (but barely act). But the storytelling fails miserably. The movie length doesn’t help either. Bottom-line, give it a watch only if you have nothing better to do (and if well choreographed dance sequences turn you on).
Worth mention: The dance sequences.
Acting: 8/10
Story-Screenplay-Direction: 6.5/10
Technical Aspects: 7.5/10
Verdict: 7/10
