Sometimes it happens that Indian filmmakers release big budget films on the occasions of popular national festivals, among which Diwali and Eid are the most popular ones. At that time, no actor apart from the superstars, dares to release a film. As we know very well, Salman Khan is one of the biggest superstars of Bollywood, whose films often meet positive response and are greeted with Box Office Success. There was similarly a lot of buzz and excitement around his latest Diwali Release PREM RATAN DHAN PAYO, which is not just considered a grand film by its production values, but also because of the reuniting of the famous director- actor pair, i.e, Sooraj Barjatya and Salman Khan. Sooraj Barjatya is known to make crisp and clean family entertainers. And as a matter of fact, all those films have been great successes. Does the same happen with PREM RATAN DHAN PAYO or it turns out to be a regular fare? Let's analyze.

Positives first, PREM RATAN DHAN PAYO is a clean family entertainer, no doubt. Salman Khan has played the role of "Prem" well and there's no doubt that his performance is getting better film-by-film. Sonam Kapoor gives the kind of performance she has been giving in her previous few films, i.e, satisfactory. Neil Nitin Mukesh, Deepak Dobariyal, Swara Bhaskar, Sanjay Mishra, and especially, Anupam Kher play their parts well. There is a perfect blend of emotions, comedy, romance, action and drama in this film, which no one can complain about.

The best thing about PREM RATAN DHAN PAYO is that the scale of production is truly beyond imagination in a family drama film like this. The royal grandeur of the film, the sets, cinematography, visual effects are all wonderful. The makers have spent a lot of money in every frame of the film to make it look epic, and that's visible in every frame of the film. The action scene of the film is very well choreographed and has a long lasting effect on the viewers. Rather, the climax fight is the highlight of this film. The emotional scenes are truly good, and also there are a couple of scenes that are watchable, especially in the first half, and in the last 20 minutes of the film.

Secondly, Negatives of the film, which I feel, are too many. Although Salman Khan acts well, his role isn't very new or of the kind we haven't seen before. His "Prem" character looks very similar to the Pawan of BAJRANGI BHAIJAAN. Similarly, the role of Neil Nitin Mukesh seems poorly sketched. Besides,despite of the fact that the film's music is grand and pleasing, its continuous overdose causes disappointment. Also, the editing of the film seems to be very poor. A family drama of a runtime little less than 3 hours doesn't seem to be justified. The film could have been trimmed easily to around 2 and a half hours to give a better and decent watch.

Not just this, the screenplay looks confused at a few places. The film starts off well and manages to hold the viewer till the interval, which seemed a little awkwardly placed. In the beginning of the film, and towards the interval, it seemed that the film had a different story, but the interval blockade, despite being a good one, left me in total confusion. It seemed a little too abrupt. Besides, the second half began with almost no connection with what happened at the interval point. The changes in the story go on to confuse the viewer, despite of the fact that there was no scene of boredom. The film continues to be a simple and rather say, like any average Salman Khan film, which we have seen a number of times.

Also, a film like this needs to have a better promo or posters to give the feel as if it is a grand film releasing on a grand festival. Neither the promos nor the posters of the film seemed as exciting as expected. The film was heavily promoted as a family film, and as a Diwali blockbuster entertainer, but after watching it, I felt that the film was good, but not a blockbuster. Films releasing on Diwali often have something very special, which makes the festival even more colourful than it looks. As compared to previous Diwali releases, PREM RATAN DHAN PAYO holds nothing special, when it's a Diwali release, and is rather a film that could have been released on any normal day, as a normal Salman Khan film. Even then it would have become a success anyway. Then why release it on a highly anticipated festival like Diwali and make the viewers go with expectations high on top? Promoted as a family entertainer, the film has a few dialogues in which this word "family" is mentioned, but the film actually turns out to be romantic entertainer, which no one would expect to see on a festival like Diwali. It isn't the perfect Diwali entertainer, for which we wait all the year.

