The Bollywood movie “Prem Ratan Dhan Payo” is set in contemporary India, though it’s one of palaces and quaint villages and low-rise cities, with the occasional iPhone and Mercedes thrown in for modernity and luxury branding’s sake.
A fantasy about princes and princesses and perfect doubles, the story’s roots are as firmly planted in Hindu myth and epic as in Bollywood romance. We first see our hero, Prem (Salman Khan), a sweetie-pie actor, in a Ramlila, a play about Rama and Sita, the royal husband and wife whose tale is told in the Ramayana.
Later, Prem (his name means “love”) impersonates a real prince (Mr. Khan again), a haughtier fellow who has been wounded in a foul-play horse-and-carriage accident and has then hidden in a cave to recover. And the Bollywood plot thickens: The prince is kidnapped and chained to a post in a sheesh mahal, or palace of mirrors, only to be rescued by Prem, their images multiplied in fun-house confusion. Through decency and playfulness, Prem brings peace to the warring parties of the royal family and snags the love of a princess (Sonam Kapoor) to boot.
With its full complement of lavishly produced song-and-dance numbers, its filmi heroes and villains, and a two-hour, 40-minute runtime, “Prem” hews closely to the old-style Bollywood formula. At one point, the prince’s wayward brother plants his legs apart, swigs imported champagne from a bottle and shrieks “Freedom!” while the camera gazes up at him from below. (File under: “Villain, temporarily triumphant.”) In other words, the director, Sooraj R. Barjatya, courts and embraces cliché at every turn, which is both the movie’s charm and its limitation.
At 49, Mr. Khan, in the double role of nice guy/sophisticated prince — Bollywood loves a double! — has shed some of his boyish twinkle, gained a rap sheet and overbulked his upper body. His dancing can feel leaden and his movie-star allure has dimmed. But persistence has its rewards; in true Hindi-movie style, by this long film’s end, Mr. Khan’s Prem may have wheedled his way into your affections.
“Prem Ratan Dhan Payo” is not rated. It is in Hindi, with English subtitles. Running time: 2 hours 51 minutes.
A fantasy about princes and princesses and perfect doubles, the story’s roots are as firmly planted in Hindu myth and epic as in Bollywood romance. We first see our hero, Prem (Salman Khan), a sweetie-pie actor, in a Ramlila, a play about Rama and Sita, the royal husband and wife whose tale is told in the Ramayana.
Later, Prem (his name means “love”) impersonates a real prince (Mr. Khan again), a haughtier fellow who has been wounded in a foul-play horse-and-carriage accident and has then hidden in a cave to recover. And the Bollywood plot thickens: The prince is kidnapped and chained to a post in a sheesh mahal, or palace of mirrors, only to be rescued by Prem, their images multiplied in fun-house confusion. Through decency and playfulness, Prem brings peace to the warring parties of the royal family and snags the love of a princess (Sonam Kapoor) to boot.
With its full complement of lavishly produced song-and-dance numbers, its filmi heroes and villains, and a two-hour, 40-minute runtime, “Prem” hews closely to the old-style Bollywood formula. At one point, the prince’s wayward brother plants his legs apart, swigs imported champagne from a bottle and shrieks “Freedom!” while the camera gazes up at him from below. (File under: “Villain, temporarily triumphant.”) In other words, the director, Sooraj R. Barjatya, courts and embraces cliché at every turn, which is both the movie’s charm and its limitation.
At 49, Mr. Khan, in the double role of nice guy/sophisticated prince — Bollywood loves a double! — has shed some of his boyish twinkle, gained a rap sheet and overbulked his upper body. His dancing can feel leaden and his movie-star allure has dimmed. But persistence has its rewards; in true Hindi-movie style, by this long film’s end, Mr. Khan’s Prem may have wheedled his way into your affections.
“Prem Ratan Dhan Payo” is not rated. It is in Hindi, with English subtitles. Running time: 2 hours 51 minutes.
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