Mere Brother Ki Dulhan *Spoiler*

[Roj Blake]

Count me in as another enthusiastic fan of this movie who liked it a lot!  Exactly as advertised, a feel-good "filmy desi entertainer."  Just what I needed.  Has a relatable story (it is a different twist on a classic theme, but that theme of how to be true to yourself and your love but still please your parents and be fair to others who may be affected too never gets old, it is something I continue to have to deal with), and the songs (especially the picturizations) are great.  I didn't get all the old movie references but that's OK!  Imran Khan and Katrina Kaif are amazing.  I am energized!  

Most everything I'd want to say is already covered.  To be honest I think the movie is pure perfection for the genre that it's in (feel-good entertainer -- not supposed to be a super serious movie, although it makes some meaningful societal points), and there's not much to say about perfection ... But something I want to highlight, I like that there are a couple "weird" scenes.  The weird vibes when Dimple is saying how Kush's brother is a complete package and not to judge her about that's how she was viewing the potential marriage (He would make all the money and she would spend it all, haha ... Does she mean it?  Does she not?  Is she joking, pointing out the absurdity, or really thinking of it that way?) -- we see from Kush's reaction we are supposed to be confused -- and then later the increasingly bizarre "Koffee With Karan" type questions over the Internet phone while Luv isn't sure how to respond, strike just the right off-balance notes to keep the viewer having to think about this character and her interactions with people instead of her simply being a caricature.  The scenes are weird yet they still seem true to the character.

leaf, to respond to the reviewer you posted saying how the characters go from one extreme to the other, they don't!  Dimple says to herself that it's time to settle down and she would be okay with arranged marriage, which is very understandable as someone is getting older, but in the course of the movie finds out she isn't OK with this one.  It is called growth, discovery, character development!  She expresses nerves about the change in her life.  It is subtle, not extreme to extreme.  The movie is not saying arranged marriage is good or bad.  The movie is not saying there has been or should be a sweeping social revolution nor is it saying there has been or should be no change.  Some reviewers just have agendas and see what they want to see.  Luv is confused about how he feels about having broken up with Piali -- aside from the plot contrivance to get the movie started of him asking to be married (which is not that hard to believe), that is not going from an extreme to the other, that is just confusion!  Good grief.  I didn't see any stereotypes in the main characters, I saw real characters.  But stereotypes, there are plenty of stereotypes and dangerous social messages in many "mindless entertaininer" Hollywood movies (particularly with regard to the use of violence, which is also a problem in some Bollywood movies, not this one, but these kinds of nitpicky agenda-driven reviewers rarely condemn the violence and tying together of heroism or masculinity with violence in either Hollywood and Bollywood).  "Mere Brother Ki Dulhan" is completely benign in comparison!
 
Also want to say, I was so glad to see Imran back in a sweet innocent "Jaane Tu"-like role instead of the arrogant character of "I Hate Luv Storys."

kmemphis, I agree with you about liking the twist with the dads.  I do like how Kush and Dimple's plan backfires at that moment just as it seems to succeed.  I also like how this gives another chance for Kush to show you don't have to run away though.

Comedic moment of the movie:  Dimple crying on the road thinking she's killed Kush.  Runner-up is right before intermission!

los angeles, you didn't have this problem at the Naz, did you?  (I used to live in L.A.)  They have so many showings I can't imagine they would not be able to start it up again later?  I saw Kevin Thomas did eventually review the movie and he liked it: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/12/entertainment/la-et-my-brothers-bride-20110912

My rating: 10/10 for entertainment and pick-me-up value!

[Remini]

^Agree with everything But beside it being a perfect entertainer, I was actually surprised at how consistently good the story and flow of the movie were, considering it's by a debuting director.

And why were the promos so misleading? Katrina wasn't a rock chick, that was a small part of her college days. I found her fun, carefree without going overboard (Geet in JWM, Genelia in Bommarillu). She was mischievous.. the ride on the scooter? I laughed so hard. And her taking a gun at Imran? Taken out of context and seeing it in the trailer made her look more crazy than she really was. There were so many sweet and funny moments.. I can't remember how many times I've watched that scene where Dimple kidnapped Kush, tried to wake him up.. and next we see her crying over his covered form. And then he wakes up and struggles like a worm to get up Their confrontation was so good, and Dimple's tantrum, filled with frustration was spot on. I burst out laughing when I was trying to fall asleep because I kept remembering such moments from the movie.

