Suresh (Varun Dhawan) and Vinnie (Shraddha Kapoor) are a part of the dance crew Mumbai Stunners and are participants of a dance show named Hum Kisi Se Kam Nahi. In one of the qualifying rounds in the show, the crew gets disqualified from the show for performing a routine that is copied from a Philippines dance crew. Soon they are quoted as 'cheaters' and everyone from Mumbai Stunners bears the brunt of this mistake in their personal lives as the people they are concerned to often tag them as 'cheats'. Ashamed by the insults that he hears from people and the inner guilt of cheating his mother's teachings, Suresh finds a new goal and wants to wash off his image by participating in the World Hip Hop competition at Las Vegas.

A movie brimming with passion for an art form-Dance-has undoubtedly reached a notch higher than its prequel and has come out dazzlingly. Directed by ace choreographer-turned-filmmaker Remo D' Souza, 'ABCD 2' is indeed a treat for all dance lovers and more importantly for those who are glowing with passion about anything in life. Realistic, yet an adrenaline rush, the movie is pregnant with the fire fanning uncherished dreams of many who are talented yet unrecognised.

After successfully testing the waters with a bunch of non-starrers and absolutely stunning dancers, director Remo D'Souza, predictably enough, introduces some star quotient in the sequel ABCD 2. Enter a massively toned Varun Dhawan and Shraddha Kapoor as part of a struggling dance troupe, Mumbai Stunners, that's aiming to win a world dance championship. The premise is far from fictitious. The troupe's story draws from the experiences of Suresh Mukund and Vernon Monteiro of the Fictitious Group dance outfit from Nalasopara, a Mumbai suburb.

In the earlier edition, there was a wonderful story looped between the breathtaking choreography. Here we have a lame story which hobbles to steady itself in the first 30 minutes. When it does, it hobbles again before you are almost willing the film to come to an end. There are many unnecessary dance sequences between scenes which add no value to the already non-existent story-line; those 30 minutes clipped off could have made a difference. Neither do they have that 'WOW' factor. At times, you feel you are watching three episodes of Jhalak Dikhla Ja back-to-back.

There's something positively exhilarating about good music and great dance. Watching people move in perfectly flawless and sometimes artistically symmetrical form is inspiring. It makes you feel like putting the boombox on, tap a few steps yourself. That's roughly how ABCD 2 affects its audience. It's an infectious experience of stunning dance moves and thrilling music. It's a feel good film, better still it makes you happy and it energises your senses. Dance movies are choc-a-bloc full of dance. No brainer. They're also, almost always, slightly frivolous in terms of the story. ABCD 2 is no exception.

ABCD2 (short for Any Body Can Dance) is a sequel to the 2013 film that definitely raises the bar from its first part. It gives you dancing delight Varun as its protagonist. And it takes you on a neon-light kissed tour of Las Vegas, the venue for an international hip hop competition. Both Varun and Vegas are easy on the eye as is the film's heroine Shraddha. However, this true-blue 3D dance film that serves us energy and verve while hip-hopping, dishes out a stale plot.

Movies about dance and sports are essentially about the same person- the underdog. There's an unfailing formula in the classic routine of contest, obstacles and triumph, which invariably has the audience rooting for the dark horse. Because, let's face it, our hearts are made of slush and it's god-awful to watch someone lose for real or reel. All those teary tales of struggle witnessed on reality-based dance shows haven't accumulated a following just like that. Choreographer turned filmmaker and judge on several such talent programs, Remo D'Souza is closely familiar with both sides of the story.

The film starts off with Suresh aka Suru (Varun Dhawan) and Vinnie (Shraddha Kapoor)'s dance troupe 'Mumbai Stunners' being disqualified in the dance competition 'Hum Kisi Se Kam Nahin'. The judges reason their disqualification in the competition as blatantly copying the dance steps and moves of a Philippine dance group. In no time, all the members of 'Mumbai Stunners' get tagged as 'cheaters' everywhere they go and also in their day to day lives. The going gets so tough that most of the team members even call it quits from the troupe. The omnipresent taunt of being a 'cheater' starts echoing in Suresh's mind all the time. That's why in order to prove himself and gain the lost respect; he decides to participate in an ultra-prestigious global dance competition that is to be held in Las Vegas.

