5 things I learned after watching Prem Ratan Dhan Payo
A vacation meant that I missed Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, Salman Khan-Sooraj Barjatya’s fourth collaboration, their first in more than 15 years, in the first week. But there was no way I could entirely escape #PRDP, more so since it made Rs 40 core on its opening day and starred the mighty Bhai. And so I sat through the two hours and 51 minutes and this is what I came back with.
Sooraj Barjatya enters new territory
This is what Barjatya’s sixth film has. A Shaolin Soccer-inspired football match. A fist fight albeit between brothers. Swords. Kids from a mistress. At one point a sitar is hurled in anger (Gasp!). A leading lady who wears a strapless dress and later a LBD (little black dress). It is the most English you’ll hear in a Barjatya film (Cerebral concussion and cerebral edema!). Hell there is even Arman Kohli smoking a cigarette. (In case you didn’t know already he is a bad guy.) Despite all these occasionally welcomed changes, Barjatya is stuck on the “family matters” narrative with nothing fresh to add to the storyline. In an interview to India Today during promotions of Jai Ho, Khan said that Sooraj Barjatya is best when he sticks to home and once outside the boundaries, he is in unfamiliar territory. This time the home is a palace/fortress. But grand scale doesn’t translate to a grand film.
Salman Khan in 2015 was the sanskaari aadmi
In the biggest film of his career, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, also a 2015 release, Salman Khan was a Hanuman bhakt. In this one, there are two Salmans, one of whom is Prem Dilwala, a Ram devout from Ayodhya. Prem, the funny guy with a beatific smile and a big heart, ends up becoming not just a stand-in for Vijay Singh but also the relationship counsellor to the royal family from Pritampur. The other one is a moustachioed Maharaj aka Vijay Singh, who has absolutely no personality to speak of. Both Pawan (Bajrangi Bhaijaan) and Prem are ideal men who intend to make the world a better place, whether it is dropping a speech-impaired Muslim girl back home in Pakistan or bringing a family together in Rajasthan. Such an exemplary man is Prem that when the heroine, Maithili (Sonam Kapoor), is open in her affection, he keeps her in check and says, “Iske liye thoda sa waqt hai.” Much chastity. Such sanskaari. Wow.
Sunita Kapoor makes exquisite jewellery
Sonam Kapoor plays a princess, who runs a NGO as well as a garments business, which is a great way to justify the fantastic clothes she wears. Clothes by Anamika Khanna are there but the real find here is the jewellery designed by Kapoor’s mother, Sunita. Sonam’s earrings are one of the few things to admire in the otherwise tacky film, which manages to make Salman Khan look ridiculous in embellished outfits.
It’s all about Salman
Barjatya’s films are family dramas but they have always been ensemble affairs. That isn’t the case with Prem Ratan Dhan Payo which rarely loses sight of its star. Sooraj Barjatya wants it to be a Salman Khan show throughout and he even pampers his hero with a backhanded compliment. “Suna Hai Bahut Achche Actor Ho,” says a character to Prem. Given the success of Salman-starrer films in the past, Barjatya is not entirely wrong in handing over the film to Salman, but he does so as the cost of an engaging narrative.Only Maithili (Sonam Kapoor) and Diwan aka Bapuji (Anupam Kher), who may or may not be a “virgin”, are treated marginally better by Barjatya. Not that Maithili and Bapuji have anything substantial to do in that duration. Neil Nitin Mukesh as the overlooked brother is shown sulking and annoyed throughout. It may have to do with the fact that he doesn’t have a part. Arman Kohli is there because he is Salman’s friend. Talented actors like Swara Bhaskar and Deepak Dobriyal are wasted. If only Barjatya had invested in developing some of these characters, then Prem Ratan... wouldn’t have been such a bore.
Who is public’s Dilwala?
When Anupam Kher’s Diwan keeps referring to Prem as Dilwale, one couldn’t help but wonder if Shah Rukh Khan was regretting his decision to name his sole release of 2015 as Dilwale and if Salman was having good fun taking ownership of the name a month in advance. But with two Rs 200 crore films in 2015, it’s hard to deny that this has been Salman’s year. And to think that he almost landed in jail this year.