Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge (2000)
Starring: Salman Khan, Karisma Kapoor, Om Puri, Paresh Rawal, Anupam Kher
Director: David Dhawan
Synopsis: Sheltered heroine dumps her three demented uncles to experience life
Reviewed by: Faiz Khan

 

David Dhawan's latest offering is really no different from any of his previous efforts. It has far more in common with Biwi No. 1 than Raja Babu and is essentially a mishmash of ideas borrowed from countless other films. The plot itself is hardly original but, in the right hands, it could easily have been transformed into a laugh riot.

Sadly, it isn't.

Instead, the film soon settles into a predictable and rather tedious routine.

Sapna (Karisma Kapoor) has been brought up by her three eccentric uncles: a fitness fanatic (Om Puri), a religious zealot (Paresh Rawal) and a flamboyant costume designer (Anupam Kher, seemingly modelling himself on Xerxes). Forced to live by their endless rules and regulations, Sapna dreams of experiencing life on her own terms.

When Prem (Salman Khan) arrives to ask for her hand in marriage, he is promptly shown the door. Naturally, the rejection only strengthens his resolve, and he sets out to win both Sapna's heart and, eventually, the approval of her three guardians.

The pair soon find themselves on yet another European tour—clearly the latest Bollywood obsession—and, as expected, romance blossoms. Returning to India, Prem's next challenge is to win over the three impossible uncles.

It is all rather predictable.

The first half is actually the more entertaining because it hints at developing into a thoroughly outrageous farce. Unfortunately, that promise is never fulfilled, and the film lurches from one supposedly comic situation to another, most of which simply fail to raise a laugh.

Salman is, well... Salman.

Fortunately, he isn't required to do much acting, so we are spared too many of those familiar glassy-eyed expressions. Fear not, however, as there is still plenty of the shirtless wonder going through his customary routine: aerobic dance numbers, his trademark lovable-idiot act—which seems to come naturally—and, of course, the obligatory removal of his shirt at every conceivable opportunity.

The best example comes when he arrives home, removes his shirt, glances out of the window, spots Sapna lying across some railway tracks and immediately races off to rescue her.

Presumably, when the love of your life is about to be run over by a train, the last thing on your mind is putting your shirt back on.

Perhaps he should have jumped from the third floor as well.

Karisma Kapoor is genuinely likeable and manages to inject some much-needed sparkle into the proceedings. Unfortunately, the three uncles are never developed beyond their single defining quirks, leaving what could have been an amusing central premise feeling rather forced and contrived.

The songs, arriving with remarkable regularity every fifteen minutes or so and sounding largely interchangeable, would normally provide a welcome excuse for a samosa break—except there are simply too many of them.

On the whole, a lightweight affair that never quite lives up to its comic potential.