After years of lacing his films with bashful, obedient wives, “domesticated” bahus and damsels in distress, Sooraj Barjatya of Hum Aapke Hain Koun fame has finally decided it’s time for him to turn feminist. Looking at the popularity of films like Mary Qomm and Queen, Bollywood’s traditionalist has decided to put forth his version of women rights activism in his recent blockbuster (yes, it’s already that), Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. If monetary returns are a good measure for success, Barjatiya’s decision has brought him the jackpot of success at home.
Since maybe because it was too difficult for him to get rid of his patriarchal streak in a jiffy, the director of cult classic Maine Pyar Kiya seems to be embracing Bollywood’s endorsement of female empowerment one step at a time – and the first step, in the shape of the Salman Khan and Sonam Kapoor starrer, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, suggests that he is a good learner of evolving ideologies.
The director seems to be embracing Bollywood's endorsement of female empowerment, one step at a time
Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, which means something along the lines of “I found a treasure called love”, is the story of Yuvraj Vijay Singh (Salman Khan), Prem Dilwale (Salman Khan) and Maithili (Sal – no, Sonam Kapoor). Yuvraj Vijay Singh, the prince of Pritampur, is soon to be crowned as the king, and is engaged to Maithili, also a princess. Although courageous and manly, Vijay is also stout and stubborn, which leads to him losing his way in most close relationships. His stepbrother, Yuvraj Ajay Singh (Neil Nitin Mukesh), is his sworn enemy who wants to kill him to take his place on the throne. His stepsisters, Rajkumari Chandrika (Swara Bhaskar) and Rajkumari Radhika (Aashika Bhatia) have also fallen out with him and live outside the king’s fort in a separate residence.
On the other hand is Prem, who is the complete antithesis of Vijay. A simple stage actor by profession, Prem is loveable and sensitive with great relationship management skills. Also, he is a perfect lookalike of Vijay – and in love with his fiancée.
By a lucky twist of fate, Prem temporarily takes the place of Vijay as the crown prince of Pritampur. How Prem fills up this new role – making Maithili fall in genuine love with “Vijay”, en route – is the message that the movie hinges on.
When Bajrangi Bhaijan was released and achieved worldwide success, critics and admirers alike would have found it difficult to believe that Salman Khan would have another, perhaps even bigger hit inside the same year. Let’s just confess, Salman caught us pretty much off-guard with his performance in Prem Ratan Dhan Payo.
Often dismissed as the least talented of all the ‘Khans’ – which is quite an insult, especially if Saif Ali Khan is included in the list – Salman Khan’s acting skills have rarely ever been appreciated. However, believe it or not, Mr Khan has succeeded not once, but multiple times in one of the toughest tests in the realms of acting: playing a double role. His previous most recognised double role was in David Dhawan’s Judwaa, which was a borderline absurd yet hilarious comic film. Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, on the other hand, was much more intense, hence, demanded much better acting.
Salman Khan strikes a pose while shooting the film
The good thing about Prem Ratan Dhan Payo is that other than the charisma that has won him the majority of his fans, Salman Khan actually acts in the film. He successfully pulls off two antithetical roles with great ease, even in instances in which the two characters appeared simultaneously. His success at enacting not just one but two roles might just make Prem Ratan Dhan Payo his most technically successful film till date.
Other than Salman Khan and Anupam Kher – who plays the elder, Diwan Sahib, in the film – Sonam Kapoor and Neil Nitin Mukesh successfully support the main actors. Neil Nitin’s role was somewhat easy since it was so drenched in evil that there wasn’t much of a challenge in pulling it off. Sonam’s role, on the other hand, was slightly more challenging since her character, the princess Maithili, is an opinionated yet subdued, strong-willed yet docile enough to not voice her opinions too openly, woman – a breeding house of contradictions, it seems. It is good to see that Sonam has managed to pull off a complex character like Maithili, whose role was important in bringing out the “feministic” side of the movie: the condemnation of emotional mistreatment of women at the hands of male figures in Indian (even Pakistani) society.
Ever since Sooraj Barjatya wore the director’s cap in 1989, he has directed Salman Khan no less than four times in total: Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), Hum Aapke Hain Koun (1994), Hum Saath Saath Hain (1999) and now, fourteen years after their last collaboration, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. With Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, the box office success rate of the actor and director’s collaborations comes up to 100%. Even though Hum Aapke Hain Koun was undoubtedly the duo’s most lauded film till date, the other three must be many people’s most favoured motion pictures (I would give the nod to Maine Pyar Kiya, any day).
Unlike most remake makers of modern times, Sooraj Barjatya – who is also the writer of Prem Ratan Dhan Payo – has managed to profess that his film is actually based on the 1952 Hollywood film, The Prisoner of Zenda. South Asian lovers of Zenda might like the film, especially how it has been adapted to the Indian culture, much like South Asian lovers of Shakespeare must have enjoyed Vishal Bharadwaj’s Omkara and Haider.
Needless to say, Salman Khan’s fans are in for treat with this one, where they’d see not one but two Salman Khans in action. Needless also to say: a lion’s share of the film’s screen time belongs to Mr Khan.
At the end of the day, every era has its clichés, and the cliché of the time we are living in is, perhaps, women empowerment. I’m all for women empowerment, don’t get me wrong, but it wouldn’t sound so awful if it wasn’t coming from men who quite obviously do not believe in strong women – judging by their earlier works of cinematic production – but have jumped onto the bandwagon because feminine activism sells in the modern times. Mr Barjatya, you are an amazing director, but a feminist? We’re not buying it.
