While films need scripts to work, in a genre like the romantic comedy, you already know that you didn't exactly come in expecting the smartest script ever written. You are there because you are a sucker for romance and you want to live vicariously through the beautiful people on screen. You are there to watch them share an electric chemistry, fall in love / fall back in love and fight the odds together. You already know that in a romantic comedy template — boy meets girl, boy loves girl, boy gets girl. What makes the ride to that ending interesting is the journey of how they got there, the people who are giving you company during this trip you've taken a hundred times before, with probably better looking people saying something smart or funny.
You are not going to get a Notting Hill or My Best Friend's Wedding every time and certainly not from this Yash Raj Films offering that even sounds like a film they already made (Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai) and a poster that reminds you of another Katrina Kaif film (Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani). In fact, everything in this film will give you a sense of deja vu of scenes you've seen before — be it from Onir's Sorry Bhai or Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding. But even all that can be forgiven if you love the leads.
Katrina, as gorgeous as she may look, is not the best actress around. Given the responsibility of carrying the entire film on her shoulders, Katrina is severely exposed. Playing the loud, bubbly, rebel without a cause needs more than a Katrina in the shortest of skirts and cartoonish outbursts.
The boys are all right. While Imran Khan plays the same role he did in I Hate Luv Storyies (an assistant director who hates the larger-than-life aspects of cinema), Ali Zafar in an extended cameo works his presence and ends up the most likeable of the three. Newbie Tara D'Souza is just put there to make Katrina look like an actress.
The good news is that the film stays clear of drama with a subject like this (falling for your brother's bride) and while that in itself is an encouraging sign from Yash Raj Films, the bad news is that Mere Brother Ki Dulhan has zero drama to deal with. Absolutely no surprises once the filmmaker brother plots to re-script his love story by manipulating the players — his brother, the families, the ex-girlfriend, etc.
But how long can you keep chuckling that absolutely everything is going as per plan. There's a specific reason why robberies never go the way they are planned in heist films because if they did, the film would be over by the end of the first act. MBKD takes a while to get going before arriving at the plan. And once the plan is in play, absolutely nothing goes wrong. Just some binging on bhang, item songs (that Madhubala song scored by Sohail Sen and the aftermath is simply the best part of the film), disguises for no reason (as the makers resort to pop culture references to bide time) before the inevitable.
It's all too light to leave any impact, a prank best caught on TV.
And for a romance film, it makes you fall out of love with Katrina.
Mere Brother Ki Dulhan
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Director: Ali Abbas Zafar
Cast: Imran Khan, Katrina Kaif, Ali Zafar, Tara D'Souza
Storyline: An assistant director falls in love with his brother's bride and has to rewrite the script to facilitate a happy ending for himself.
Bottomline: A barely watchable film that comes with no surprises whatsoever.