Ali Zafar was such a beautiful drama queen. He had a flair for the dramatics, it seemed to be a part of his character. Although Kush was refered to as a child, because he was so innocent, Luv was more like a petulent child, used to dictating the rules and getting away with everything. I'm pretty sure if they hadn't called Piali to India, he would have realised the day after the wedding that "Wait, you know what? I don't really want this. So bye. I'll send you the divorce papers from London."

I really liked the filmi references. And how they were ALL overacting when they were playing their little game. Like Katrina arguing with the guy who's car they crashed into, or when she was on top of the car, drunk. And when Imran pretended to be shocked by Luv's love for Piali. I never noticed how suave the actors are otherwise when their characters pretend to be something they're not. Nice touch.

And how come nobody mentioned Dimple's brother? When he first showed up, I became nervous. But nobody ever mentioned that he's 'special' and everybody treated him normally. Did he have Asperger syndrome? Loved his relationship with Dimple. I was overall happy with the portrayal of love the siblings and rest of the family showed to each other <3

Where was that scene from when a little Kush asks Luv what his name was, and he replied with "Bhaisahab"? It was definitely from a movie, right? (Please answer this question! It's bugging me )

I'm sad some of the scenes were left out. Like when Kush and Dimple went shopping after she decided on the wedding cards and she fooled around trying on different saris (it was shown in the Isq Risk promo). And when Luv compares Dimple to having a little bit of both Bipasha and Madhubala in her. And the shot of Dimple carrying a gun, when she was dressed in white and had those braids.. I think it was on the day when the boys' parents decided to get Piali married to Kush.

And oh my god! All girls who are friendly won't sleep with a guy! London is really great, Dimple's family lived there for 18 years! And all those stereotypical depictions of NRI's as being without morals... they weren't there!! *tears of joy* Please, continue with this and make it a trend 

I'm really looking forward to the director's next movie.

[leaf]

Watching this right now. I know we decided that Flynn from Tangled was Ranveer, but every time Luv looks at Katrina, he seems to be trying to woo her with the Flynn Smoulder. He is so perfectly smug!

I also want to note that Katrina's Hindi, at this point, is about as good or better than Sonam's.

[maru7627]

I also want to note that Katrina's Hindi, at this point, is about as good or better than Sonam's.

Chica, that sounds like a comment from someone who likes Katrina and dislikes Sonam! I say this as someone who is totally in awe of Katrina's work ethic ---- to learn the language to the point that she can dub her dialogs and speak in in hindi in interviews is awesome. I'm troubled by the fact that a whole bunch of non-SI language speaking actresses act primarily in Tamil and Telugu without consequence - Anushka, Genelia, Shreya, Kajal, Hansika, Trisha, Shruti et al....... I happen to think emoting is at least as much delivering dialog as it is body language and facial expression. Therefore, Katrina's dedication is exemplary. However, effort does not equal results. May be over time and with enough practice on the job she'll get there!

Full disclosure: MBKD was a real slog for me...... I watched it over a number of sessions and with generous FF-ing. The OTT Yashraj tradition is absolutely not my style. On the other hand, I liked Mausam - including the wildly creative WTF end! So, I may be totally biased ----- have absolutely no problems with that conclusion.   That said , I have no fangirl interest in either Katrina or Sonam........ 

[leaf]

Chica, that sounds like a comment from someone who likes Katrina and dislikes Sonam!

I actually really liked Sonam when she debuted and still have a lot of hope for her. But the girl cannot speak Hindi to save life and no one gives her a hard time about it because she was raised in India and doesn't have to prove herself in the same way as Katrina. I remember the cast of Thank You went to, what looked like, a regular middle class wedding to promote the film and Akshay and everyone else spoke in decent Hindi and Sonam spoke in her valley girl English.

I was raised abroad and I speak my mother tongue fluently (and read and write it) and I've picked up a few other languages along the way. So I'm biased in that I don't understand how someone can grow up in India and not even put in the effort to master one Indian language. I understand the whole class issue and colonial influence, but it doesn't really hold any water for me as a reason to deny yourself a language and the worlds it opens up to you.

The North Indian girls who can't even mime the words properly are a whole 'nother mess that has to do with the Southern industries not valuing actresses' voices and not paying them or ensuring career longevity in a way that makes learning the language worth their while.

[los angeles]

Akshay and everyone else spoke in decent Hindi and Sonam spoke in her valley girl English.

Omg making fun of valley-girl English, are we? The hubris of the young whippersnappers of Bollywhat.

You're in school, right Leaf? For that insult I'm gonna wrap myself in a masala dosa, mail myself to your college campus, burst forth and mow you down.

You just wait.

