Remember ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’? That was Sooraj Barjatya 16 years ago where he conquered hearts with basic human goodness instilled in a family melodrama quite convincingly.
‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ (‘PRDP’) runs on the same lines, add to it some English speaking characters, with too many iPhones, iPads and Haldiram’s. It’s a familiar tale that has gone on to become rusty and outdated. The bottom line is that it doesn’t look convincing in 2015. Even the cast doesn’t seem to get under the skin of the characters and seem to be in the movie, only to feature opposite Salman Khan. There are far more questions than answers; How did Vijay Singh survive the accident?
Brotherhood, forgiveness, family reunion, these are all familiar known territories that doesn’t work anymore. These ingredients do not have the power to make one cry. To put it in simple words, ‘PRDP’ is a film that would have worked a decade ago. To make things worse, the weak script is bombarded with some average compositions (music by Himesh Reshammiya) one after another, where only ‘Jalte Diye’ and ‘Bachpan Kahan’ leave an impact up to an extent.
It fails to evoke emotions for the Royal King and his family. It doesn’t have moments where you pray for a happy ending for the family. The dialogues are strictly below average, the humour is missing, the characters are never fleshed out adequately. There is no real connection between the characters and the audience. At times, one feels that the whole movie is so unrealistic to the point that it gets on one’s nerves. The charisma and star power of Salman Khan is the only saviour where he carries the Bajrangi (‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’) charm forward; he is in terrific form indeed.
‘PRDP’ relies too much on brand Salman Khan and Rajshri. Sooraj Barjatya has not evolved with times and even though the family audience is targeted, his kind of cinema is not everyone’s cup of tea. Box office records are being broken but ‘PRDP’ will never become a classic and is the weakest film from Sooraj Barjatya in his illustrious career.
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