‘Biwi No 1’ Re-Release Movie Review: Salman Khan, Karishma Kapoor and Sushmita Sen’s Nostalgic Hit Has Expectedly Aged Like Sour Milk (LatestLY Exclusive)
Biwi No 1 Movie Review: Since Bollywood is currently big on re-releases – some even cashing in at the box office – we figured, why not revisit these films when they come out in theatres again? Not just to judge how good or bad they were, but to see how well they’ve aged. While these movies may hold a warm nostalgic value for many of you, some have soured like milk that’s been kept out for two decades, while others have aged like fine wine. With that in mind, let’s talk about Biwi No 1, David Dhawan’s star-packed 1999 comedy that’s back in theatres. Honestly, though, did anyone ask for this? ‘Biwi No 1’ Re-Release Date: Salman Khan and Karisma Kapoor’s Iconic Film Returns to Theatres on November 29.
Here’s where it gets awkward. I didn’t like Biwi No 1 back in 1999, and I knew I wasn’t going to love it now. It’s not that I had some elevated cinematic taste when I was going through my awkward teenage phase then – my guilty pleasure back then was Taqdeerwala. But even as an ignorant adolescent, I couldn’t stomach the movie’s blatant misogyny, and worse, I didn’t find it funny. Give me ‘Yam Hai Hum‘ and ‘Him Cream‘ any day over this! Okay, the songs slapped, I’ll give it that.
Watch the Trailer of ‘Biwi No 1’:
Biwi No 1 hit theatres on May 28, 1999 and became the second highest-grossing Bollywood film of the year, behind Hum Saath-Saath Hain, also starring Salman Khan, Karishma Kapoor, Tabu and Saif Ali Khan. Dhawan’s film is a remake of Balu Mahendra’s 1995 Tamil hit Sathi Leelavati, which starred Kamal Haasan, Ramesh Aravind, and Kovai Sarala. Sathi Leelavati itself borrowed its plot from the 1989 Hollywood comedy She-Devil, featuring Meryl Streep.
The story?
Oh, you know this one. Prem (Salman Khan), a business tycoon, is living his best life with his devoted wife Pooja (Karisma Kapoor, looking a million bucks), two kids, and his mother (Himani Shivpuri). Naturally, this makes him the perfect candidate to stray. Enter Rupali (Sushmita Sen, also looking a million bucks), a model who joins his company. Prem promptly falls for her and spins a web of lies to keep her around, even after she learns about his marriage.
A Still From Biwi No 1
When Pooja discovers the affair, Prem doubles down by leaving her and the kids for Rupali. Enter Lakhan (Anil Kapoor), Prem’s best friend and enabler-in-chief, and Lakhan’s boisterous wife Lovely (Tabu, goddamn looking a million bucks). Together, they help Pooja hatch a scheme to win her philandering husband back.
‘Biwi No 1’ Movie Review – A Time Capsule to Cheesiness of ’90s Bollywood
Biwi No 1 was certainly a relic of the ‘90s Bollywood. There are song sequences shot in Switzerland where the actors dance like no one’s watching, yet there is a bunch of white folks looking awkwardly at them. Fake beards continue to fool characters even when they have known the person for years, and women are being hailed for forgiving cheating husbands because they did the ghar wraps. Dhawan, in particular, seemed fixated on infidelity comedies during this era. Sirji, do you have anything to confess here? Also yes, it was also a time when Vashu Bhagnani’s Pooja Entertainment used to deliver hits. Too low a blow? Sorry!
A Still From Biwi No 1
Biwi No 1 doesn’t give you anyone to root for. Prem is a grade-A sleaze and, occasionally, a domestic abuser (which the film brushes off, because why not?). Rupali is written as a shallow gold-digger who seems to think rich husbands fall from the sky. Worse, she’s made to look gullible so Prem’s manipulations can keep the plot moving.
And then there’s Pooja. Yes, she’s been wronged, but her ultimate goal is to get her awful husband back, even after he clearly chooses Rupali over her. How does she do this? By painting Rupali as “evil” while glossing over the fact that Prem is the actual villain. The movie even celebrates Rupali’s humiliation—applauding when she’s slapped and treating it as a joke when Prem nearly kicks her. Jackky Bhagnani Celebrates 25 Years of ‘Biwi No.1’ with This Adorable Clip Featuring Wife Rakul Preet Singh.
A Still From Biwi No 1
Even the supporting characters have questionable motives. Lakhan, the self-proclaimed moral compass, is just as shady – helping Prem cover up his infidelity before switching sides when the jig is up. Lovely is a rare exception: brash, unapologetic, and way too fun to have so little screentime. Casting Tabu and then sidelining her? That’s Bollywood blasphemy.
‘Biwi No 1’ Movie Review – A Comedy That Fails to Amuse
And can we talk about missed opportunities? Dhawan chose not to recreate the hilarious “Marugo Marugo” sequence from Sathi Leelavati, picturised on Kamal Haasan and Kovai Sarala, and instead gave us the forgettable “Mehboob Mere” in a random foreign location. In hindsight, maybe it’s for the best – he’d probably have ruined it anyway.
If anything, Biwi No 1 has aged worse than I expected. The narrative flow is choppy, with scenes clumsily stitched together as if to distract viewers with star power and peppy songs. But the distractions don’t work. Case in point: the bizarre “Hai Mirchi” sequence, where Lakhan dresses as Daler Mehndi and Pooja turns into a wannabe pop diva to make Prem jealous. I’ve spent 25 years trying to figure out what David Dhawan was going for there—and I still don’t know.
And that clown in the title track? Haunting. Who thought it was a good idea to have a random man dressed as a clown dancing in someone’s home? It was not cute back in 1999, and it’s even creepier now.
A Still From Biwi No 1
The women – Karisma Kapoor and Sushmita Sen – do the heavy lifting here. Despite being saddled with terrible writing, they inject some life into their characters. Salman Khan, who was going through his best looking phase then (how many gyms owned their business to him then!), was also stuck in his ‘cartoon voice’ acting phase. I once thought Anil Kapoor was the best of the lot when I watched the movie in 1999. I hadn’t watched Sathi Leelavati then. Now that’s done, the actor pales in comparison to what Kamal Haasan had so brilliantly brought to the table in Sathi Leelavati. Oh, and there’s Saif Ali Khan in a thankless cameo – a reminder of just how close he was to fading into a ‘Rajat Bedi’ before Dil Chahta Hai saved him.
‘Biwi No 1’ Movie Review – Final Thoughts
Anu Malik’s soundtrack still slaps (no pun intended), but Biwi No 1? Not so much. It’s a relic best left in the ’90s. Rewatch it only if you’re in the mood for a nostalgia trip that doubles as a reminder of how far Bollywood still has to go because our movies still want the wives to forgive their a-hole husbands. Looking at you, Animal!
PS: We do not want to disrespect your sense of nostalgia, so the movie ratings given for these re-releases are mostly for how well they have aged in time. This one didn’t.
(The opinions expressed in the above article are of the author and do not reflect the stand or position of Today News 24.)
(The above story first appeared on Today News 24 on Nov 29, 2024 04:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website todaynews24.top).
