It earned ₹58.3 crore (US$6.7 million) nett in India within three days of its release to break the record of Ek Tha Tiger (2012), another film featuring Salman Khan.
In Kanpur, an assassin murders a witness who is about to testify against a dreaded gangster and politician named Thakur Bachcha Singh.
Later, Chulbul and Rajjo bear a baby boy and Chedi Singh's photographer asks for a family photo.
When director Abhinav Kashyap opted out of directing the sequel, Arbaaz Khan himself decided to helm the film.
[d 2] Kareena Kapoor Khan chose to play an item number in the film,[d 3][d 4] despite initial reports considering Katrina Kaif for the role.
[d 5] In Feb 2012, it was reported that distribution rights were sold to UTV Motion Pictures for a price of ₹ 1.40 billion, the highest for a Bollywood film till date.
UTV Motion Pictures has brushed aside rumours of purchasing the rights of the sequel to Salman Khan-Sonakshi Sinha starrer, Dabangg 2 for ₹ 1.40 billion.
[f 2] A set depicting the city of Kanpur was created at the Kamalistan Studios in Mumbai, where the first schedule of the film was shot.
A song titled "Fevicol Se" was choreographed as a dance number and considered as an equivalent to "Munni Badnaam Hui" from prequel.
Chulbul Pandey, Khan's character in Dabangg 2 appeared in StarPlus soap Diya Aur Baati Hum to promote the film.
[m 1][m 2] Salman and Sonakshi promoted the film on the sets of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. Dabangg 2 was screened at the Ketnav theatre in Khar, a western Mumbai suburb, on 17 December 2012.
Dabangg 2 had the highest screen count for any film in India and worldwide, surpassing that of Ek Tha Tiger.
The complainant filed the case demanding a ban on the song immediately, claiming that such songs are likely to fuel sexual harassment and misbehaviour against girls at a time when the entire nation was experiencing an unprecedented shame due to the recent gang rape and death of a 23-year-old girl in Delhi.
So, go on and book your ticket to enjoy this paisa vasool film with your friends and family and don't forget to grab a tub of popcorn".
[r 6] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the film a score 2.5 out of 5 stars reviewing "This film might also end up raking in a much larger box office booty than Dabangg did, but assessed strictly as a pure entertainer designed for instant mass gratification, it isn't half as successful.
[r 7] Gaurav Malani, also from The Times of India gave the film a mixed review and recommended skipping it by "watching reruns of Dabangg on television".
[r 8] Raja Sen of Rediff gave it 2.5 out of 5 stars and felt Dabangg 2 was less unwatchable than its predecessor and it had "absolutely nothing new to offer, and nothing to remember, quote or take away from the theatre".
[r 12] After giving it a 2 out of 5 stars, the Daily Bhaskar panned Dabangg 2 by saying "you'd feel like a moron spending the last day on planet Earth filling your mind and lowering your IQ with rubbish like this".
[r 14] Reuters gave it a negative review and raised objections to the content and said the film "objectified women in the worst way possible".
Mufaddal Fakhruddin wrote, "the screenplay and script are majorly lacking, and whatever story it does have is stretched out in a way that it becomes blatantly obvious.
Joshi recommended skipping the film and added instead of watching it, we could "use the time, perhaps more wisely, pondering whether we have enough brussels for Christmas dinner".
[r 18] Asian review website Wogma rated the film 1.18 out of 5 and criticized all aspects, from direction to performances by the lead actors.
The reviewer broke down the rating of the film and gave "1 out of 5 for direction, 1 out of 5 for the story, 1 out of 5 for lead actors performances, 2 out of 5 for character artists, 2 out of 5 for dialogues, 1 out of 5 for screenplay, 1.5 out of 5 for the music, and 1 out of 5 for lyrics".
Simon Abrams of The Village Voice said "before they really screw up [the film], Dabangg 2's creators do a good job of not taking themselves too seriously".