Dabangg 3

Dabangg 3 (transl. Fearless 3) is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language action drama film directed by Prabhu Deva and jointly produced by Salman Khan Films, Arbaaz Khan Productions and Saffron Broadcast & Media Limited. The third installment in the Dabangg film series,it is a prequel to Dabangg (2010) and Dabangg 2 (2012). The film stars Salman Khan, Sudeepa, Sonakshi Sinha, Saiee Manjrekar and Arbaaz Khan. It also features Pramod Khanna, Dimple Kapadia and Mahesh Manjrekar in supporting roles. Written by Salman, the story follows corrupt cop Chulbul Pandey's journey of conflict when he comes across an old ruffian, Bali Singh, whose plain sight refreshes his memory in a trudge down the past, unaware that this can affect the present and the future in more ways than one.

Principal photography begun in April 2019 and was completed in September 2019.

Dabangg 3 was theatrically released worldwide on 20 December 2019, on the Pre-Christmas weekend, in Hindi, and dubbed in Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada languages. It became the first Hindi film to be released in Kannada after the ban on Kannada dubbed films in Karnataka was removed. The film received negative reviews from critics, who panned its screenplay, direction, and writing, but praised the performances of Salman Khan and Sudeepa. The film's collections were further affected by the CAA protests, making it the lowest-grossing film in the franchise.

Starting again with a heroic antic, the story moves ahead from Dabangg 2 with the corrupt yet much-loved cop, ASP Chulbul Pandey, preventing a robbery at a wedding, and beating the goons and their leader, Gullu, black and blue. Gullu then agrees to return to his former part-time job as a wedding band trumpeter, and Chulbul Pandey is seen dealing with the everyday lives of his wife Rajjo, brother Makhanchand "Makkhi" Pandey, also a police officer, and his son, while his father Prajapati Pandey stays at home with Rajjo. Makkhi appears to be enjoying a lavish lifestyle most of the time. One fateful day, a despaired girl, probably injured, arrives in a hurry at Makkhi's station after escaping from somewhere and seeks help; Makkhi, expecting to punish her captors, who tried to sell her and other girls off, is joined by Chulbul, and after a scuffle, the brothers arrest Chinti Walia, who runs a prostitution racket.

While trying to force a confession out of Chinti at the police station, Chulbul intercepts a lawyer and some goons who have come over to release Chinti. Still, he tears off the court order, and in desperation, the leader of the goons keeps his video call going on even as Chulbul smiles into the screen. Minutes later, the leader shows the video call to Bali Singh, who sees Chulbul, who looks back into the phone camera to visit Bali. Shocked beyond words, he reminisces his younger days, recalling his fate with Bali.

Years ago, when he was still young, Chulbul, whose real name turns out to be Dhaakad Chand Pandey, fell in love with a girl, Khushi, who was initially being considered as a potential bride for Makkhi, after he noticed a photo of her in Makkhi's hand, and told his mother, Naini Devi, that he would be a good fit instead of Makkhi; a few days later, Khushi's maternal uncle Prabhat and maternal aunt Janki agreed to the match between Dhaakad and Khushi, and the two began courting each other. At the same time, Bali, a ruthless and violent goon, set his eyes on Khushi and started making arrangements for his marriage with her. However, when he saw Dhaakad with Khushi, he decided to kill Khushi and her family right in front of Dhaakad's eyes after luring him to the spot. Prabhat and Janki were both killed, and Khushi was thrown off a cliff to die. Consequently, Hariya and his daughter Rajjo revealed to be Khushi's friend, were deeply affected; Hariya took to alcoholism, while Dhaakad, who was framed by Bali and spent much time in prison for the death, was taken in by Commissioner Satendar Singh after saving him from attackers, and transformed into an uptight cop, naming himself Chulbul, in Khushi's memory, forming the events of Dabangg.

At present, Chulbul, having relayed this entire episode to Prajapati and Rajjo, decides that he has had enough, and he needs to close the chapter once and for good. Meanwhile, an ill-attracted Makkhi is misled by Bali into turning against Chulbul, nearly slapping him after he too is promoted to the rank of ASP. The action causes him to be banished from home by Prajapati, and he joins hands with Bali actively. Bali, who is set to become a politician and a minister in the upcoming elections, plans to bring in a truck filled with money. Thus, he gets Makkhi and many other police officers in his circle transferred to one common location to facilitate transportation. Chulbul intercepts the truck and turns Bali's moles in the police force against Bali himself. As revenge, Bali gets several of Chulbul's associates kidnapped and brutally beaten to near death until Chulbul breaks in again and frees them all, even when Bali has run away with Makkhi and some reliable accomplices.

Seeking to lure Bali into counterproductive action, Chulbul kidnaps Minister S. S. Sharma and his brother-in-law by staging a ploy with Gullu's help and forcing a confession of them, which is made viral. Bali notices the same, and Makkhi helps him track them down since he recognizes the hideout. Upon arriving there, Bali kills Sharma and injures his brother-in-law; in retaliation, he sends wrestlers to attack Rajjo and her son, but Chulbul arrives in time to save the two.