Mere Brother Ki Dulhan

Mere Brother Ki Dulhan
Directed by	Ali Abbas Zafar
Written by	Ali Abbas Zafar
Produced by	Aditya Chopra
Starring	Imran Khan Katrina Kaif Ali Zafar
Music by	Sohail Sen
Production company	Yash Raj Films
Distributed by	Yash Raj Films
Release date	2011 (2011) (India)
Country	Template:Film India
Languages	Hindi English

Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (English: My Brother's Bride) is a forthcoming 2011 Indian feature film that marks the writing and directing debut of Ali Abbas Zafar and stars Imran Khan, Katrina Kaif and Ali Zafar in the lead roles. Produced and distributed by Yash Raj Films, the film is a romantic comedy set around a love triangle. It is set to release in mid-2011.

Premise

Not much is currently known about the film other than it is a "topsy-turvy story" set amongst upper middle class families in northern India, and that Imran Khan plays a character who falls in love with his brother's (Ali Zafar) fiancé (Katrina Kaif).

Cast

• Imran Khan as the male lead, an upper middle-class boy from Dehradun
• Katrina Kaif as the female lead
• Ali Zafar as the brother of the male lead, engaged to the female lead
• Parikshit Sahni in an unspecified role
• Kanwaljit Singh in an unspecified role

Production

Development

Yash Raj Films announced the then-untitled project on August 5, 2010. Ali Abbas Zafar, who's been an assistant director on a number of Yash Raj Films productions such as Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Tashan, New York and Badmaash Company, makes his feature writing and directing debut with this film, which has been described as a comedy of errors by lead actor Imran Khan. After Band Baaja Baaraat, this marks the second Yash Raj Films production in a row to be helmed by a first time director who was previously an assistant director. Zafar is originally from Dehradun, where much of the story is set. Like many Bollywood films, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan has suffered allegations that it is a rip-off of an American film even before filming wrapped. According to these sources, the film rips off Dan In Real Life, in which Steve Carrell's character also falls in love with his brother's girlfriend (played by Dane Cook and Juliette Binoche respectively). It should be noted that this theme is fairly widespread in fiction and not at all limited to these films and unless Mere Brother Ki Dulhan's scenes parallel those of Dan In Real Life exactly, it is safe to say that Zafar's film is an original work. The film has also drawn comparision to an earlier Yash Raj Films production, Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai.

Casting

File:Mere Brother Ki Dulhan promo 1.jpg

Katrina Kaif and Imran Khan in an early promotional still from the film.

Imran Khan and Katrina Kaif play the romantic leads in the film, and their involvement was announced in the same press release as the initial production company announcement. Both actors were among the most popular Bollywood actors at the time, having delivered huge hits in the recent past, and this is the first time they've been paired together. They were initally to star together in 7 Days In Paris for director Sanjay Gadhvi, but the film has been indefinitely postponed. Thus, while their pairing has made the film quite anticipated, some media publications have alleged that their casting was an attempt by Yash Raj Films to end a recent string of box-office flops and disappointments. While this is Imran Khan's first movie for Yash Raj Films, Katrina Kaif had previously worked with them (and then assistant director Ali Abbas Zafar) on the critical and commercial hit New York. She was able to take the role thanks to the postponement of Dostana 2 to which she was already committed. Her role has been reported in the media as different than characters she's played so far, and alternatively described as a "friendly, simple Delhi girl" or a "rebel with a grungy punk look". Prior to shooting, the director selected some 20/25 tattoo designs for Kaif to choose from for her character.

The role of Katrina Kaif's fiancé and Imran Khan's brother was initially offered to Ritesh Deshmukh who turned it down after initially accepting it. It was then given to Ali Zafar (no relation to the director), an actor who'd received rave reviews for his recently released first film Tere Bin Laden and who confirmed his participation via his Twitter account.. A popular singer, Zafar will also perform his own character's singing in the film and described his casting as "a dream come true" and his role as a "parallel lead role". Interestingly, this marks an Indian film where none of the three leads are fully Indian, as Khan is Indian-American, Kaif is British of partly-Indian descent and Zafar is Pakistani. The film additionally stars a new actress whose name hasn't been revealed yet.