Overall, PREM RATAN DHAN PAYO is a good family (as promoted by the makers) film which has its few elements going in the right place, although many negatives overshadow the positives of the film. Due to its grand production, Salman Khan, and its releasing on a festival like Diwali, you may watch it once, at least once. But watch it with the lowest expectations you can, since it's not a perfect film to watch on Diwali. When I walked out of the theatre, I saw most people asking each other "Did you like the film or not?". This shows that their expectations were almost broken, since many of them, like me, had booked the tickets in advance. To conclude, I would say only one thing about this film through following lines:- PREM RATAN DHAN PAYO - SOCH KE KUCH JAYO, DEKH KE KUCH AAYO!

It's been a couple of days since Diwali festivities have come to a close but the box-office is still in cruiser mode with Salman's Diwali offering showing no signs of slowing down. Actually I got to see an article about the movie having crossed 100 C in just 3 days. Gosh!!! was it so good & is it worth enough for my friends to shell out cash to further swell the collections??? Hmm...well this is what I felt about the movie.

The film unfolds with Vijay Singh (Salman Khan), the crown prince of Prithampur in keeping with age old traditions and customs was going to be ceremoniously ordained as the ruler of the region. However, behind the glitter & privileged life that he led; all was not well with the prince as he shared an estranged relationship with his half-siblings & a rather icy chemistry with his fiance, Maithli (Sonam Kapoor). So bitter was the hatred that brewed within his younger brother Ajay Singh (Neil Nithin Mukesh) that he hatches a plot to kill Vijay with the help of their manager Chirag Singh (Armaan Kohli), which almost succeeds as Vijay is rendered bed ridden. It is at this juncture that Vijay's look alike Prem Dilwale, a stage artist turns up at the palace & at the behest of Diwan Sahab (Anupam Kher) masquerades as Vijay so that the latter could recover in hideout without any threat to his security. As his name suggests, Prem lightens up the life of everyone & manages to reconcile with the siblings. But the threat to Vijay's life was still imminent & it remained to be seen how that could be solved.

It's been close to a decade since Sooraj Barjatya had called the shots, with his last venture being "Vivah", Well I am not quite complaining after all I have never been a fan of his movies except for "Maine Pyar Kiya" & "Hum Aapke Hain Kaun". Over the years, his template has remained exactly the same, be it the joint families, protagonists who are the epitome of virtue, numerous song sequences etc. In his latest venture as well, it's basically a rehash of the same formula & though many of the scenes does make us cringe, surprisingly we dont detest it primarily due to Salman who is the lifeline of the movie. The script is as lame as possible as it belongs to a bygone era but it provides ample opportunities for Salman to endear the audience with his charm. In the technical department, Manikandan's visuals varied from being impressive to pedestrian and the same goes for the art direction as well. As for the Himesh Reshammiya's music, there were way too many & none of them lingers long enough with us to even hum.

Salman absolutely rocks in his dual role especially the one as Prem Dilwale which seems to be a lift off from his Bajarangi Bhaijaan character. The film works solely on his aura & Sooraj has ensured that the star is there in all the frames. Sonam Kapoor & Neil Nitin seemed apt as royalty but their acting skills wasnt quite upto the mark. Anupam Kher & Deepak Dobriyal were fine while Swara Bhaskar barely had much scope apart from scowling & shedding tears. As for Armaan Kohli, his woody expressions (not by choice but rather it's innate) were apt for his character.

Verdict: Well where will this golden run end??? Hmm...tough to tell, though at the rate it is progressing (which surprised me to be frank!!!), I expect it to garner around 300 C. As for my friends, who havent seen the movie, there is nothing worth watching as the script is pretty mundane unless of course you are a Salman fan!!!

Rating: 2/5 (solely coz of Salman)

