Nov 16, 2015 01:18 AM
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PREM RATAN DHAN PAYO: - AN ADDITION TO THE CURRENT SEASON OF OLD IS GOLD
Well, I am sure you would be wondering why I went with such a tagline to describe this! Alas, the last few days have been taking me back into my lovely childhood days. The biggest reason is the Cricket All Stars by a mile and now Bhaijaan is back as Prem in a Sooraj Barjatiya movie. Sigh!
A couple of more reasons would be Salman-Sonam pairing for the 1st time since Saanwariya & another thought which emerged in my mind which I would disclose later when I feel convenient to post about it.
The story starts in Ayodhya with Prem Dilwala(Salman Khan) and his entry dialogue “ Kisi Ke Haath Chalte Hai, Kisi Ke Pair Chalte Hain. Hamare Dono Chalte Hai.” The story then moves to Pritampur where the majority of the movie remains before finishing again in Ayodhya. Prem loves Rani Maithili(Sonam Kapoor) who runs an Uphaar Foundation NGO and is set to marry Prince Vijay(Salman Khan) and would attend his coronation in Pritampur. Prem decides to visit Pritampur to get a glimpse of Maithili with his ever-dependable friend Kanhaiya(Deepak Dobriyal):- He looked wonderful as Sita in the beginning.(Smiles)
If you would have read this carefully till now & have a sense of Bollywood, you would have rightly guessed a bit of what’s gonna transpire ahead. Well, yes, it does get a bit predictable which is what kept me attached as I wanted my thinking to be exactly what happens. Urgh, I am not the maker, but I do get a bit of it correct.
In Pritampur, Enter Deepraj Rana, Diwanji(Anupam Kher), Yuvraj Ajay(Neil Nitin Mukesh)(younger brother of Vijay), Chirag Singh(Armaan Kohli)(Yes, you read it right), Rajkumari Chandrika(Swara Bhaskar) and Rajkumari Radhika(Aashika Bhatia). The younger brother wants to take over the reins and come out of living in the shadows of Vijay and the two Rajkumaris have been having hatred for Vijay due to injustice meted out to them.
All in all, Vijay had a sad life and from what was shown about his character, he did what he wanted to all the time which even led to verbal fights with Maithili. Can he change? Will the family unite? Will brotherhood prevail? Will the sisters be happy? What about Prem Dilwala? What about Maithili? These are mostly the questions that are answered as the movie moves ahead.
What do you expect from a Sooraj Barjatiya movie having Salman Khan? A family entertainer? Check. A blockbuster? Check. Lots of Songs? Check. Expect it to be decent, beautiful and simple? Check. A big family? Check. A certain Aloknath? Whoops, he is the only one missing. To add to it, you also have a photo of Munni(our very own Shahida aka Harshali from Bajrangi Bhaijaan) in one of the scenes.
Yes, this movie is a bit too long, could have cut down quite a bit & some of the sequences were unwanted & exaggerated. But it was a decent effort and credit to Sooraj Sir to keep up to his enigma even now. There was that one scene through which I rightly predicted the outcome of an event towards the end(Whoa whoa).
Direction, story and screenplay are by Sooraj Barjatiya Sir and it’s his typical way and manner but as they say, change is inevitable & the only constant, so there was some modernization with the lead actress wearing a bit revealing outfit & latest phones being used. Dialogues are by Aash Karan Atal & they aren’t the highlight of the movie by any means although I liked a few of them delivered by Sonam. Cinematography by Manikandan is really nice whereas the editing by Sanjay Sankla is a letdown as it could have been much better.
Music hasn’t been a hallmark of Barjatiya movies but having a lot of songs is & it’s the same thing with this one as well. Apart from Jalte Diye, none of the songs could match my liking. But it was good to see Himesh Reshammiya back with a full album and Shaan getting a couple of songs(as I said, it’s the season of Old Is Gold).
Coming to the performances, Salman bhai is his usual self & carries the movie on his own with utmost ease. The Sallu fans are in for a treat again. Anupam Kher Sir is an expert, the less said about him the better. Neil Nitin Mukesh is someone I like and he did justice to all that he had to do. Deepak Dobriyal was good as usual, in all the 3 looks. There was Armaan Kohli as well, who was just average. Deepraj Rana was brilliant(loved his dance behind Salman during the football match). Aashika Bhatia & Manoj Joshi were good. Swara Bhaskar is amongst my favourite since Madholal Keep Walking & loved her work even here in PRDP. She does act well.
Now is the time to post about something that emerged in my mind. All through these years, I have had just 2 Bollywood crushes:- One being Dia Mirza and the other being Sonam Kapoor. Now(you may want to hit me for this), looking at the movie from Maithili’s point of view, PRDP was Sonam’s RHTDM for me. In RHTDM, it was those 5 days that won Dia over & in PRDP, it’s those 4 days with Prem. Yes, the situations and scenarios are totally different, but that’s where my mind took me & I thought it was a must to state it. Coming to Sonam’s performance, loved every bit of it be it dialogue delivery or sheer presence of her on the screen. She is easily the most beautiful looking woman I have seen so far, be it real or reel.
All in all, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo is a decent family entertainer which will not disappoint you as most critics have stated. I read a few reviews which stated this is outdated and not for this generation(same was said for Hamari Adhuri Kahani). Who are you to judge that? I liked it, you didn’t, just keep it that way, don’t come to foregone conclusions. I will rate it 3.5/5.
Bliss, a 1st ball 4 from Viru & 50s for Sachin & Ganguly today, Old is indeed Gold.
