Meri Pyaari Bahania Banegi Dulhania Review

Those of you who are (un)lucky enough to have a sister (and if she is unmarried), here's a warning. The next time you see her coming towards you, bright-eyed and wearing a charming smile, don't think for one tenth of a second, just run! Sisters are not what they look like; they are the personified version of everything that can go wrong with you, the cause of every misery you face, just to get themselves married. They will make you sacrifice your love, sell your house, work overtime, fight on the roads, put your "pagdi" at her father-in-law's feet, and much more.

No, these are not my words. This is what the director Jayant Gilatar (whoever he is) wants to say through this movie.

It all happens in a village somewhere (probably in Ooty where the producer pays Mithun the charge of the crew's stay in his hotel along with the acting fee). In the village live a poor potter Keshav (Mithun Chakraborthy) with his 18-year-old sister Mehndi (Rajeshwari Singh) and his father. The mother is dead (and the producer saves some money). To add to his woes, the sister is dumb (I mean, speech impaired) and the father is a useless dipsomaniac who uses every excuse under the sun to borrow money for his drinks.

Keshav's only ambition in life is to get his sister married, innovatively conveyed to you through his waking up every morning shouting, "Meri behen ki shaadi ho gayi, meri behen ki shaadi ho gayi!" In the little time that he gets between dreaming about his sister's marriage and carrying on his business, he manages to fall in love with a weaver's daughter called Janki (either Sindhu or Sheena, I could never make out who is who), and some irritating songs follow. He decides he will marry her after his sister's marriage.

But, there is another lady called Lajo who loves Keshav (and lifts her skirts a bit too high and bathes in the open to grab his attention). She has a mother and a brother in Dubai. Lajo's mother asks Keshav to marry Lajo in exchange for her son marrying Mehndi when he returns from Dubai. Keshav sacrifices his love for his sister and agrees (did you carry your tissues along?).

The Dubai boy returns with perfumes, colour TVs, music systems and an attitude, and refuses to marry a dumb girl. All hell breaks loose at this, Keshav vows to take "badla" and get his sister married to a better guy, and blah blah blah.

It is not much of a surprise because this is what you expect from a Mithun movie. What shocks you though is the presence of Rajeshwari Singh in the movie. I could never believe that an award winning actress of such talent who has worked with ace Hollywood director Martin Scorcese (The Godfather) and Keanu Reeves (The Little Buddha) could agree to do such a demeaning role.

The movie is crap, and the fact that issues like women's rights, dowry and rural upliftment are dealt with such ridicule and disgrace makes you feel all the more miserable. I can't believe I drove half an hour in the rain to watch this one.