Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (Hindi: मेरे ब्रदर की दुल्हन; English: My Brother's Bride), also known by the abbreviated form MBKD, is an upcoming Hindi-language 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 July 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) fiancée (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
- Preity Zinta as the sister of the male lead
- Parikshit Sahni in an unspecified role
- Kanwaljit Singh in an unspecified role
- John Abraham in a cameo role
Production
Yash Raj Films announced the then-untitled project on 5 August 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.After years of working with Yash Raj Films, he submitted three love stories to producer Aditya Chopra, who eventually greenlit Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, enabling Zafar to start writing his 150 page long script.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 mirror 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 comparison to an earlier Yash Raj Films production, Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai.
Casting
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 initially to star together in 7 Days In Paris for director Sanjay Gadhvi, but the film has been indefinitely postponedThus, 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.
On 17 October 2010, several media outlets reported on the casting of Preity Zinta in an unspecified "glamorous role". The actress however quickly denied the report on her official Twitter page.
