Director Sooraj Barjatya should take a bow for presenting the real-life rogue Salman Khan as the lovable Prem.
His 1989 blockbuster Maine Pyar Kiya (Khan’s breakout role) defined the ideas of romance and courtship — especially for those who grew up in the ’90s — and his subsequent Khan-starrers such as Hum Saath Saath Hain and Hum Aapke Hain ... Koun! entrenched Khan as India’s most suitable boy. In Barjatya’s films, Prem is invariably a stand-up gentleman with strong moral values and a willingness to sacrifice his personal happiness for the greater good.
Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (PRDP), which releases in the UAE this Thursday, will see Khan step into the shoes of the do-gooder Prem again.
“Sooraj is someone who can bring out that simplicity and purity in me ... There’s this huge bonding between us. We may not see other for months, but we are like brothers. I know he’s there for me and I will be there for him,” said Khan. It’s been fifteen years since their release, but Khan, a convicted felon out on bail after his five-year prison sentence for a 2002 hit-and-run accident that killed one person and injured four others was suspended, believes that it was worth the wait.
“For us to work together, we needed a bigger and a better film. I am not talking about business alone, but the scale and the script had to be big. So here we are,“ said Khan. Some may call Barjatya’s films cloyingly sweet and utopian, but there’s no denying the popularity of his works that are filled with good-hearted people in large joint families.
tabloid! takes a look at some of the Sooraj-Salman signature touches and the lessons that we have learnt from them ...
Joint families live happily ever after
Indian families may be going nuclear, but director Barjatya is an advocate of keeping things traditional. The joys of living in extended families and treating your parents, brothers, elders and even your pets (remember Tuffi, the Pomeranian dog in Hum Aapke Hain ... Koun!) with respect form a good chunk of what his movies stand for.
In the cult romance Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), Khan played the dashing Prem, who may race with his rich dad in a red convertible, but not before he touched his dad’s feet as a mark of respect and blessings before he got behind the wheel.
His Hum Saath Saath Hain — which had the tagline ‘We Stand United’ — tapped into a loving mother’s (Reema Lagoo) fear of her three boys fighting over the family wealth. Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (PRDP) is unlikely to stray from his usual family-trumps-all formula. PRDP is a tale of a good-hearted Prem who falls in love with a princess, Maithili, and the conflict that arises from it. There’s a chance that Khan plays a double role in it.
In the trailers, Prem happily espouses family values and claims that family members may bicker, but they are blessed because they have a family in the first place.
“It’s Diwali, whether you watch the film or not, go to your villages and meet those whom you haven’t met in years. That’s the whole spirit,” said Barjatya at a recent press meet in Mumbai.
What’s in a name?
Everything, if you ask director Barjatya. He has directed six films in his career and all the heroes in them are called Prem (which means love).
“But our Prem has evolved from what you saw in Maine Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hain ... Koun! or Hum Saath Saath Hain. He’s always morally and ethically correct. He’s the kind of guy that you want to marry,” said Khan. In real life, Khan is a troubled star.
“I know there’s a Prem deep down in me somewhere. But you have to dig very deep,” joked Khan.
“I make sure that it never comes up,” he added. However, Khan claims that playing such a good-hearted character made him want to be a better person.
“This Prem is the best Prem ever. Every time I see this film, I want to be Prem,” said Khan, who has been called Prem in fifteen of his movies.
Celebrate all things Indian: Be it women in ornate ghagra-cholis (skirt and blouse), jalebis, gulab jamuns, Indian villages ...
In real life, actress Sonam Kapoor may know her Moschino from her Manish Malhotra, but in PRDP she’s embracing all things Indian. Maithili is no haughty princess. She’s kind-hearted and blushes on cue. She even manages to look shy when thinking about her lover. But do these women actually exist in today’s times and is this romance relevant?
“People like that should ideally exist. Perhaps, that’s why Soorajji [‘ji’ added to a name indicates respect] made his women so beautiful. When you hear Hindu mythology, there are so many characters whom we can look up to. In the same, the ideal idea of what men and women should be is shown beautifully in Soorajji’s films. This is how couples should ideally exist. Even if they don’t exist, his characters are highly aspirational. We need to learn from them about love and how to communicate to each other,” According to Khan, the viewers should imbibe the collective virtue shown in Barjatya’s films.
“We should follow them. Even if you don’t worship them — just follow them,” said Khan. In Maine Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hain ... Koun! and Hum Saath Saath Hain, Prem’s ethical radar was strong.
Another standout in Barjatya’s films is his tenacious grip on celebrating Indian cultural norms. In PRDP, there’s a song, Aaj Unse Milna Hai Humein, in which Khan’s character is wondering what he should get his lady. Should he get Indian sweets, or some colourful Indian bangles? In the background, there’re a dozen dancers singing out his confusion.
Hum Aapke Hain ... Koun!, starring Madhuri Dixit and Khan, was a film that chronicled a big, fat Indian wedding with all its rituals intact. In Maine Pyar Kiya, there’s even a scene in which the heroine is making jalebis (crisp spiral Indian sweets dunked in sugar syrup) before she gets ready for a date in a park with her boyfriend, Prem. That’s the best part of Barjatya’s films: his women are lethally good-looking, but they are knockouts in the kitchens too.
Conflict resolution guaranteed
It’s clear that Barjatya doesn’t do morose films. His movies are squeaky-clean, wholesome entertainers, with charming heroes and hapless waifs. The conflicts are omnipresent, but they are not lethal enough to obliterate the human race. He keeps conflict simple and resolution swift. In Vivaah, starring Shahid Kapoor and Amrita Rao, the evil member of the family was Rao’s stepmother, who hated Rao for her beauty and luck at finding a wealthy suitor. It was decidedly Cinderella-esque, and the ending had the snarky mother come to her senses. It was a huge hit. In Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon (2003), featuring Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor, the tale revolved around mistaken identities and a mother’s aspiration to marry her beautiful daughter Sanjana, played by Kapoor, into a wealthy family. But her greed clears up by the end of three hours.
In PRDP, good versus evil is also explored in depth.
“It’s a romance, but we also show how family, humour, sensitivity, patience and tolerance is important in life,” said Khan. He adds that Barjatya is one of the few directors who can spin a virtuous tale out of the most violent, garish storyline. Khan asked a journalist in the room to name a disastrous film and when the answer went: Ram Gopal Verma Ki Aag ...“Even if the script is bakhwaas [nonsense], he’s one of the filmmakers who can transform the worst film into a beautiful movie like Hum Aapke Hain Kaun. Even in bad stuff, he digs out the good,” said Khan.
It’s all song and dance for Barjatya
In Maine Pyar Kiya, there were eleven songs and in Hum Aapke Hai ... Koun! there were 14 songs. PRDP stands at a respectable 10 songs. So it’s clear that Barjatya uses razzle-dazzle to push his stories forward. In Hum Aapke Hain ... Koun!, there were songs about every ritual surrounding an Indian wedding. A teary bride setting off to her groom’s home, the bride falling pregnant, the bride’s sister falling in love, the families playing a friendly cricket match.
Don’t miss it
Prem Ratan Dhan Payo releases in the UAE on September 12.
