Prem Ratan Dhan Payo

No Spoilers

Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (Receive a treasure called love) is not a movie for the India of today although it probably has everything a quintessential Hindi ‘masala’ family film would crave for. But take our advice if you are the emotional person: Go with a full packet of tissues, you will need all of them. 

In the film, not much happens in terms of plot lines and surprises but here Salman's larger than life personality ensures that the single layered screenplay doesn’t become drab. He enjoys the moments and makes the infantile-looking situations work a bit. It is also a kind of screenplay that suits Sonam’s style of acting. There is not much to convey between the lines and Sonam sparkles in such an atmosphere, she truly looks like a princess: traditional, confident, demure, emotional orgasms and tolerance. She and Khan make an interesting and pleasant pair.

Jalte Diya is probably the only song in the movie having a perfect timing without irritating the audience with an abrupt cut in the flow of the story yet again. It's a real treat to watch this scene in the film, probably being the only place which entices the audience.

There is a problem, however. PRDP leaves you asking one big question: Are we ready to gulp down a mouthful of cheesy romance that is high on ideals and moral values?

A lot has changed in the Hindi film industry since the 80s, the last time Sooraj Barjatya’s name flashed across the screens as a movie’s director with Rajshri Productions. 

Take my words: Elephants, camels, palaces, exotic dishes and soft background score can’t make you happy. You need a family in order to be happy. So true, but isn’t it a bit stretched statement to make in a 174-minute film?

Salman Khan is quite likeable in PRDP. In fact, his comic timing has gotten better in recent times. Add to it the many honey-coated dialogues that make the proceedings funny. For example, Sonam says, “Ram jaisa kahenge Sita waisa hi karegi.”  They keep delivering dialogues in slow motion. The pattern they follow is ‘dialogue - crescendo rises – dialogue – song.’

Prem Ratan Dhan Payo is set in contemporary India but featuring the story of a Royal family with palaces and quaint villages and low-rise cities, with the occasional iPhone and Mercedes thrown in for modernity and luxury branding’s sake. Probably keeping it in the 1940's set back would have done more justice to people having a good IQ.

The most catchy tracks of the film remain:

1.	"Prem Leela"	Aman Trikha	03:41
2.	"Prem Ratan Dhan Payo"	Palak Muchhal	05:19
3.	"Jalte Diye"	Harshdeep Kaur, Shabab Sabri, Anweshaa	05:36