Hahaha!! J/k []

Seriously though, valley-girl accent is the worst, I am dying to get rid of mine, sounds absolutely dreadful. And somehow the valley-girl accent on Hindi seems especially idiotic and incongruous, almost farcical. [My mom just closes her eyes in second-hand embarrassment as I valiantly attempt to say certain things in broken Hindi--it sounds terrible. What to do.]
But my excuse is being born and raised in LA, I wonder why on earth someone like SK would have this issue
Maybe where she went to school as a child, it was the way most people spoke or something?
Unlikely but is India so westernized in certain areas that particular people in some predominantly English-speaking cities talk with a valley girl accent just from an overdose of American TV/movies? [In which case southern California and Hollywood owes them an apology for that ] Hard to imagine that's the case though...maybe it's simply an overseas-education type of scenario

Edit: I've gotta come clean and let you know that I stole that stupid insult...it originally came from a Spanish girl and in her version she's mailing herself to the enemy in a burrito...but we're Indian so I changed it to masala dosa because I'm crafty like that haha

[LinKarish]

Quickly jumping in.   Not to worry, it's about Katrina so it'll be on topic.  This is why I've always defended Katrina.  Like leaf said, people are given a pass if they're Indian.  When in reality plenty of the models were dubbed in their earlier Bhatt films. 

[maru7627]

I'm biased in that I don't understand how someone can grow up in India and not even put in the effort to master one Indian language. I understand the whole class issue and colonial influence, but it doesn't really hold any water for me as a reason to deny yourself a language and the worlds it opens up to you.

Fair enough.... I have a very different take. While I think it's great to speak multiple languages,  I can see how Indians educated in English tend to think in the language to the point that it becomes their first language. In fact Indian English has an identity all its own ---much like the Australian and American versions do. Sonam is hardly the only one guilty of being inept in Hindi during interviews. What seems more pertinent to me as a movie buff, is that her hindi diction in her movies seems fine. I think Sonam has lots of other issues to tackle and diction is not one of them - the kindest thing i can say about her is that her range is severely limited as an actress . As much as I admire both Katrina and Kalki for learning hindi, speaking in it in interviews, what's most impressive is that they are trying to dub/speak their dialogs in their films. Still, I do think that Katrina and Kalki have some ways to go with their Hindi diction. I don't expect that everyone will have Tilda Swinton like dedication (she learnt Italian in order to act in I am Love), but some comfort on screen with the language that you work in would be nice.

I don't want to derail the film thread, so I'll stop here. Just because I find this discussion more interesting than the movie, doesn't stand to reason that others do . While on the movie, my one fervent hope - no more repeats of the mausi/Veeru dialog please, even as a spoof/affectionate tribute! they ruin my great memories of sholay

[Simran_Singh]

Omg making fun of valley-girl English, are we? The hubris of the young whippersnappers of Bollywhat.

You're in school, right Leaf? For that insult I'm gonna wrap myself in a masala dosa, mail myself to your college campus, burst forth and mow you down.

You just wait.

Hahaha!! J/k []

Edit: I've gotta come clean and let you know that I stole that stupid insult...it originally came from a Spanish girl and in her version she's mailing herself to the enemy in a burrito...but we're Indian so I changed it to masala dosa because I'm crafty like that haha

Okay, the mental image of this made me laugh so hard I cried a little bit.

[leaf]

I went out and then my friends followed me back home to finish this. I am surprised at how much we laughed (it might have been because it was 2 am). They loved Katrina's crazy character. Also, Piali's dumbness and Luv's smugness are so meant to be. Best line goes to Shobit: 7th class mein ladki ko pehle propose kiya tha na tum ne, itna bada card maine laa ke diya tha - "I Miss You Too."

Random aside, Katrina's lost weight in the past year or so and if it weren't for the fillers in her cheeks and the collagened lips, she wouldn't be looking so "fresh". Anyone who thinks she looks better in and since Sheila Ki Jawani needs to keep that in mind.

Omg making fun of valley-girl English, are we? The hubris of the young whippersnappers of Bollywhat.

You're in school, right Leaf? For that insult I'm gonna wrap myself in a masala dosa, mail myself to your college campus, burst forth and mow you down.

You just wait.

I have no words, so....

[latishya]

Random aside, Katrina's lost weight in the past year or so and if it weren't for the fillers in her cheeks and the collagened lips, she wouldn't be looking so "fresh". Anyone who thinks she looks better in and since Sheila Ki Jawani needs to keep that in mind.
I have no words, so....

