Subhash K Jha revisits the Salman Khan and David Dhawan’s naughty comedy, Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya which turns 20. Salman Khan plays an orthopaedist who loves female company. And he makes no bones about it.
Off-screen image be damned. Salman Khan rocks and rolls in this David Dhawan comedy. As an orthopaedist caught in a series of amorous crises, Salman reveals a ferocious flair for the funnies.
He is no stranger to playing the bewildered and frazzled rake. In the irrepressible David Dhawan’s Biwi No 1, Salman was trapped between Sushmita Sen and Karisma Kapoor. Here it’s the still-luscious Sen and the new Lolita in town, Katrina Kaif. The threesome makes terrific eye-candy for the soul.
Not that Dhawan ever aims for any other part of you except the funny bone. Throughout he sustains a feverish comic pitch, thanks to the almost flawless comic timing of the actors and Sanjay Chel’s witty wham-liners, which are blessedly free of vulgarity except when Rajpal Yadav walks in with his raunchy references.
The minor aberrations apart, Dhawan’s remake of Gene Saks’ 1960s comedy Cactus Flower leaves you with a big smile. It’s sassy and savvy, quick on the uptake and always trotting on the fast track. Sure, a bland patch occurs after intermission when the rollicking ramble slackens a bit. But then again, Dhawan catches his breath for a final sprint across a climactic canvas that leaves the audiences gasping for breath.
Portions of the film are appropriated from various sources, including Cactus Flower. The sequence in the aircraft at the end where Arbaaz Khan – making a fleeting brotherly appearance – persuades all the passengers to disembark is ripped off from an episode of the American TV serial Friends.
And then there’s Sohail Khan… the surprise packet in this slick-and-span comedy of mix ‘n’ matched couples. His prankish puckish presence replicates Akshay Kumar’s antics in Dhawan’s previous comic outing Mujhse Shaadi Karogi.
The quality of laughter is seldom diluted. Portions of the film are almost theatrical in their thundering display of exaggerated emotions. The opening sequence where Naina (Katrina Kaif) switches on the gas burner after a lovers’ tiff with her supposedly married lover Samir (Salman) and is rescued by her new bratty neighbour Pyare (Sohail), could be straight out of a Broadway play…or an episode of Friends.
Cool, smooth and sassy and yet as desi as the ghee in which grandma makes her paratha, Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya is actually a very smart satire on characters who insist on behaving dumbly due to circumstances.
Who would believe that the cerebrally sensuous Sushmita would actually get into the role of a nurse who gets into her boss’ wife’s role to appease the man’s girlfriend and then his steamroller of a mother (Bina Kak), who incidentally rolls in the laughs just when the narrative shows signs of sagging.
Once again, Sushmita steals the thunder and lightning. Watch her swift-and-svelte moves in the rain song ‘Lagaa lagaa re’. Then watch her do the frazzled nurse who turns into the coy wife and then the harridan pretending to be like the evil filmy bahu with a relish that makes the parody appear enormously frothy and delicious. Sushmita goes through the gamut and comes up with a performance that very few mainstream commercial actors can equal. Katrina, pretty as a picture and fortunately not deadpan, is a like a kid learning the ropes of play-acting. She suits the role.
Salman is no stranger to the philandering guy’s role. Here he shows unexpectedly inventive qualities (for example the way he uses his eyes to convey deception, confusion and childlike anguish) and comes up with his best performance in recent times. But it’s his brother Sohail who surprises you. He comes up with the kind of performance that has no reference points in Hindi films. You wish there was more of the super-gifted Arshad Warsi, who as Sushmita’s not-so-secret admirer leers and sighs at the lady with a gourmet’s relish.
David Dhawan’s throwback interview with Subhash K Jha on the pre-release troubles faced by Main Pyaar Kyun Kiya. Protests against actor Salman Khan for alleged underworld links are threatened the prospects of the director’s film. “Until Wednesday we were all charged and excited about Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya (MPKK). Suddenly this thing flared up…From where? God knows! It’s just so unfair to everyone involved with the film,” Dhawan told Subhash K Jha.
He was referring to the controversy over Salman’s taped conversation with Aishwarya Rai in which the actor reportedly mentions his underworld links. Fear of protests against Salman have led some theatres to stop the screening of the film, which features him as the hero, in spite of a phenomenal opening all over the country.
“What sort of a system is this that prevents the public from watching a film they want to? My film has opened to capacity crowds. But it has become a victim of what looks like a well-thought out plan to malign Salman and bring our film down. And what timing! Why did they have to come up with these damning tapes a day before Salman’s new film? Surely there’s more to this than meets the eye.”
Dhawan stood by his buddy Salman with whom he has earlier worked in mega-hits like Judwaa, Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge, Biwi No 1 and Mujhse Shaadi Karogi.
“I’m sure MPKK too would have been another hit if it wasn’t for this flare-up. Arrey, kids and women loved the film. It’s my most wholesome comedy to date. And now if these disruptions continue, families would be scared. We have to stop these attempts to bring down my film. It’s not just Salman’s career at stake. It’s so many others…He isn’t the only one in the cast. What about Sushmita (Sen) and poor Katrina (Kaif) who has just started her career? The entire cast and crew are suffering. And what about the distributors? Who will compensate them for the heavy losses? It’s not just me who’s suffering. Such political interventions are a loss to the entire industry.”
Sighed Dhawan: “Salman is being nailed even without proper evidence. Let things be proved before he’s targeted. And why target our film? He’s an actor in my film. It’s not his property that’s being damaged.”
