ABCD – Any Body Can Dance 2 Movie Review: Watch It Only For The Dance Sequences

The fact that sequels don't work as well as prequels in Bollywood is something that we have been seeing over the years. However, when Remo D'Souza came up with the sequel to ABCD, the impressive sleeper hit, it was expected that the star power and the 3D effects in the sequel might make the film a bigger hit than the original.

Reportedly based on the 'Fictitious' dance group from Mumbai's far-flung suburb Nalasopara, ABCD 2 revolves around Suresh (Varun Dhawan) and Vinnie (Shraddha Kapoor), who lead the Mumbai Stunners dance group. When the Stunners are accused of copying a dance act in a competition, they lose the respect of their fans and become the subject of ridicule and scorn.

An anguished Varun, who is the son of a renowned dancer, decides to regain his lost glory by participating in the international hip-hop competition at Las Vegas and thanks his stars when he comes across Vishnu Sir (Prabhudheva), an iconic but alcoholic choreographer, who is reluctant to help the Stunners. After much cajoling, Vishnu decides to help them and what happens later forms the rest of the plot.

Varun, who had last impressed us with his gritty performance in Badlapur', plays the yuppie Suresh with an endearing honesty and it is tough to not like the plucky waiter, who dreams to make it big despite all odds. Shraddha Kapoor as Vinnie tends to get on one's nerves with her 'énthu-cutlet' character. Prabhu Sir is not much of an asset in the acting department, but the man moves like greased lightning and that is enough for us. Lauren Gottlieb has a short role as Olive and doesn't get to do much. The rest of the dancers like Dharmesh, Raghav Juyal, Sushant Pujari, Punit Pathak, Jineet Rath and others are infact the real heroes of the film for their impeccable dance moves and also their natural acting. Indeed, the film would have been incomplete without these stalwarts of the dance floor.

When ABCD had released a couple of years back, no one had taken it seriously initially because of the lack of a star cast and because dance films were something that supposedly worked only in Hollywood. However, Remo, Prabhu, Ganesh Acharya and the team had won our hearts with the film, mainly with the dance sequences and the relatable underdog story. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the sequel.

Agreed that the film has a better star cast than the prequel, but that is not a guarantee of success. The dance sequences are mind-blowing as usual, but the film lacks a heart and a soul.  Remo seems to have taken Chak De India, Dil To Pagal Hai, Happy New Year' and Step Up and put them in a mixer to come up with ABCD 2 because there is no originality whatsoever and the climax too is predictable.

Also, unlike in the prequel, the characters in ABCD 2 are not well etched at all and fail to strike a chord with the audience. If you felt the angst of the dancers in ABCD, here all you feel is impatience at their melodrama and you keep waiting for the dance sequences to start. The romance between Suresh and Vinnie also seems forced and we are sure the lack of a love angle would not have hurt the film in any way...

In conclusion, watch the film only for the dance sequences...for a true underdog tale, revisit the prequel ABCD.