Mere Brother Ki Dulhan - Review

Mere Brother Ki Dulhan is a standard and typical Yash-Raj film. The basic premise of the film itself is quite predictable, and the title itself reveals all there is to the movie. The film is quite flat and boring in the first hour, but saves itself in the latter portion. The screenplay in the first half is quite awkward –particularly the entire flashback of how Imran encounters Katrina is quite forced and amateurishly handled. It also has some of the corniest dialogues – like Imran mouthing “Har desh ki ek alag soch hoti hai”. I could visualise these scenes being brainstormed and written on the sets by a bunch of young, clip-board holding ADs. It is only in the second half that the director somewhat gets a grip on the film and the proceedings become engaging. 

Performances are fine, although none of the characters are well-defined. Katrina lets her hair down and delivers an unrestrained performance – she does the best she can from what she interprets of her sketchy and vaguely-written character. Imran does seem lost in the earlier portions, thanks to the characterisation, but overall delivers an earnest performance – in fact, his reactions are delightful in some of the scenes. Being the intelligent actor that he is, you can almost sense his discomfort when he is made to mouth some of the unconvincing and cheesy lines. Ali Zafar is okay, nothing much to say about him. The worst performance has to be that of Tara Dsouza., who plays Ali Zafar’s girlfriend – she’s too model-like. But again, the script itself is quite flawed – Imran is trying to break-up his brother’s wedding by trying to reunite him with his ex-girlfriend, and Ali Zafar too, on his part, aching for his ex-girlfriend, while preparing to tie the knot with Katrina – is rather strange. Because the manner in which both the brothers were portrayed suggested that they were quite upright (as in most YRF films); but suddenly it shows them to be a bit ‘wicked’ and loose.

The music by Sohail Sen is rather good – the numbers were quite peppy, especially the Dhunki and Isk Risk numbers – although I felt the songs are one too many (the dhabha song could’ve been easily chopped off). The cinematography by Sudeep Chaterjee, though overall decent, has too many close-ups – you are always made to notice the lip gloss on Katrina’s lips. A rom-com like this one could’ve easily done with fresher talent in this department, instead of using an established technician, who would be better utilised in films requiring a wider visual framework. So while YRF introduces a new director and music director (a comeback really, but still commendable), it plays it safe on the DoP front.

One the whole the film is just about passable, with the second half saving the film. The director religiously follows the Yash Raj format without infusing any personal touch to the film.