Dulha Mil Gaya

Rating:**

The best thing about this not half-bad if overlong film,in which not one,but two ‘dulhas’ come to the fore,is Sushmita Sen. Yes,the lady’s back,and that’s a happy thing,because Bollywood was sorely missing an actor who can combine sexy and funny in just such a rumbustious fashion.

It’s got to do with the way her character is set up. Shimmer is a world-class model,based in Trinidad,with an adoring staff. She is all polished pro on the surface,but has a vulnerable side to her,which only a castaway Indian bride Samarpreet ( Sharma) can see. Both the girls are vastly different in their circumstance,but are both united,although they do not know it,in the way they love their men : the world’s richest man Pawan Raj Gandhi ( SRK) is just waiting for the much-in-demand model to say yes; and the world’s busiest bachelor Donasi ( or at least that’s what Fardeen appears to be called) is about to learn the meaning of commitment and permanent relationships.

‘Dulha Mil Gaya’ has a bright,fresh look when it sticks with the outdoors,and some well written lines. Sen gets a full-fledged part which does her justice ( now if only she would learn to modulate her voice a little; she’s been sounding the same in all her films). Khan makes a competent playboy,who proceeds to fall for a girl who wants only marriage. Sharma goes from rustic ‘kudi’ to sophisticated lass credibly,even if she’s given some decidedly old-fashioned dialogues about marriage and men. And Shah Rukh Khan is inimitably SRK in his very extended cameo,as he woos and wins his lady.

Light-hearted fun,for the most part,while it lasts.

shubhra.gupta@expressindia.com