Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (2011)

Too much of everything

From my favorite movies..

A lot of fun.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The title said it all and therefore there wasn't any kind of great excitement level before its release among the viewers. The plot was clearly revealed and it had the same outline, which was earlier tackled in a serious mode by Onir in his SORRY BHAI (2008). But this time the mood is all light and the genre changes to 'A Romantic Comedy', supported by some good impressive performances to save the film. So the outcome is all positive and fairly entertaining to give you a good time in the theater with your friends.Starting off calmly with some light comic sequences, introducing both the brothers Ali Zafar and Imran Khan, the director makes way for the grand entry of the main attraction of the film, Katrina Kaif. And to my surprise she enters in a brand new avtaar of a 'Bindaas Girl' quite different from her till date on-screen image. To be frank, she simply jumps out of her closed kind of shell with this film and plays it real loud and clear, moving away from her Barbie Doll persona. Hence, Katrina remains the biggest reason why you should watch MBKD in the next few days with your friends. The youngster's brigade is surely going to love this new unexpected transformation of the girl and there is bound to be a substantial increase in her fan following after this film. In short, with MBKD, Katrina proudly announces that she is not just a lucky hit mascot for the big stars and has now learned her job pretty well.The film excels and entertains throughout its first half and then slightly starts dipping post its intermission. But that was clearly unavoidable since the director had selected a theme which was all predictable from the very first shot and had nothing in store to shock the viewers. So the second hour does give you a Déjà vu kind of feeling, since you already know what's going to happen next. Yet the film never disappoints completely and maintains a good entertaining momentum right till its enjoyable climax. And that's the major USP of MBKD which is able to impress the viewers, despite of having an all predictable script.The songs do help to keep up the spirit on the screen but only in its first half. Post intermission, a few songs serve as an unwanted break, which could have been avoided to give it a more to-the-point edit. Yes, the sequences and performance do seem to be going a bit over the top in its last 20 minutes. But there overall soothing impact maintains the balance and one feels reasonably entertained in the end. Particularly it's the lovable chemistry between its leading cast of Katrina, Imran and Ali which does the trick for the film and they really make you feel the love flowing.However, one major disappointment in the film remains the less footage given to the role of Ali Zafar. Truly speaking, I was excited to see MBKD only for Ali and not for anything else. But unfortunately he is the only one from the lead cast, getting the minimum scope in the script. Still, the singer turned actor, once again showcases his acting skills after his last year debut in "Tere Bin Laden" and I really loved watching all his scenes immensely. Imran Khan gels well with his co- stars and gives a fine performance too. But at the same time he also seems to be repeating himself in every film and hasn't got something new to offer in terms of acting. The film does have some flaws in its storyline as the younger brother simply makes a fool of his big bro and her beloved, who are never told the real truth behind all the drama staged. But one tends to forget all these flaws, moving with the lighter mood of the film and keeps enjoying.In nutshell, MERE BROTHER KI DULHAN is a KATRINA KAIF movie all the way and she will surely get many positive returns from the film in every respect. So watch it for the charming KATRINA alone along with your friends and family members. And don't worry if you already know the storyline, because if you do opt for it without any great expectations, then the film will surely keep you engrossed and entertained in a decent way.

