ABCD 2: Any Body Can Dance 2 (2015) Review!!

Synopsis – ABCD 2 traces the journey of an Indian dance troupe, a motley assortment of boys and girls who come from the backstreets of a Mumbai suburb; their rise to fame, sudden downfall and then their heroic attempt to seek vindication by regaining their lost dignity and pride.

My Take – Back in 2013, choreographer turned director Remo D’souza who with his obvious talent captured and portrayed nearly all forms of dance in a grand and interesting way in a filled called ‘ABCD: Any Body Can Dance’, also touted as India’s first 3D dance film, while the film didn’t have many known faces except for actor choreographer director Prabhudeva leading the charge & the film worked! What worked in favor of the film other than the superb dance sequences was the emotional quotient! While the sequel is no doubt bigger in terms of quality (the dances sequences are superb again) & the presence of younger stars such Varun Dhawan & Shraddha Kapoor in lead, it tones down everything what made the 1st one work! While the sequel delivers on what it promises to give – dance. But that’s all that’s there to this film. While the first film gave a different spin to the dance genre with a proper storyline and some heart, the sequel seems pale in comparison. It doesn’t know what it’s trying to be, except that everyone involved must dance! And this is where the film falters. Instead of trying to be a normal film with a slight higher number of dance sequences, it succumbs to an over-stretched 2h20m compilation of dance sequences. The story follows Mumbai stunners lead by dance prodigy Suresh aka Suru (Varun Dhawan) & Vinnie (Shraddha Kapoor) who participate in “Hum Kisi se Kam Nahi” dance contest on TV as Mumbai Stunners team.

While the act got them standing ovation from the audience, the judges condemned them for copying an internationally renowned Philippines’ dance troupe. The team disintegrates after disqualification and everybody picks up or continues with their odd jobs for survival, viz. Suresh as waiter in a pub cum bar, Vinnie as hairdresser in a saloon, someone at Pizza store etc. But everywhere, they get to face lot of humiliation and called as cheaters. Suresh, who picked up his dancing skills from his late Padmashree awardee mother (Prachi Mishra), expresses his regret and pain via his dance moves. Suresh identifies World Starz Hip Hop dance competition going to be held at Las Vegas as one of the major means to undo the mistake, regain the reputation and prove to the world that they are no more cheaters. But he is unable to get his whole team back. Meanwhile, Suresh is able to see a mentor in an alcoholic Vishnu (Prabhudeva) putting up an impromptu Happy Hour dance performance in his pub. After much persuasion by Suresh and friends, Vishnu agrees to mentor them. There starts their journey to reach Las Vegas. Integration of the team happens with a few earlier members rejoining and also Dharmesh and deaf/dumb Vinod (Punit) joining the team. They overcome various challenges, right from the finance, to get an entry into a qualifying dance competition at Bangalore and to manage the tickets for Las Vegas as Indian Stunners (Probably intentionally Mumbai stunners were called later as Indian Stunners to show the journey of transformation of dancers from local suburban area of Mumbai to India to World). Were the challenges over with their reaching Las Vegas? What new challenges awaited them? When and how Lauren make entry into the scene? What all bottlenecks were faced by them? Does the friendship of Suresh and Vinnie take the shape of love? Since the film has a completely different plot from the first one, it immediately starts in the heat of the plot with literally no time to get to know the characters; not that there is much to know since hardly any detail is given to each of them. Hence, most of the film’s flaws are due to its script and poor writing. For example, Prabhudeva’s character, Vishnu, who had so much depth in the predecessor, is simply confusing in this one. It seems that neither him nor the viewers know what he’s up to. And that’s just the icing on the cake.

The story doesn’t know whether its trying to be a Disney G-rated film, or a serious drama. Its either trying to be childish, or sometimes overdoing it with serious prep-talks and all throughout annoying you with several (sometimes unnecessary dance sequences). Yes! The dance sequences are good (I will have to give them that) but the film turns up becoming an audition tape! What doesn’t work here is a very loosely knit storyline. Sub plots are just introduced for the sake of it without getting to the depth (were these scenes required at all) viz. betrayal, racial discrimination, rivalry amongst competitors, fight sequences, bringing the sympathetic element of one of the team member suffering from critical illness etc. Viewers may not be able to get an emotional connect with the movie for a few scenes. On the hindsight, probably the only thing which works are the incredible dance performances by top notch performers. Two dance sequences during last twenty minutes of the film deserve standing ovation. And a few solo performances need special mention. The dance sequence with a mix of patriotism & divinity is certainly going to give you goosebumps. Some of the songs such as Hold My Hand, Saathiyan, Bezuban etc. are good. Visuals of Vegas and Grand Canyon are shot impeccably. All the main characters, be it Prabhudeva, Varun, Shraddha, Dharmesh, Punit, Lauren everybody has got their own screen space to express themselves through their dance moves. Prabhudeva is always a visual delight to watch, but what surprises me as a viewer is Varun Dhawan’s passionate dance moves. He has got them so perfect. Even Shraddha is so natural when she dances. We have seen rest of the dancers in various dance platforms and reality shows, and would be able to identify with them easily. Dharmesh, Punit, Raghav, Sushant Pujari, Jineet Rath and Lauren deserve a special mention. On the whole, ‘ABCD 2 : Any Body Can Dance 2’ does not live up to its hype nor does it match the quality set by its predecessor! It tries to follow the example of Hollywood’s dance series ‘Step Up’ by taking a great dance film and following it with unnecessary and mindless sequels. ABCD 2 did have great potential, but its wasted by being extremely loud and annoying sequences! You can watch it for its dance choreography, other than its best you give this one a miss!