As someone who REALLY doesn't get what all  the fuss is about that mehdiocre Sheila, I definitely don't think she looks better now. APKGK and  Namastey London she looked real and cute, not a walking billboard for her plastic surgeon

[Bollywood Fanatic]

Could anyone who has seen this film kindly tell me the song that is used in the scene at the beginning where Luv and Piyali are arguing and the TV gets smashed? I'm sorry I can't find a YouTube link to it.

[myrna_nora]

Could anyone who has seen this film kindly tell me the song that is used in the scene at the beginning where Luv and Piyali are arguing and the TV gets smashed? I'm sorry I can't find a YouTube link to it.

Kishore Kumar's "Meri Pyari Bindu" from Padosan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr_enRRcyuw

[Bollywood Fanatic]

Thanks for that clip. It looks like a very funny old film song to me.

[Remini]

Oh, I'm addicted to that song. So catchy Though I'd love to have the full Ali Zafar version

[Bollywood Fanatic]

Remini, do you mean Ali Zafar has recorded a version of that song as well? I'd love to hear that. Or did you just mean that he was singing along with it in the movie?

[Remini]

Nope, he didn't record it And he didn't sing along, that was only him singing in the background when he was eloping with Pia

[pahar ka gulab]

I finally got to watch this one. I didn't have any high hopes for it but I was curious, a) because I like to follow Imran's career and b) because I got the impression that Katrina is improving her acting skills and I wanted to give her a chance.

I have to admit to being one of her harshest critics ever since she miraculously entered the Heroine brigade without having given a SINGLE performance that would require acting, just by sheer luck and well orchestrated PR. I'm kind of fascinated by the phenomenon that is Katrina Kaif. But not in a good way. And, mind you, I never had a problem with her language abilities. But by her emoting, dancing, dialogue delivery abilities. And zero charisma. I found her to be so absolutely substandard as an actress that we started to call her the clothhanger because all she seemed to do in films is present outfits to advantage.

Trying to be fairminded I was curious to see how that obvious effort she was putting into improving her performance was paying off. And I have to say, I found her really improved. At least she had some genuinely charming moments. I still couldn't quite get rid of the feeling sometimes that I was conciously watching somebody making an effort to be cheeky, bubbly and wild while actually being rather sedate and demure. Not something I would ever think about watching a Rani or Kajol, or even an Ayesha Takiya. There the bubblyness comes across rather natural. So I'm not totally convinced, but at least there is some life in her performance now. So, I say well done and I'm curious to see what's she's doing next.

Now to the rest of the film: I kind of liked it in a lazy, laidback way. I am partial to both Imran and Ali and I enjoyed seeing them again. I hope Imran soon gets something more challenging to do than the nice boy next door, but he can do it convincingly in his sleep. But as a whole the story just lacked impact to be really involving,... everything was too easy and just not emotional enough to get me really interested: the love seemed lukewarm, the drama being in love with his brother's fiance was not really played to it's full potential, their admitting to each other was too non committal and their plot to solve the problem was clever but acted out too easy. I don't know, but it seems in the attempt to be young hip and modern they are giving up the emotional drama inside the story. And I miss that. I want my angst, tears and manpain back!

But I liked the songs and and the general look of the film so in the end I didn't dislike anything, ... it just felt a bit too lightweight.

[Remini]

OMG, NO!! If there's one thing I loved the most about this movie, it was the total absence of drama. It was a romantic comedy! OK, so it's not for everyone, but I for one am very, very happy that they finally made a movie where love was a lot of fun and the characters didn't get a personality transplant halfway through

And I really liked Katrina's portrayal of the carefree character. She may be the first on who I really identified with in such a role (no bulging eyes, no constant/cramped smiles, no shouting while dialogue delivery, no hyperactive 13year old behaviour ). I loved that Kush was the only one she was crazy around. Everytime somebody else was in the vicinity, she looked quite presentable

[pahar ka gulab]

Ok, I didn't express myself correctly: No problem with the romantic comedy bit, but, please, even a romantic comedy needs some kind of conflict, obstacle or something that gives a bit of suspense. If everything just falls into place neatly the moment a problem arises without the slightest effort or a bit of heartache then i just stop to care what happens. (with the exception of HAHK, but there it's just forgiveable because the characters are so totally adorable that you love to watch them for hours,... but that wasn't the case for me here, especially since Katrina felt rather forced and artificial to me most of the time. Sorry, that carfree tomboy act didn't convince me more than for a couple of minutes at a time. Like in the Dhunki song where her performance just cries out loud: "I'm a nice little pretty girl that is playing really wild now! Bhoo, I'm a rebel now!"