Yash Raj Films had with this production released two films in a row that are directorial debuts for assistant directors. Talk about a promotion of sorts for writer-director Ali Abbas Zafar who had to suffer a little bit of flak with calls from various quarters that his maiden effort had taken a leaf out of Peter Hedges' Dan in Real Life starring Steve Carell, but the truth is while the premise may be slightly similar with a man falling for his soon-to-be sister-in-law, I suppose that's generic enough as a formula, and its execution is anything but, done to typical Masala style in two halves.Boasting the first time pairing of Imran Khan and Katrina Kaif, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan will probably set the stage for more pairings to come as both shared incredible, exuberant chemistry as friends turned lovers, radiating youthful energy and being in the same age group worked wonders since the big three Khans, all in the 40s, get frequently paired with younger heroines. I suppose with Imran's career getting a boost thanks to the awesome Delhi Belly, he'll probably give Ranbir Kapoor a run for his money as the next big male Bollywood star, with good looks and acting chops to boot. For now he's probably still typecast as the laid back, easy going boy next door as Kush, who's been tasked by his brother Luv (Pakistani actor Ali Zafar, not the director and of no relation) to help him find a wife, given a bad breakup which opens the film, and in some ways the writing was on the whole when Luv tells Kush they share the same taste, and whoever Kush finds, his brother will likely give the thumbs up.It's a huge responsibility, so much so that in a film like this, it calls for a song and dance in the opening credits, spoofing some of the largest shows in recent years such as Dabangg making more than one reference throughout the film, Dil Se... in recreating the dance atop a train, and Jodhaa Akhbar played more for laughs in a later song segment given Imran's less imposing presence compared to Hrithik Roshan in the Ashutosh Gowariker film. What you see in the trailer with Kush going around to meet up with various girls are just about what's included in the film, wasting no time before he gets a call from a diplomat asking for Kush and family to go over to meet his daughter Dimple Dixhit (Katrina Kaif), and in an instant when they meet we get transported back to some 5 years ago when they were still students, and living the crazy, carefree life.If anyone remains unconvinced of Katrina's acting range, perhaps this role may change their minds a little, where her Dimple takes on the more carefree, cool as ice attitude in her earlier years as a rock chick, before deciding now to settle down, more for a package deal of something quite similar to the 5 Cs which is what Luv can provide, given the large ads Kush and friends had taken out in advertisements. Can't blame a woman for wanting to have it all, especially since coming from a physical pedigree as embodied by Kaif.Director Ali Abbas Zafar utilizes the two halves structure well, with the first getting the leading characters to inevitably fall in love, rekindled from their strong friendship from the past, and the later half to try and untangle the mess they find themselves in, since the impending wedding between Dimple and Luv is moving at breakneck speed over the course of one weekend, and having to solution something that will leave no broken hearts, as well as in the Asian or Indian context, having to keep the honour on both sides of the family intact without a tinge of something scandalous as the cancellation of a wedding, or worst, the ideas of eloping which almost came to fruition.While the romance were left to the many beautiful song and dance sequences to move that emotion forward, comedy comes in the form of the schemes being hatched and executed, and especially with Ali Zafar playing Luv as the typical himbo who has absolutely no idea that the rug was going to be pulled under his feet. While Dan in Real Life had a more emotional, dramatic core, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan played its events out in a very breezy fashion especially when Luv's ex Piali (Tara D'Souza) start to play a bigger role in what would be a win win situation.I had enjoyed the dance scene in Dan in Real Life where Steve Carell took to the dance floor to battle his envy with the rest of the characters, and here that pivotal scene got naturally translated into a large item number. And unique to India and maybe even Asia perhaps, is how parents play such a huge role in weddings, and have significant say whether a union can happen since family honour is still something much to be defended by the clan. This gets played out enough times to hammer home the point, and the older generation's priority in the saving of face every step of the way, while serious in nature, do add some comedy on top of cultural differences to be aware of for someone watching this from a different country.Hollywood romantic comedies don't possess as much spiritedness as the ones from Bollywood if the latter are done right, and in this case, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan scores in all aspects of romance and comedy, being a sheer delight to sit through, with adequate eye candy to boot. Recommended!

Mere Brother Ki Dulhan is a romantic comedy from Yash Raj productions.Which is a well known production house all around the globe. Kush (Imran Khan) goes on a bride hunting spree for his brother Luv (Ali Zafar) and stumbled upon many a wrong girls finally narrowing down to Dimple Dixit (Katrina Kaif). Comes a flashback of five years, Dimple and Kush met each other during their college days and then went out of contact. Back to present they Dimple demands celebrating 48 hours of her live the way she used to back in college days before she gets tied down by marriage. Kush agrees. So there's song and dance and the twist that Kush falls in love with his brother's Dulhan! What happens next? U Know. Having begun his career as assistant director under Yash Raj banner, debutant filmmaker Ali Abbas Zafar (Do not mistake him for being Ali Zafar, the actor) did a fair job.although the film is very predictable,but still entertaining. there's a bhaang consuming sequence with a huge Dabangg poster at the backdrop and the dialogue goes like, "You're Da Bhaang boy!" Funny.The character-sketch of Kush is completely awry as Imran Khan definitely falters in pulling of a small towner's way of talking calling his elder brother "Bhai Saahab". Both Imran and Katrina meticulously maintain just one expression on their face and that alone is enough for emoting various expressions such as that of happiness, sadness, anger etc. Katrina looks ravishingly beautiful but only if that alone was enough. Her consistent problem of dialogue delivery commendably remains consistent even in MBKD. An actress who finds it hard to enact a sober girl is given a 10 minutes long sequence of a drunk girl where she mouths the cult dialogues of Sholay. Funny again. Ali Zafar is the most saving grace of the film and holds the screenplay tight whenever he comes on screen. However, he alone finds it hard to salvage the Average scripted film. Music of Mere Brother Ki Dulhan is very good best with ISHQ Risk and Madhubhala.Katrina Kaif is one of the leading ladies of the industry. Ali Zafar has track of the much acclaimed Tere Bin Laden as his last film. So there are definitely reasons enough in this film other than its story or script to watch it. Ali zafar was really good in the film and it is a must watch.

