Subhash K Jha takes a look back at David Dhawan’s Biwi No 1 which released 26 Years ago and we hear from the director about his thoughts on the story today.
David Dhawan’s Biwi No 1 released on May 28, 1999 was meant to be a fun take on adultery. Fun and adultery in the same breath is probably an oxymoron for the morons.
Nobody was supposed to take David’s droll take on adultery seriously, especially since the the titular role was played by a horribly miscast Karisma Kapoor, dolled up in Kanjeevarams and gajras trying to look like Kalpana Ranjani from the original Tamil film Sathi Leelavathi.
Karisma missed the bus. The very point of the original—that the husband goes out and has an extra-marital affair as he finds his wife frumpy, unattractive, and unsophisticated—is lost on Karisma’s portrayal of the Biwi. No.1 or not.
What makes Biwi No.1 enjoyable is Salman and Sushmita’s devil-may-care chemistry. He plays the truant husband Prem (director David Dhawan wanted to name the character something else, but Salman insisted in his lucky name) like a brat who wants the better bigger version of a toy in a swanky departmental store that he already has at home.
Sushmita as the Woh is wow. To a potentially hackneyed role she brings a smudge of spunk and sea of mystique. She didn’t have to work on it. Wives have always found her to be a threat. Men love Sushmita Sen. Women prefer Aishwarya Rai. Sushmita seems predatory without trying.
David Dhawan just had to tap into Sushmita’s insanely seductive bearing and the Other Woman was born.
Looking back at how Biwi No 1 makes adultery look like fun, it is pretty much obvious that David Dhawan couldn’t have made the film today.
He agrees. “At least not the way it is . I would have to make a lot of changes in the script if I made it today. One has to be careful about how a marriage is projected in films.”
Besides Sushmita, the other redeeming factors are actors Anil Kapoor and Tabu playing a “fun” Punjabi couple. The only reason Kapoor agreed to play a secondary role is because in the original film Sathi Leelavathi it was Kamal Haasan who played that role. Back then it was Anil Kapoor’s wish to do anything that Kamal Haasan did.