Filming

File:Mere Brother Ki Dulhan promo 2.jpg

Katrina Kaif and Imran Khan as featured in the film.

Filming started on September 25, 2010 and is scheduled to be complete by November. A few days prior to shooting, both Katrina Kaif and Ali Zafar were at the Tere Bin Laden party in Mumbai and Kaif thought she'd go introduce herself to Zafar as they would be working together shortly after. Kaif was left embarassed however after Zafar failed to recognize her and greeted her with a puzzled look. Kaif later shrugged off the incident, reasoning that Zafar had only been around the industry for a short while and that she, despite having been around a lot longer still didn't know everyone. In a later interview, Zafar claimed that he had in fact recognized Kaif, but simply didn't have the awed reaction she and other people might have expected. The film started shooting in Delhi and Pataudi, before moving on to Chandigarh, Agra, Dehradun, Mussoorie, Haridwar, Dhanaulti, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh for a total of 45 days of filming in northern India and finally finishing the film in Mumbai. Juggling between this film and the final shots of Tees Maar Khan and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Kaif joined the shoot on September 27, just after having had her hair done in for the film by trendy hair stylist Said Asif in Mumbai. Her hair in the film has been described as "poker straight, waist length with short fringes". The first scene shot was a song and dance sequence set during a wedding in which Kaif wore a lehenga. A bloody incident happened very early in the shoot, on September 29, while the crew was filming at Pataudi Palace. The scene being shot, comic in nature, involved Imran Khan pulling Katrina Kaif towards him while pointing a gun towards other cast members. However, Khan miscalculated the move and instead sent the gun barrel crashing into Kaif's nose, causing it to bleed profusely. The injury was all the more painful for Kaif as Khan hit her in exactly the same spot that Ranbir Kapoor had during a similar incident on the set of Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani a year before. Kaif later commented "Yes, I got hit in the same place as I did during Ajab. I am pretty bruised but the staff feels it's good luck for the film. But it was a funny scene so I think it was worth it" and "Please don't make it seem as if Imran was careless or something. These things happen.We were shooting one of the really madcap scenes where the actors' limbs acquire a life of their own. Imran's hand landed on my face" while joking "Yeah, I got whacked twice in the same spot. I think I need to get my nose fixed". Another incident of sorts was reported by the media in early October and involves an emotional scene where Kaif's character slaps Khan's. Kaif would have been content to slap Khan once, however he insisted on sixteen takes so that the director would have a variety of slaps to choose from. Kaif later joked that the slap would be "the most authentic screen-slap audiences will ever see".

The film's title, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, was revealed on October 2 along with a couple of promo pictures. While filming in the Doon Valley, the cast & crew stayed at the Jaypee Residency Manor Hotel[1] in Mussoorie. Imran Khan and Katrina Kaif are said to have gotten along well during the shoot with Kaif declaring to the media "He's really fun to gel with. Luckily, he's engaged, so we can chat and enjoy one another's company without people's imagination going on a rampage!" and "Imran is very simple and straight forward person. He's absolutely focussed on his work and I like people for whom everything except their work is secondary." while Khan praised her acting and declared "I have always enjoyed working with people who are out to prove a point. That way, we all end up giving our best". Ali Zafar also reported his good experiences on set early on during filming, noting that his co-stars were "fun to work with" and that Imran Khan was very friendly while Katrina Kaif was nice and professional.

Music

The score and songs of the film are composed by relative newcomer Sohail Sen, best known for being the man behind the music of What's Your Rashee?. Ali Zafar sings three songs in the film.

Release

While a firm release date isn't set, Yash Raj Films is aiming for a mid-2011 date. The studio changed their marketing tactics with this film by revealing the film's title and two stills a week into filming, whereas they have previously been very secretive about sharing such information about their films until about a couple of months before their theatrical release.

See also

• 2011 in film
• Bollywood
• Bollywood films of 2011

External links

• Mere Brother Ki Dulhan at IMDb
• Mere Brother Ki Dulhan at Bollywood Hungama (archived)
• Promotional and "Behind The Scenes" stills from the film