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.
[9][10] 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.
The film received negative reviews from critics, who panned its screenplay, direction, and writing, but praised the performances of Salman Khan and Sudeepa.
[11][12] 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.
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.
At the same time, Bali, a ruthless and violent goon, set his eyes on Khushi and started making arrangements for his marriage with her.
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.
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.
[13][14][15][16][17] In 2014, during the promotion of his production Dolly Ki Doli director of the series Arbaaz Khan confirmed that Dabangg 3 will indeed happen and that the pre-production of it will start soon.
The film's music is composed by Sajid–Wajid while lyrics are written by Jalees Sherwani, Danish Sabri, Sameer Anjaan, Sajid Khan and Irrfan Kamal.
The version in Dabangg 3 borrows lyrics and music heavily from a previous Sajid-Wajid composition, "Rab Ka Banda", from the soundtrack of the 2008 film Hello.
But when it was announced that Inshallah, another film starring Khan, was scrapped the release date of Dabangg 3 was advanced to 20 December 2019, coinciding with Christmas.
[31] The film was theatrically released in India on 20 December 2019 in Hindi, along with dubbed versions in Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu languages.
[33] Umesh Punwani of Koimoi rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Post spending so much time with this character, Salman Khan knows the traits very well and he knows where to use what".
[35] Vaibhavi V Risbood of Pinkvilla rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "The third installment of Dabangg franchise delves into the backstory of what made Chulbul Pandey the loveable cop from the hinterlands".