Regards...Ben

Prem Ratan Dhan Payo was a much awaited film by Sooraj Barjatya. Prem is back. Today, I realized that, I am also Sooraj Barjatya’s fan. I have loved his earlier movies viz. Maine Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, Hum Sath Sath Hain, Vivah etc. Sooraj’s USP is to show movies with family values, where individuals grow beyond their self-interest. He does project characters with a bit of grey shades, but dwells more upon the positivity, feel-good factors in his films. It could be possible that everybody may not like Sooraj’s movies. I have always loved the feel of his movies and I must admit that I loved Prem Ratan Dhan Payo as well. At the same time I will not shy away from saying that this film is far-fetched from reality. The film has larger than life canvas, a grand palatial palace, extravagant sets, songs, predictable plot etc. The hero, who gets injured after falling from height, can stand up on his feet with a small bandage on his back within a span of 4-5 days - how is it possible? The villain, who can go to the extent of attempting murder of his family member, can repent and reconcile on the spur of a moment, which definitely is not so convincing. There is as such no suspense at all in the film. The film uses the formulae of conflicts within the family members, efforts to set things right, clear distinction between black and white, reunite the estranged family members etc. The reasons for the enmity, vengeance by the family members were not properly established, which leaves the audience with a disconnect. I was also forced to think that why Salman in his all latest movies is shown as a devotee of God as well as he is shown to be standing for a cause. Is it intentional? In spite of all these factors, the thought after watching Prem Ratan Dhan Payo is “So What!!!” This film could bring smile on lot of faces. Indeed there are moments of joy, laughter, values, family togetherness etc. The film begins with Dilwalon ki Ramleela. Chaubey ji (Sanjay Mishra) organizes this Ramleela, who does not have any qualms in making his Ramleela team compromise with inferior materials, shoes etc. The only person, whom he listens to is Prem (Salman Khan). Prem makes a grand entry into the Ramleela venue. Prem collects a part of his income for donating it to a charitable foundation Uphaar. The connection between Prem and Uphaar is Princess Maithili (Sonam Kapoor), whom he had seen while rescuing flood victims. Prem was instantly infatuated with Maithili. He discusses his desire with his friend Kanhaiya (Deepak Dobriyal) to meet her and both of them decide to go to Delhi where she runs her Uphaar foundation. Later, when Prem comes to know that she is coming to Pritampur for the coronation of her fiancée Yuvraaj Vijay singh, he decides to go there.

Frames shift to Pritampur, where preparations are on for the coronation of Yuvraaj Vijay Singh (Salman Khan in double role). Diwan (Anupam Kher) suggests Yuvraaj Vijay Singh that his two sisters should go to station to welcome and receive princess Maithili and that is when audience gets the feel that there is conflict within the family. On Diwan’s insistence, Vijay Singh goes to meet his two estranged sisters Chandrika (Swara Bhaskar) and Radhika (Aashika Bhatia). Chandrika is not ready to interact with Vijay Singh without her lawyer Mr. Bhandari’s presence. Vijay walks out and on his way back, he falls prey to the pre-planned conspiracy and gets badly injured in an attack. While he fights his life’s battle in a secret segment of the royal fort, Prem and Kanhaiya are spotted by Vijay Singh’s close aide and brought to Pritampur. And the suspense is lifted that Vijay’s younger step brother Ajay (Neil Nitin Mukesh) is behind this conspiracy. Diwan plans to bring Prem and Kanhaiya to the fort as Vijay Singh and as an esteemed photographer respectively.

What happens thereafter? How Prem moulds himself in Vijay Singh’s role? Is he able to leave his mannerisms of a nautankiwala and become a sophisticated prince Vijay Singh. Is he able to generate seeds of love in Maithili’s heart? Is he able to reunite Vijay’s estranged step sisters – Chandrika and Radhika and bring them back to fort? Is he able to ignore his own love for Maithili for Vijay’s sake? What happens to Maithili and Prem’s love? What happens, when Maithili comes to know that she is loving Prem who is not the real Prince Vijay Singh? Does the family unite together ever, if yes, how? How does Prince Vijay react and respond to the changes which Prem has brought in? Maithili decides to choose whom- Prem or Vijay? Is Prem able to sacrifice his love for Maithili? Watch the film.

Sooraj Barjatya has given a perfect Diwali treat to Salman Khan fans through his style of film-making. Sooraj has done what he is best at. Prem Ratan Dhan Payo is indeed an entertainer in spite of its predictable plot and his typical formulae of family based movies in an opulent manner. Prem Ratan Dhan Payo has its own moments of entertainment.

Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’, also heavily colour-coded via the Ramayan, draws heavily from Barjatya’s previous work , with one glaring cosmetic difference : he sets it not in homes that people like you and me live in, or relate to, but in a grand palace.