Dulha Mil Gaya Movie Review

Tej Dhanraj (Fardeen Khan), or Donzai as he is lovingly called, is a charming dude who spends all his free time sleeping with women and the rest of the time breaking up with them. He's also rolling about in riches that are enough to let him eat at the Burj Dubai everyday and tip the waiters there an amount equal to the GDP of Bangladesh.

The glitch is that the riches belong to his dead father, and Tej can inherit the wealth only if he marries Samarpreet (Ishita), his father's friend's daughter living in Punjab. Tej hates the idea of marriage, so his lawyer finds him a loophole in the will. Tej ends up going to India, marrying the girl in a hurried ceremony, and getting back - all in a single day.

The bespectacled Samarpreet is a timid, traditional and naive creature. She pines all day and night waiting to hear from her husband. But he keeps cutting her calls, and his lawyer keeps deleting her mails. The only thing she gets in the mail is a monthly cheque. Samarpreet is hurt and puzzled, but does not show it. At least, that's what it looks like from her lack of expressions.

Anyway, she goes to Trinidad & Tobago to check the scene out. Tej's friend - the haughty, no-nonsense, independent supermodel Shimmer (Sushmita Sen) who takes her in - masterminds a plan in which the tables are turned on Tej. So Samarpreet gets a pep talk, a sexy make-over and a new name Samaara.

Now we know that many people secretly prefer to forget the day they got married, but Tej is ridiculous - he doesn't even remember what his wife looks like. He tries to land Samaara, not recognizing her beyond the 3-inch thick make-up and her skimpy dresses. The rest of the story is about how they get together.

Dulha Mil Gaya is made on an ancient premise. Though not a badly sketched film, it simply consists of a bunch of stereotypes, and there's a fair bit of soppy lecturing in the end about relationships. Its predictability is its bane, and tones down what could otherwise have been an engaging film with good performances and production values.

As for Shah Rukh Khan, he was just a ploy to wake up audiences. However, he's polite enough to not keep them awake for too long, with lots of sedative help from the dialogues. He plays Shimmer's gentle and patient lover, and is there in as background in almost the entire second half.

Also, the film consists of more emotional drama than comedy. Some scenes, however - like the one in which SRK jumps into the ocean to retreive Shimmer's miniature toy dog, or any scene involving Fardeen Khan in an intensely contemplative mood - cannot be classified as either.

To a pretty large extent, this is Sushmita Sen's movie, and her acting's a pleasure to watch. Ishita Sharma, who bags enough limelight as well, looks like she needs to eat something quick. Fardeen Khan looks lost.

The music smacks of a '90s influence, but gets a bit loud at times. However, to give credit where it's due, the film is decently shot. The faux sets of the sea at certain places can be forgotten, provided you don't remember the rest of the movie.

Wait till Dulha Mil Gaya hits TV screens. But if you're in a tearing hurry to watch this film, what you really must do is try not to be in a tearing hurry to watch this film.