Prem Ratan Dhan Payo
Director: Sooraj R Barjatya
Starring: Salman Khan, Sonam Kapoor and Neil Nitin Mukesh
Two-and-a-half stars
If one had to pick on every nitty-gritty detail of the plot and execution of Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, then the movie would fall apart within the first thirty minutes.
But that's not why you go to watch a Sooraj R Barjatya and Salman Khan collaboration. You buy the ticket for the larger-than-life family fare even if it hasn't caught up with the times. PRDP feels and looks like Barjatya's previous movies and uses the same plot device of a love-story against the backdrop of a feuding family with plenty of extravagant ceremonies and songs thrown in.
Princess Maithili Devi (Sonam Kapoor) is a beautiful, confident young woman with a heart of gold who runs a charity foundation and is engaged to Prince Vijay Singh of Pritampur – a stoic, short-tempered man who follows the traditions and rituals of his ancestors no matter how ridiculous and outdated they may seem.
He entertains foreign dignitaries and diplomats when he’s not fencing with his younger stepbrother, Ajay Singh (Neil Nitin Mukesh) who has an evil agenda of his own. He also has two estranged step-sisters but they do not speak to him. When an attempt is made at the Prince’s life days before his coronation, Prem Dilwale (Salman Khan), an affable theatre actor and Vijay Singh’s doppelganger, is recruited by the loyal Diwan Sahab (Anupam Kher) to take his place for four days while the Prince recovers from the injuries sustained in a fall from a very, very tall cliff.
Salman Khan fans will not be disappointed. He retains the trademark quirks and antics he is known for, but there’s really nothing else. Despite overlooking the fact that Sonam is romancing a much older gentleman in the movie, her portrayal of Maithili is flat.
Deepak Dobriyal’s portrayal of Sita is far more engaging and passionate.
This is the kind of movie you watch after a long stressful week, when you safely place all your skills pertaining to logic and reasoning in a jar on your bedside table, put on a pair of pyjamas and a baggy T-shirt, grab some nachos and settle down in a comfortable chair with a blanket.
dunnikrishnan@thenational.ae
