Cast: Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Sohail Khan, Yash Tonk, Nauheed Cyrusi

Director: Prem Soni

Rating: **

Post-marriage blues is a tricky subject because it entails seriousness and sadness. People thinking dark thoughts is not something Hindi cinema usually bothers about. And when a film does try bravely to go down that path, like in ‘Main Aur Mrs Khanna’, it flounders because, after the initial flurry, cluelessness reigns.

It begins well enough. Samir Khanna (Salman) plucks pretty Raina No Name (Kareena) from an orphanage and turns her into Mrs Khanna. Their comfortable existence in Melbourne is threatened by a jobless Samir’s moroseness, and soon the husband is off, leaving the devastated wife to her own devices.

The meeting up of the third wheel, Akash (Sohail) and the abandoned ‘biwi’ is accomplished quite soon, but from here on, there’s confusion. Should it have the faithful Raina, who’s shown pining for her absentee lord and master, turn adultress? No, no, where would the family audience go? Should Sohail-the-jokey-barkeep be a worthier rival to Salman-the-sophisticated-entrepreneur? No, no, what would ‘bade bhaiya’ Salman’s fan base, still enthralled by his fisticuffs in `Wanted’, think?

The strained relationship between the spouses which could have been explored to the benefit of the film is buried under silly comedy, improbable script turns, and a really bad ‘mujra’ pictured on Preity Zinta trying desperately to be Aishwarya Rai. A ‘mujrewali’ in Melbourne? Don’t ask.

Moral of the story: ‘Bharatiya naris’ have to keep loving their boorish husbands. As Kareena, who’s the only good thing about the film, says, it’s not happening.