And rule number one for a good romantic comedy: you have to care that the two of them come together because there is love! Otherwise it's just not romantic. At least that's how I see it. So I need at least to fear a bit of heartbreak if the thing goes wrong.

[Remini]

*without the slightest effort*?? I thought they wen to GREAT lenghts to pull off their scheme and it DID backfire in the end (which was when I started worrying they'd go for drama, but luckily they didn't ).

"I'm a nice little pretty girl that is playing really wild now! Bhoo, I'm a rebel now!"

^You about summed it up. She was a good girl playing a rebel. I never got the vibe that she wanted to be a rock-chick.. it seemed more like she wanted to have fun, and if it meant staging a little rock concert, than why not?

And I felt the love, but there wasn't much time for mushy stuff. I was happy with those few moments here and there. There was so much going on, even in the background, that I didn't feel like I was missing something

I just don't like the last minute drama&quick resolution á la HAHK and BBB, so MBKD was just about right for me Guess you won't be rewatching this one, but that's alright. There's an audience for all kinds of films, this one just didn't work for you. It did for me

[latishya]

There's and audience to all kinds of films, this one just didn't work for you. It did for me

Yep, nicely put. This one REALLY worked for me, especially against  Mausam which we saw the next day. Now THAT'S a film I wish I'd walked out of at the interval, to have preserved a good impression of. Really looking forward to watching MBKD again soon.

[odadune]

I don't necessarily mind Drama with a capital D-part of my reaction to 3KG was along the lines of "man, the people who find this overwrought wouldn't last ten minutes with the likes of Khilona or Paras"-but I don't like it in my comedies, so I was grateful that this one successfully avoided that.  It may even have been an intentional choice, with all the callbacks to Mughal-themed movies and Muslim socials, a way of contrasting those old melodramas-where a guy falls for a woman destined to be married to his brother/BFF and it ends badly for all concerned-with a more modern take on that scenario, where things are sorted out comparatively painlessly.

And it just escalates so gracefully, from the brother's breakup to Kush's and Dimple's shocked reunion, to the flashback where we can see that they have a thing for each other, even if they're in denial, to the buildup to them admitting their feelings, to the failed kidnapping/elopementm to the Piali project, to the parents' quarreling to the resolution.  Like I said in the "recently watched" thread, it's a very well-constructed movie, in a way that even YRF with all their money and resources, doesn't manage very often.  The actors did very well on the whole, but were not absolutely essential.  I felt like you could have cast any number of moderately well-known people from the right demographics as Kush, Dimple, Luv, Piali, and the dads and come up with much the same results.

I wasn't that high on the one actor's portrayal of Ajju-the More Casual Fan felt like the guy was just channeling Dustin Hoffman's Rain Man-but I thought the other characters' reactions to him were very well-done.  Ajju's own family clearly loves him and accepts him unconditionally, Kush and company are a bit uncomfortable with him initially but do their best to accept him and once Dimple's brought him into the loop on the romance thing they trust him as one of their own.  Meanwhile, the less sensitive Luv is a bit patronizing to Ajju but is also trying very hard, by Luv-standards, to do right by him.

On the Bhaisahab backstory, I don't know that it's based on any particular film.  I think it's a stereotypical dacoit/bandit nickname in many seventies/eighties films, so it just reflects the fact that they're playing cops and dacoits, the way American kids of a less politically correct generation would plays at cops and robbers, (or cowboys and American Indians, if they were from an even LESS politically correct generation).

Does anyone know which song plays the first time Dimple puts on the burkha and Kush dresses up as the elderly Muslim ladies tailor?  And which film it's from?  It seemed familiar, but I couldn't figure out from where.

Random nice touches: I found myself wondering whether it was logical for a girl of Dimple Dixit's generation to be named for Dimple Kapadia/Khanna, so I did the math-she says she's 27 in a movie set/released in 2011-and concluded she was born in 1984, the year Dimple Kapadia made a comeback as the female lead/love interest in two movies, one with Jeetendra and one with Sunny Deol.  Seriously, most Bollywood films do NOT stand up to that kind of scrutiny.

[NewLaura]

Does anyone know which song plays the first time Dimple puts on the burkha and Kush dresses up as the elderly Muslim ladies tailor?  And which film it's from?  It seemed familiar, but I couldn't figure out from where.

I think it's Parde Mein Rehne Do from Shikar (1968):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jcu1D2vCfZ8

[odadune]

I think it's Parde Mein Rehne Do from Shikar (1968):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jcu1D2vCfZ8

Thanks, that would explain why I kept thinking of Asha Parekh during that song, despite not having seen that much of her.