…draws heavily from Sooraj 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.

The trouble is, fun-filled scenes turn into tearjerkers in PRDP in a moment, and you don’t know what’s hit you. It has everything a quintessential Hindi ‘masala’ family film would crave for. But take our advice: Go with a full packet of tissues, you will need all of them. To me, PRDP stands for ‘Poor Rich Devout People.’

A lot of visible effort has gone in designing Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’s opulence and scale but ultimately it is just lacklustre, recycled fare from a man stuck on men versus women sporting contests, midnight kitchen rendezvous and the pristine aura of Prem.

The last one still holds good. Rest is just rah-rah.

The overwrought PRDP might not be that bad, but it is syrupy to the point of being unendurable. Only for Salman Khan fans.

I could go on and on about the banality of the entire plot narrative but I will just suffice it to say that there really is no point investing into this family drama helmed by Salman Khan. Somewhere after ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ (1989) and ‘Hum Aapke Hain Kaun’ (1994), Sooraj Barjatya lost the plot. His saccharine sagas of unconditional familial love are unbelievably corny and tacky in equal measure.

…a Diwali cracker that goes phus. It’s an archaic story told in an archaic manner. Sooraj Barjatya takes 174 minutes to tell you this tale that has no meat, no soul, nor a proper push forward. By the time it gets over, you have gathered enough aches as you keep adjusting yourself in the seat.

With a screenplay that’s so lacklustre, dialogues so mediocre and settings so outdated, it might have been less torturous had the film not been painfully long at close to three hours. Mr. Winkle would have wanted to go back to sleep if he had been subjected to watching this one.

Should you watch the film? The question you need to ask is “Are you a Salman Khan fan?” You will find your answer… like all those happy audiences did that poured out of the theaters alongside me after watching this magnum opus from Rajshri!

Sooraj Barjatya should never be blamed for believing in the goodness of the nineties and incorporating it in today’s cinema. But what needs to be blamed is that he still sticks to the old style film-making and expects the audience to accept it. That’s where Prem Ratan Dhan Payo as a film fails. What could have been Salman Khan’s sweetest Diwali gift to his fans turns out to be so depressing that you wait for this festival to get over asap! If you are a true Salman Khan and have patience to bear melodrama for more than 3 hours, go enjoy the challenge!

A coronation set in present day India – it is fantasy world, alright. Within that framework too though, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo doesn’t have an interesting tale to tell. Neither do you quite ‘get’ the characters’ motivations nor their greivances. Also, all the extravagance you see in the trailer is all there is. The rest of the film is a visual drab too.

Being a Khan film releasing on Diwali, it would be hardly surprising if this one clocks the big three digits at the box office. But before investing 174 minutes (the runtime) of your life in watching this tale of a middle-aged raja wooing a rani half his age, be warned. Some of the dubsmashes of the title song are far more watchable (especially the one featuring a snake trying to ape Sonam’s thumkas).

The onus of the success of this film is on Khan. It is only “prem” (love) for this man that can bring the people into the theatres.

Despite its lows, Salman shines as Prem; it is his character that makes the film fairly watchable. For Sonam Kapoor, she has been decorated well and is an unmissable part of set design. More than Sonam, it’s Salman’s chemistry with Anupam Kher that is one of the high points of the film.

If you are a true Salman Khan fan, you shall enjoy it, otherwise not so much! For people who have loved Rajshri films in the past may also like it! It ain’t that bad, but it ain’t that good either! One time watch only!

I knew it was a Rajshri film, where people play jewellery-jewellery in their living rooms, wear saris and sherwanis to bed and roll red carpets to their loos. But Prem Ratan Dhan Payo takes the Dhan part way too seriously.

The film may appeal more to senior citizens and middle aged people who are now hooked to TV soaps. Sooraj Barjatya may succeed in pulling these folks back to the cinema hall as PRDP follows the typical template that is shown in family soaps nowadays and is a throwback to Indian films of the 70s and 80s.

‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’s storyline is not as commendable as the filmmaker’s previous efforts neither is the music. Except Salman and Anupam Kher, the rest of the cast are not quite up to the mark. Of course the film is high on lavish sets and grandeur, but the storyline is not something very special and fizzles out. Watch ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ only if you are a die-hard fan of Sooraj Barjatya’s films or if you have nothing better to do this weekend.