Decades ago, there was a time when good movies and successful movies meant the same thing. Content was the king and filmmakers made good movies in order to be successful. But then things changed. Commercial success and good quality cinema became distant from each other. Chak De India and Company became less and Ready, Om Shanti Om and Tees Maar Khan started defining success.This overdose of commercialism also results in films like Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (MBKD) where the corporates decide on the cast first and script comes later. Is script important to filmmakers or to the masses? Probably not. The success of Ready and Bodyguard assure that it's not. Then why fuss about the story of MBKD? Masses in the 100% occupied theater in the late night show were giggling and laughing. The guy sitting next was literally rolling on the floor. It doesn't matter if 10% of the people sitting in that theater did not like the script because they will not decide the success or failure of the film.MBKD is a love triangle, pretty much a love rectangle, of Imran Khan, Katrina Kaif, Ali Zafar and Tara D'Souza. Ali, who breaks up his five year long relationship with Tara, assigns his younger brother Imran the task of finding him a bride in India. Imran finds Katrina and falls in love with her much to his own dislike and the trouble begins. Along come extremely unnatural dialog delivery, roughly cut sequences and superfluous song placements. As promising as the premise of the script sounds, it's the extremely unpersuasive first hour that makes the film a drag. Every actor is trying to defeat the other in overacting. On the plus side, the film has pretty good choreography especially in the title song where Chaiyan Chaiyan has been replicated in a very creative way and Madhubala which gives a new life to Jai Jai Shiv Shankar. Bosco-Ceaser, good show, boys.The second half gets much better after a relatively mundane start and does get funny in a few segments. A big reason for this turnaround is Ali Zafar who has much more screen presence in the second half than the first.Speaking of Ali's performance, it does have its shortcomings; however, it still remains the best act in the film especially in the second half. His comic timing is much better than Imran's although not as good as it was in Tere Bin Laden (TBL). He was pretty good in his scenes with Tara D'Souza in the second half. He has a pretty special talent in voice variations which excelled in this performance and saved grace in the second half. Most of his shortcomings could be attributed to the director's weak treatment. From Ali's perspective, it was a good movie to sign. With TBL he grabbed the attention of filmmakers and he needed this to grab the audience too and it makes sense for his future in the industry. He needs to improve his dancing skills though.Imran disappoints. After an entertaining Delhi Belly, this looks like a hasty effort from the actor. Utterly artificial scenes with his childhood friends and no chemistry whatsoever with Katrina. Romantic scenes between the two looked amateurish to say the least. It was another one of those Break Ke Baad and I Hate Luv Storys types of performances by Imran. Katrina Kaif surprised on a few occasions. In fact, in the first half, she was probably the best of the lot mainly because others were pretty bad. Poor bike scenes and poor rock concert song where she could not control her overacting but decent otherwise. Her role was very badly conceived. A 27 year old acting like a 13 year old is never funny.Tara D'Souza did well in her brief role; however, she was again portraying a confusingly written character. Other supporting cast was a drag except for Zeeshan Ayub who played Shobit.A huge frustration was the cinematographer Sudeep Chatterjee. I'm still struggling to understand what he was trying to do. One of the worst displays of camera works I have witnessed in recent past. 60% of the film was in extreme close-ups with only the actors' faces visible on the huge screen. Camera looked as if it was going to go inside their noses. Sudeep has an impressive career record with Chak De India, Kaminey, Guzarish and a fairly impressive Road. I believe he was probably working on a brief from the director for that completely not-so-innovative camera work.Which brings us to probably the biggest culprit of the film, the second Ali associated with it i.e. Ali Abbas Zafar. He wrote and directed the film and more often than not failed on both. A very weak script which depended a lot on acting and dialogues, hence, succeeded at some places and failed at others. The story was half cooked and a mixture of several films previously seen like Tanu Weds Manu, Jab We Met etc. Direction was flawed, full of unnecessary sequences, unplanned songs and even continuity errors like shoes changing from within scene.Overall, MBKD could have been and should have been a much better film if, and a huge if, it had a better script, better direction, better acting and more prominent role for Ali Zafar. It still might be a successful outing on the box office, because as I said earlier, commercial success has new definitions in this day and age, however, it's pretty far away from being a good film.