Chulbul Pandey is coming to Disney+ Hotstar in an animated avatar

Salman Khan’s Chulbul Pandey from his cult classic Dabangg will come to Disney+ Hotstar in the form of an animated adaptation of the same name. The OTT giant has acquired rights to the 104 episodes of the new family animated show, created by Cosmos-Maya and Arbaaz Khan Productions. The first season of the animated series will start streaming on May 30.

The series revolves around the day-to-day life of police officer Chulbul Pandey, who fights against evil to keep the city safe. But true to the film, the animated series also will see Chulbul lighten up the mood with his jokes, limericks, and one-liners. He is joined by his younger brother Makkhi (played by Arbaaz Khan in the films) who, new to the police force, keeps trying to emulate his older brother.

“It is great to have Cosmos-Maya on-board to bring Chulbul into a fresh format,” said Dabangg franchise owner and producer, Arbaaz Khan. “They understand the universe of Dabangg and we’re confident in the way they’ll get our characters to translate into a colorful format. It is a really exciting time for us, and we can’t wait to see kids give the same ‘swaagat’ to Chulbul and his posse as audiences have done over the past decade,” he added

“With Dabangg, we are venturing into untapped space in the Indian animation market in a narrative format that provides audiences with familiarity and novelty,” said Cosmos-Maya CEO, Anish Mehta in a statement. “With this project, Cosmos-Maya will enter a new market where we get to give our spin to brand extensions of well-loved mainstream film franchises and characters, and will pave the way for a lot more prospects of a similar nature in the future, a plan which is already in motion with projects in partnership with three major Bollywood franchises planned for 2021. We are glad to have found a long-term business partner Disney+ Hotstar which started our relationship by onboarding 234 half hour episodes of our immensely popular title Selfie With Bajrangi,” stated Mehta.

Salman Khan took to Twitter to announce the animated series. “Bachchon se yaad aaya, swagat nahi karoge humara? Chulbul Pandey land ho rahe hai @DisneyplusHSVIP pe. Wahi action, wahi masti, lekin ek naye avatar mein! #SwagatTohKaro #CosmosMaya (sic)” he wrote.