Mere Brother Ki Dulhan - Movie Review
Published: December 8, 2011
Starring Katrina Kaif, Imran Khan, Ali Zafar
It seems like Katrina Kaif wandered off the set of a different movie and onto Mere Brother Ki Dulhan. Her cranked-up comedy was fitting in films like Tees Maar Khan (2010) and Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya (2005), but her act is far too amped for Mere Brother Ki Dulhan. It’s a film with some wackiness, but next to her co-stars Imran Khan and Ali Zafar, whose humor is much more low key, she seems foolishly out of place in a movie in which she is the biggest star.
Kaif is a notoriously inconsistent actress—having delivered both gems and abominations along a career path with no clear trajectory of development—but the blame here can be pinned on poor direction. Debutant director Ali Abbas Zafar (no relation to the actor) simply had to tell her to dial it down to match the tone of his film.
What’s more, she’s outshined by the performer with the least experience—Ali Zafar, a popular Pakistani singer, who made his film debut in the Indian comedy Tere Bin Laden (2010). He’s a well-connected newcomer to Bollywood—his wife is the niece of superstar Aamir Khan and the cousin of Imran Khan. That’s gotten him in the door, but it’s his abundant natural talent that will take him far.
Zafar’s character, Luv, a smarmy, self-centered London transplant, unfortunately has the least screen time in the film, but he lights it up whenever he’s on. Zafar makes the in-love-with-himself Luv so endearing that you can’t help but love him, too.
Luv has just broken up with his London-born Indian girlfriend, Piyali (played by the forgettable Tara D’Souza). He calls his younger brother, Kush (Khan), in Mumbai and asks him to pick out a bride for him in India because he doesn’t trust their parents to make the right choice.
There’s nothing distinct or remarkable about Kush, especially compared to Dimple (Kaif), the woman he selects to marry his brother. Kush and Dimple were friends in college, back when Dimple was a miniskirt-wearing rebel and got arrested for holding impromptu rock concerts at the Taj Mahal. She’s still a wild child, even though she’s agreed to an arranged marriage—she wants a rich husband, she explains, and Luv fits the bill.
Kush and Dimple spend a lot of time together planning the wedding while waiting for Luv to come from London, and they inevitably fall for each other. But they don’t run off and elope, and not because it wouldn’t be the right thing to do, but because Kush admits he couldn’t stand the harsh judgment of others. Instead, they come up with an elaborate scheme to get the bold Luv to do what the wimpy Kush doesn’t have the courage to do himself.
Mere Brother Ki Dulhan is rated Skip.
Community - News - Reviews - Commentary - About
