Prem Ratan Dhan Paayo Hindi Movie Review

Salman Khan came as Bajrangi Baaijaan a few months back as an ordinary man in a character without any amount of heroism. The actor returns again shedding all his macho image tags and again the role he is fitted into doesn't have any dose of larger than life element in it.
Sooraj Barjatya the man who gave us splendid hits like "Maine Pyar Kiya" and "Hum Apke Hain Kaun" wields the microphone again after a gap of almost nine years through "PREM RATAN DHAN PAYO".
Talking about PRDP, it seems the director is still obsessed with the melodrama of the nineties. The hangover of those period is looming large in PRDP. With an outdated content and a lengthy drama, the film is watchable only for the Salman factor and for the money thrown in on constructing a massive set which looks lavish and colourful giving the backdrop a much needed lift from sinking.
Prem Dilwale is the protagonist here who by coincidence lands up in a palace at Pritampur and had to fill the shoe of Yuvraj Vijay Singh. The interesting part here is that Prem and Vijay are lookalikes. Yes we have Sallu in a double role. Now how Prem manages this and how he handle Pritampur's would be Yuvrani is narrated in an old fashioned way in Sooraj Barjatya's Prem Ratan Dhan Paayo.
All the formulas and mannerisms employed by the director two decades back returns with no major changes. So if you are expecting a content which is fresh and novel, you better stay away from this.
As I said, the larger sets with a colourful background do give a bright appeal for the film. The art department can take credits for it but that alone cannot provide wholesome entertainment. The question is whether the story and presentation can make the audience sit through patiently for two hours and in this case it is two hours and fifty minutes which was too much considering the overdose of melodrama.
Salman makes a big impact in PRDP through his dual role. Its more or less a Salman show and the slightest chance of making this movie a watchable one is the screen presence of the actor. Sonam Kapoor was okay as Mythili. Anupam Kher put up an improved and noticeable effort as the Dhiwaan of the palace. Neil Nithin Mukesh, well nothing much to say about him. Rest of the actors could not make much of an impact except Swara Bhaskar as Vijay's younger sister.
Cinematography is perfectly done. Himesh Reshamiya's music and their choreography was perfectly matching the theme of the film. But in reality, one gets a feel of overdose of songs that only helped in loosing the connection with the plot and its flow.
I would put the film as an ordinary one watchable just for Salman Khan. Too much drama and a treatment that looks too old in the present day put Prem Ratan Dhan Paayo on a sticky wicket to bat on. The rating is two and a half out of five and that extra half goes to Salman's overall contribution.
Rating - 2.5 / 5