Lovely movei. Review on Prem Ratan Dhan Payo

The Bollywood movie? Prem Ratan Dhan Payo? is set in contemporary India, though it? s one of palaces and quaint villages and low-rise cities, with the occasional iPhone and Mercedes thrown in for modernity and luxury branding? s sake.

A fantasy about princes and princesses and perfect doubles, the story? s roots are as firmly planted in Hindu myth and epic as in Bollywood romance. We first see our hero, Prem( Salman Khan), a sweetie-pie actor, in a Ramlila, a play about Rama and Sita, the royal husband and wife whose tale is told in the Ramayana.

Later, Prem( his name means? love?) impersonates a real prince( Mr. Khan again), a haughtier fellow who has been wounded in a foul-play horse-and-carriage accident and has then hidden in a cave to recover. And the Bollywood plot thickens: The prince is kidnapped and chained to a post in a sheesh mahal, or palace of mirrors, only to be rescued by Prem, their images multiplied in fun-house confusion. Through decency and playfulness, Prem brings peace to the warring parties of the royal family and snags the love of a princess( Sonam Kapoor) to boot.

With its full complement of lavishly produced song-and-dance numbers, its filmi heroes and villains, and a two-hour, 40-minute runtime, ? Prem? hews closely to the old-style Bollywood formula. At one point, the prince? s wayward brother plants his legs apart, swigs imported champagne from a bottle and shrieks? Freedom!? while the camera gazes up at him from below.( File under:? Villain, temporarily triumphant.?) In other words, the director, Sooraj R. Barjatya, courts and embraces clich? at every turn, which is both the movie? s charm and its limitation.

At 49, Mr. Khan, in the double role of nice guy/sophisticated prince? Bollywood loves a double!? has shed some of his boyish twinkle, gained a rap sheet and overbulked his upper body. His dancing can feel leaden and his movie-star allure has dimmed. But persistence has its rewards; in true Hindi-movie style, by this long film? s end, Mr. Khan? s Prem may have wheedled his way into your affections