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.
