Aug 21, 2026 9:00am IST
‘7 Dogs’ Review: Salman Khan And Sanjay Dutt Lead This Film That’s All Bark And No Bite
Imagine buying a front row ticket to a heavy metal concert featuring the biggest rockstars on the planet, only to find out they are lip-syncing to an off-pitch children’s nursery rhyme. That is precisely what watching “7 Dogs” feels like. On paper, this Saudi Arabian action spectacle boasts a lineup so ambitious that film producers would gladly trade their souls for it. You have Ahmed Ezz, Karim Abdel Aziz, Monica Bellucci, Giancarlo Esposito and Martin Lawrence, along with brief extended cameos from Bollywood’s own Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt. Yet, despite assembling a global coalition of star power, the movie fails to deliver either genuine thrills or dramatic bite.
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The narrative revolves around Khalid Al Azzazi (Ahmed Ezz), an Interpol officer who is just ten days away from getting married. Naturally, Khalid is not built for a quiet desk job. He captures Ghali Abu Dawood (Karim Abdel Aziz), a top operative of ‘7 Dogs,’ a global criminal syndicate with ‘Dogs’ located all across the globe who have recently shifted into trafficking a lethal synthetic drug called Pink Lady. Ghali, claiming he wanted out of the narcotics business anyway, agrees to team up with Khalid. Together, they embark on a continent-hopping crusade to dismantle the syndicate. Their mission pits them against regional kingpins including European distributor Giulia Leone (Monica Bellucci) and Shanghai’s Lee Chang.
Directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, the film certainly does not lack budget. It is packed with picturesque international locations, high-octane explosions and slickly choreographed stunts. There is a reasonably inventive fight sequence with Shanghai Dog, played by Max Huang, featuring an inverted glass-floor camera angle as well as an audacious homage to the high-stakes poker game from Casino Royale involving Monica Bellucci. The production team clearly spent lavish sums to ensure every single frame looks polished and glossy.
However, whatever scale and intensity the visuals attempt to build is instantly destroyed the moment the characters open their mouths. For reasons best known to the distributors, the Hindi dubbed version turns a multimillion-dollar action film into something reminiscent of late-night, low-budget cable TV dubbing from the early 2000s. At one point, you hear dialogue so gloriously ridiculous that it sounds like: “Main dog ke peeche jaata hoon, tum cat ke peeche jao!” It is impossible to take a high-stakes syndicate meeting seriously when the dialogue carries the melodrama of a daytime soap opera. One understands that a big-budget masala movie needs to speak the language of its target audience, but viewing it in original Arabic with English subtitles might have preserved some of the film’s intended tone.
Among the sprawling cast, Indian cinema icons Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt get their brief ten minutes. Sanjay Dutt plays Ranjit, the Indian Dog, an Instagram and reel-obsessed gangster who simply cannot stop recording himself while committing high-speed mayhem. While their over-the-top mannerisms lean heavily into caricature, their big set piece is undeniably one of the fun highlights of the film. It features a wild chase filmed entirely from a selfie camera point of view that feels tailor-made for social media feeds. That sequence, along with a neat fistfight against Shanghai Dog played by Max Huang under a glass floor, provides genuine visual amusement.
Elsewhere, Monica Bellucci does her fair share as Giulia Leone, the American Dog. The directors even try their best to recreate the iconic Casino Royale poker dynamic during a game between Ahmed Ezz and Monica. Naturally, the card game devolves into immediate gunfire and explosions, allowing our heroes to make another miraculous escape.
The absolute biggest disappointment of the entire affair is Giancarlo Esposito as Roman Marks, the Middle-Eastern Dog. Giancarlo is undeniably one of the finest villains on screen today and the movie spends its runtime hyping up his character as a ruthless mastermind. Sadly, the script gives him shockingly little substance to work with, squandering his menacing potential long before the credits roll.
By the time the final showdown arrives, the narrative’s predictable pattern plays out. The bad guys fall, Monica Bellucci escapes into the sunset and Khalid prepares to retire into married life. But just before the credits roll, the directors throw in a sharp twist, setting up an inevitable sequel. Whether audiences will want to return for round two is anyone’s guess.
“7 Dogs” has the deep pockets, the sprawling gloss and the marquee names. What it completely lacks is a coherent script, emotional weight and performances that match the repute of its stellar ensemble.
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