The film stars Salman Khan, Sonakshi Sinha, Arbaaz Khan and Sonu Sood in the lead roles, while Om Puri, Dimple Kapadia, Vinod Khanna, Anupam Kher, Mahesh Manjrekar and Mahie Gill feature in supporting roles.

Dabangg was released during Eid on 10 September 2010 in nearly 2,100 cinemas worldwide, where it received positive reviews from critics, with praise for the performances of the cast (especially Khan and Sood), the action sequences, soundtrack and humour.

Chulbul arrives home to find his mother Naini Devi dead, where he goes to Prajapati to make peace as he is the only family left.

Realising that Makkhi has stolen his money to finance the wedding, Chulbul marries Rajjo in an impromptu ceremony.

Still feeling annoyed that Chulbul jeopardised his wedding, Makkhi beats up one of the workers in his factory due to a small mishap.

Unbeknownst to Makkhi, Chedi has placed a bomb inside the crate, which explodes after he leaves, killing Dayal Babu.

[7] Abhinav Kashyap, in an interview with Bollywood Hungama, revealed that initially he had considered a few others for the role of Chulbul Pandey, but eventually changed his mind and approached Salman.

[9] Speaking about it, she said that she had lost a weight of 30 kg over two years to prepare for her character of a village girl by "a combination of proper diet and vigorous exercise".

The first schedule began in the town of Wai and continued for 45 days,[7] during which Sonu Sood, the main antagonist fractured his nose.

[17] A schedule, primarily involving a song shoot, was captured in the Khalid Bin Al Waheed station in Dubai, making Dabangg the first film to be shot there.

[18] The film, involving around five action sequences, was choreographed by S. Vijayan, who previously served as the stunt director of Wanted, and shot over 60 days.

[28] The film's theatrical trailer, running for about two and a half minutes, was released on 23 July 2010, alongside Priyadarshan's Khatta Meetha.

[23][29] Khan promoted the film on the reality show Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega, India's Got Talent and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Singing Superstar.

[35] It was reported to have broken pre-release records for hype by Cinematix, a filming awareness product originated by Ormax Media.

It's loud, crazy, zany, exaggerated, larger-than-life, almost nonsensical, totally make-believe, comic book like, complete kitsch, generously peppered with the mandatory desi tadka (garnishing) of songs and dances that keep popping out of nowhere and is literally oozing with star charisma."

The film generally received positive reviews from critics, most of whom praised the performances of Salman Khan and Sonu Sood, music, humour and action sequences.

"[50] Mathures Paul of The Statesman gave the film 3.5 stars and commented, "Dabangg aligns itself with viewers frustrated by the nonexistence of uncomplicated heroism on screen.

"[52] Anupama Chopra of NDTV gave 3 stars and stated that the film is watchable for the "sheer pleasure of watching Salman Khan in top form".

[56] Shobhaa De of the Bangalore Times was critical, concluding "Let's hand it to Salman who has pulled off the stunts and pelvic thrusts.

A trademark case was settled by the producers and Emami out of court, and Malaika Arora was later chosen to an official advertising campaign promoting Zandu Balm.

[79] Activist Rajkumar Tak filed a case in the Bombay High Court, demanding that the deletion of the word "Hindustan" from the song, claiming that the censor board had not responded to his queries in regard to the "defaming" lyrics.

He found them "highly objectionable" and "unpardonable" and labelled the song a "mockery" for the country, as a girl was "indecently" dancing in the presence of corrupted officers, which, according to him, threw bad light on the nation and "hurt the patriotic sentiments of every Indian".

[80] Before release, critic and writer Shobhaa De called for a boycott of Dabangg, due to Salman's comments on the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

[37] Film critic and trade analyst Komal Nahta also compared these campaign to the marketing gimmicks used by Rajkumar Hirani in Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.

He added "All the stars and producers have realized the value of marketing and promotion [...] In fact theses gimmicks have become as important as, say, making a good film.

[88] In January 2022, the official merchandise of the film featuring movie clips, posters, and stills, among other collectables were released through non-fungible tokens (NFT).

[93] While the film was appreciated for its commercial elements, the flip side, it was criticised for the misogyny, objectification of women and the blatant sexism of the character Chulbul Pandey.

[97] After the commercial success of the film, Khan reported "Dabangg 2 may take time to hit the floors, but it is definitely on the cards.

[99] Among the new cast members are Prakash Raj, who plays the main antagonist,[100] while Kareena Kapoor performs an item number in the film.

[109][110] Later, that month, a fourth instalment of the franchise titled Dabangg 4 was announced with Khan deciding to make few changes on the script and the character, in order to be raw and realistic, which followed after the critical response of his role in Antim: The Final Truth (2021).