Salman Khan's Prem Ratan Dhan Payo turns 7: A dazzling homage to shining India

Deepika Padukone was the first choice for the leading lady’s part. However, she opted out with the age-old dates excuse. That’s when Salman suggested Sonam to Sooraj. But would she fit into his sanskari scheme?

“Oh I can be as sans-karrreeee as can be,” Sonam assured the skeptical Sooraj. Sonam got into her best ghagra-choli ensemble to impress her prospective hero and director. Bagging a Sooraj Barajatya film at that stage of her career meant taking her stardom to the next level. And it did help everyone connected with the film, except the more discerning section of the audience which felt Prem Ratan Dhan Payo was too much Raja Aur Runk to be a food for thought.

Prem Ratan Dhan Payo is a feast for the senses. It is s well-mounted and the royal sets are far less garish than the tawdry doll-house props in Hum…Aapke Hain Koun and Hum.. Saath Saath Hain. Prem Ratan Dhan Payo was a dazzling homage to Shining India. Age-old sanskriti and sanskaar meet new-age values and vintage cars. The clash is not so profound as it is pulsating and provocative.

Significantly there are two Salman Khans, his first double role since Judwaa, signifying the dual personality in conflict in modern India. Visually, the film scores a greater grandeur than any of Sooraj’s earlier films. Full credit goes to cinematographer V Manikandan and art director Nitin Chandrakant Desai for creating a world laden with opulence and yet connected to a culture that every Indian can identify with. In this way, Barjatya offers us the best of both the worlds.

Prem Ratan Dhan Payo is a fable on the aspirations of Modern India as well a fairytale where the ‘Pauper’ can change places with the ‘Prince’ to experience what it feels like on the other side of the line of affluence. The dual-personality concept is inspired by films like Raja Aur Runk, Sawan Bhadow and Yakeen.

The hummable songs are shot like a dream with the actors waltzing in and out in a streamlined chorus that reminds one of the bustling bravado of Broadway musicals rather than Hum… Aapke Hain Koun.Though colourful and eye-catching the frames are not over-saturated or kitschy. In fact, the Sanjay Bhansali school of grand aesthetics is very much on display hereThis is not to say that Barjatya has copied Bhansali, not at all. But the glorious swirl of colours music and drama is very much from the Mehboob Khan, V Shantaram, Bhansali school of filmmaking.

As for Salman ,for those who wondered if he would be able to capture the innocence of Prem in Barjatya’s Hum… Aapke Hain Koun and Hum…. Saath Saath Hain the answer is….YES ! Salman’s eyes convey an endearing innocence. With Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo Salman has rediscovered the actor within himself. Hold on to that thought.

Salman’s growth as an actor is evident in the way he has created two distinct personalities for his double role. Even the eye language of the two characters is different. The action scenes are well staged, though I could feel Barjatya’s awkwardness in directing stunts as much as I could feel Sonam’s hesitation in the dancing.

Sooraj is in full command of his vast cast and the work’s grand scale.There are no dheela-dhaala moments. The film is very saffron in mood colour and flavour. After Bajrangi Bhaijaan, this is another attempt by Salman to show how religion, mythology and culture can be implemented to positive use in cinema without propagating any ideology. The film swirls and dances in colours of tradition and gaiety. There is lot of vivacity in the songs and romantic scenes.

Salman and Sooraj seem to have discovered a fun element in their on-screen relationship

The opulence is constant… this is no hinterland for the poor. This is PM Narendra Modiji’s Shining India with some extra shine, though mercifully, no bling. What comes across very strongly is Sooraj Barjatya’s faith in family values.

Barjatya displays more control over the highly melodramatic material than his earlier films where everyone from Jayshree T to Huma Khan hammed till their jaws hurt. He moves out of inflated studio sets. The scales of grandeur here are far more proportionate and believable than in his earlier films where 12-14 characters sauntered in and out of gigantic sets depicting affluent living rooms. The characters here move in believable affluence. There is an enduring and endearing magic about the Sooraj-Salman combo. When are they coming together next?

Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha.

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