Last to arrive at the crime scene in the '70s, to opening a scene in 2014 with fists flying: How the Ray Ban-wearing supercop is the new Indian Police in Hindi cinema

New Delhi: The film opens with a rugged cop chasing a bunch of goons. With lot of background noise and odd scuffles, the goons finally give up and face the cop. The police officer, wearing a crisp, snug-fitting khaki uniform glares at them through his Ray Bans and then calmly, with a nonchalant sense of exultation, he goes about kicking their asses.

Many of you may have recognised this opening scene from the Salman Khan hit 'Dabangg' (2010). The instant hit, which still has a great fan-following, revolves around a 'dabangg' (roughly translated to 'audacious') police officer in a rustic, corruption-ridden town in the heartland of India. He kicks, he throws punches, he's adorably awkward around ladies, and has a heart of gold.

But perhaps the most the most important way Salman Khan's Chulbul Pandey distinguishes himself from traditional Bollywood cops, is by simply arriving at the scene of crime in the nick of time.

For decades together, the Indian Police has been shown as lack-lustre, bureaucratic element, which always misses the mark. In the earlier Bollywood films -- particularly from the early '60s to late '70 -- the villain usually got away with theft, murder and rape, and the police would only arrive at the end, sirens blaring, whistles blowing and stare at the scene of crime in a helpless manner.

But films like Amitabh Bachchan's 'Zanjeer' (1973) started a new trend. Here was a lithe, angry, proactive cop, who did not mind getting into scuffles with wile goons. In fact, he even ends up earning the begrudging respect of the uptight villain portrayed by Pran.

Now, films like 'Singham', 'Dabangg 2', 'Singham Returns', among others, portray cops in a totally different manner. While these films are largely positive portrayals of cops, films like 'Fugly' featured actor Jimmy Shergill in a deliciously evil role.

Be it in a positive or a negative avatar, cops in recent Bollywood films are anything but dull and boring. They are proactive, sometimes corrupt, sometimes flawlessly perfect, but most times efficient.

And they always arrive in the nick of time.