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.

One good reason to watch this film is that it is based on the inspiring true story of a gritty and fabulous dance group, Fictitious. This group coming from the modest, far flung suburb of Nalasopara, just by the dint of its talent and determination, managed to reach the finals at the world hip hop dance championship in Las Vegas. Another good reason is that the film has some of the best dancers of the country, including Dharmesh, Lauren Gottlieb etc as part of its cast, thus making it a fairly entertaining watch for dance enthusiasts.

A cocktail bar boy whose Padma Shri-winning mom "died with her ghungroos on" makes one false move and his dreams come crashing down. On a reality show, his dance troupe, Mumbai Stunners, performs an act lifted from the repertoire of the Filipino All Stars. They are brutally exposed by the judges (including the film's choreographer and director Remo D'Souza) and banished into oblivion. The copycats become butts of ridicule wherever they are: Suresh (Varun Dhawan) in his watering hole and Vinnie (Shraddha Kapoor) in the beauty salon she works for.

The second installment of the ABCD franchisee is bigger on scale with breathtaking dance sequences, foot- tapping sound track but not so amazing script. The film is inspired by the real-life story of Mumbai-based Fictitious Dance Group members who competed at the World Hip Hop Dance Championships in 2012. The story revolves around a group of struggling dancers from Mumbai who want to make it big in the world of dancing. Initially, the troupe spearheaded by Suresh (Varun Dhawan) and his lady love Vinnie (Shraddha Kapoor) are branded as cheaters for copying dance steps of an international group at a telly dance competition. After much humiliation, they decide to salvage their image and regain their lost glory.

A film titled ABCD 2 - Any Body Can Dance 2 - has but the dance as the fulcrum of it all. In this semi-fictionalised tale of the Fictitious Dance Group's journey, dance is what takes the cake. And there's much patriotism, too. In a nutshell, one's review after watching ABCD 2 can just be that it is an enjoyable film. Yes, there are those inescapable parts where the film loses the viewer, but more on that later. ABCD 2 tells the story of Suresh and Vernon's journey from Nalasopara in suburban Mumbai, to the World Hip Hop Challenge finals in Las Vegas. Of course, there's Vinnie, too, to add the necessary element of romance to the film.

Quite soon into the film, Prabhudeva's character says : 'should I show or tell'? In a dance movie, is that even a question? As it turns out, the showing perks up 'ABCD 2. A little. When Prabhudeva is on the floor, there is a snap and pop, even though his moves are familiar. A couple of numbers do crackle. There are two dancers in here who are amazing. But the rest of them, and their sequences, turn into the seen-this-so-what's-new glaze. And when the film stops to look around for a story, which it does much too frequently in its two- and-a-half-hour run time, it turns banal and listless.

It sounds uncharitable, but there are a few common threads between Varun Dhawan and Shraddha Kapoor's first dance film ABCD 2, which hits theatres today, and Shah Rukh khan and Deepika padukone's Happy New Year. Both films show the lead characters travelling to foreign locations straight from the streets of Mumbai to win a dance championship. Both SRK and Varun's teams are ridiculed for being cheaters and both films have their own versions of the famous 70-minute monologue from Chak De!.

Remo D'Souza's latest, ABCD 2, suffers from a strange problem - it's let down by its very raison d'tre: dance. For a film revolving around a hip hop dance championship, one expects actors to break into twists regularly, but ABCD 2's many and needlessly frequent dance sequences make it less of a film and more of a bunch of loosely-strung music videos that can't tell a compelling story. Worse, they end up inflating the film's runtime: 155 minutes feels at least 30 minutes more than it actually is or needs to be.