This is a review-cum-plot discussion of the Hindi film Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon(MPKDH)- a testament to the bungled cinema that results when a story-teller (who is stuck in the nostalgia of a bygone era, that never really existed) decides to tell a tale, sans logic, merit and any reason why it should be told in the first place !
I recently watched a Mahesh Bhatt narrated documentary on Rajshri. It talked about how MPKDH was a self-confessed failed experiment in presenting family values with a modern twist. Without sounding presumptuous, I’d say I couldn’t agree more.But I do have a lot to add to this subtle one-line summary.
For starters...
Sooraj Barjatya’s interpretation of modern ends with jeans-clad, electric guitar holding girls and family sanctioned valentine’s day celebrations. That’s it, there is nothing else that can be called modern in this movie!
(To be fair, there is also, the unabashed affection shown by the lead actors- not sensuous, just a fish-out-of-water desperation, which is annoying and tasteless)
MPKDH is a tale of mistaken identity (completely implausible in this age and time, but that is just one of the problems !)
But even before the story begins, one of the first things one notices in the movie, is how always-in-motion everyone is.Not only when they are dancing, and believe me they are doing a lot of that, but even when they are walking, talking, eating, essentially doing anything–it is dizzyingly distracting to say the least.
The movie starts up with a dance number, performed by Sanjana ( Kareena Kapoor) and her friends at a college function - predictable but not forgivable. Through this song and the girls convey to their parents how they should have a say in their marriage.
Doesn’t really contribute to the story in any way, but when does a song ever do that in a Rajshri movie!
Yawn! Anyways the song ends and the torture begins.
Sanjana’s elder sister, living in a random country abroad, sends an email that her younger sister’s prospective groom, her boss Prem, lets call him Prem Original, will be visiting the family in India. She conveniently forgets to attach his picture to her mail. Surprisingly the parents are ecstatic about the marriage prospect and nobody cares how the guy looks like when it’s a sister-sanctioned match. Come on!
Sanjana (the younger sister) is rightfully annoyed
Of course you won’t marry someone you haven’t seen, don’t know; not just like that anyways because you have other plans – A career? Travelling? Studies? Do anything else? Ofcourse you don’t have to explain yourself, but you do have a plan for your life right?
What? You want to play pranks on the guy with your GFs?
Awesome plan, lets raise our glasses to feminism people!
Enter Hrithik a.k.a. Prem Kishan ( lets call him PK). Like the pied piper of Hamelin, PK charms mom and dad and the 2-D house pets.
(I am not making this up- there is an animated 2 D bird which speaks only Hindi movie names and an animated 2 D dog in the movie).
Sanjana with her GFs plays a lot of pranks on PK in order to make him hate her and leave her alone.
That’s a sensible thing to do...
PK is obviously a 4 year old, and pranking him is the way to go instead of sitting him down and telling him straight out that you do not want to marry him.
However it works !
For a lot of pranking and cross-pranking and tasteless jokes later, they fall in love; because apparently the way to a guy’s heart is pranking him, and the way to win a girl’s heart is by being cheap and sleazy.
Again score for a family movie!
&media=https%3A%2F%2Fimg-mkr.buzzfeed.com%2Fbuzzfeed-static%2Fstatic%2F2018-04%2F8%2F14%2Fcampaign_images%2Fbuzzfeed-prod-web-02%2Fmovie-review-of-main-prem-ki-diwani-hoon-translat-2-11153-1523211561-6_dblbig.jpg%3Ftemplate%3Dpinterest-vertical-dots-v1%26title%3DTW92aWUgUmV2aWV3IE9mIE1haW4gUHJlbSBLaSBEaXdhbmkgSG9vbiAoVHJhbnNsYXRpb246IEkgQW0gQ3JhenkgQWJvdXQgTG92ZS4uLiBGbGluY2ggISk%3D%26color1%3Dbluelight){kind=link}
Our couple realizes they are in love, but not before a final test of love.
What is this test you say? A compatibility test? A situation which shows how much they mean to each other? I got it! The guy saves girl from a burning building/ a freak accident or some clichéd scenario like that right, right?
No! Nothing unoriginal like that! That’s not love.
Love is when he gets her name tattooed on his body.
Yes people! That’s what he does( True love! Sob, sob)
Here’s how the scene unfolds... Our love birds are out celebrating valentine’s day somewhere.
The hosts of the event throw the ultimate love challenge-
“Which boyfriend is brave enough to get his lover’s name tattooed on his body”
Here we have a lot of supporting character boyfriends looking scared and backing away!
PK bravely steps forward and gets a huge tattoo that reads “Sanjana”inked on his arm. He doesn’t just flinch or squirm while getting this tattoo, but thrashes in mortal pain. Looking at him, Sanjana too is in sheer agony. Normally I am her fan, but Kareena overacts spectacularly in this scene.
She is hurting because PK is in pain ( love connection Bullshit)
However as soon as the tattoo is done she breaks into a song declaring her love for him which manages to be silly, annoying and loaded with double meaning innuendos at the same time.
Anyways moving on...
The same night, the sister sends an email saying that the real Prem, Prem Original, could not come due to prior engagements.
Yeah she informs them 2 weeks after ETA ! Really sister, not cool !
Oh the shock and horror of it all ...!
“We forced Sanjana to fall in love with the pauper!” scream the parents. Mom decides to manipulate Sanjana into transferring her affections immediately- after all he has the same sickening name ‘Prem’ and the dude is super rich.
So this time the original Prem descends on the family and PK, who has left town for some work, has instructed Sanjana to take care of his boss- Prem original (He is everyone’s boss it seems).
Sanjana does as she is told because she really has no life of her own- first it was playing pranks on her beloved, and now hanging out with the boss, showing him the idyllic beauty of Sundar nagar. Even the name of Rajshree towns are sickly sweet, ugh!
So the new guy and our old Sanjana becomes besties, bonding over picnics and poetry.
Suddenly its marriage with the new guy on everyone’s mind! Clueless Sanjana is taken by surprise! Shocker! She sides by her hero even when she gets an idea about her mother’s schemes.
PK is as naive as Sanjana ( match made in heaven I must say), and takes all reproofs of the girl’s mom in his stride. He loves the friendship between his boss and his girl, going to the extent of actively promoting it. Not a jealous bone in his body. Hail Rajshri!
PK finally gets to know that Sanjana was predestined for his boss. And he remembers- boss ke kitne ehsaan (so many favours), I must take leave so that Prem Original can marry Sanjana.
That is the respect he has for his love and his love’s intellect, just put someone with the name Prem before her and Sanjana should be okay with that.
The girl is in agony, yet going through with the wedding, no one knows to what end. Like a lot of Hindi movies everyone around her is too lost in the moment to register the unhappiness on her face.
So how will our lovers meet? Were they star-crossed?
No...!
For some reason best known to him PK returns right before the actual ceremony- Sanjana goes to him and slaps him for being a coward and he just hangs his head in shame.
But to drive home the point for good measures...
She clings to him and tears his shirt in the process of falling down in despair, thereby unveiling the Sanjana tattoo !!
(Kaboom ! Revelation!)
Thus the love is revealed, some dialogues about girls should have a say in their marriage are delivered and our lovers reunite !
About time they did and end this madness !
To sum up I actually recommend watching this movie for the following reason:
* To see for yourself that nothing I have written above has been exaggerated.
* To see how actors and writers will go ahead with a movie, even when they have absolutely no point to make
* To stare in disbelieve when you realize that the director, producers thought that something like MPKDH was a modern story with family values
* And if for nothing else do see the valentine’s day-tattoo-test. Its priceless!
Share This Article
