Review Ramaiya Vastavaiya: Why and for whom is this film being made?

The first half is spent in a large ‘shaadi–wala’ ghar with village belle Sona (Haasan) and the Australia-returned Ram (Kumar) making faces at each other,and then falling into each other’s arms. Cue arrival of poor-but-proud bada bhaiya (Sood),so that the nasty elders (Nasser,Shah,Dhillon) can humiliate him and tell him to get out. Second half: city boy Ram shows up in the village,picks up cow dung,milks said cows,sleeps on straw pallets and eats terrible food,all to win over the bhaiya,and take his dulhan away.

Each minute hangs like lead. Every single cliché in the book is thrown into the mix,with poor Poonam Dhillon as the boy’s mother-from-hell,and Randhir Kapoor as the father-of- the-boy- trying hard to act sensible,having to mouth the most inane lines. I had not an iota of interest in the leads,neither in the first-timer Kumar,nor in Haasan who appears a veteran in comparison. My heart goes out to Sonu Sood who is a good actor,and who gets stuck in this kind of tripe.

And why,in a Prabhu Deva film,was there not a single dance that made me want to get up and jive? He does show up in one number,but it is old and tired as his film.