KARACHI: The exclusive back-to-back premieres of Yash Raj Films’ Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (MBKD), which opened throughout Pakistan on Friday, were well-attended events.

Not only were the glitterati and celebrities in full attendance, but the event also wiped away unsavoury memories of Ali Zafar’s Bollywood debut, Tere Bin Laden, being banned at the last minute from being screened throughout Pakistan.

But then there’s a big difference in the content matter of both the films: where the TBL was somewhat loosely structured around a fake Osama bin Laden look-alike and focused on certain elements of society who exploit a situation to their benefit, the MBKD is a light-hearted comedy skirting around the issue of mismatched couples with a hit soundtrack that is predicted to do great things not only for the film but Ali Zafar’s musical career as well.

The MBKD red carpet premiere, promoted by Ponds and arranged by distributors International Multi Group of Companies (IMGC) late on Thursday night at the Atrium Mall cinema in Karachi, coincided with another in Lahore, and saw fashion critics and coordinators, entertainment journalists and editors along with Rahat and Sahira Kazmi, Frieha Altaf, Faisal Qureshi (comedian), director Ahsan Rahim, make-up artist Rukaiya Adamjee, Nadia Hussain, Sadia Imam, Komal Rizvi, Humayun Saeed, Zhalay Sarhadi, Ayesha Omer and many others giving their comments to the media on the crimson carpet. They were there not only to see the film but also to cheer Ali Zafar on his way to Bollywood gold and glory.

“Ali [Zafar] is one of the very few celebrities in Pakistan who can truly become global ambassadors. He is educated, articulate and talented, and I am happy for him as he holds his own against Katrina Kaif and Imran Khan in the film and shines when he sings — which is his forte. I hope that Pakistan at some point can build a platform where we can create celebrities. I recommend the MBKD to everyone as it is good, clean entertainment,” said noted fashion and film critic Aamna Haider Isani.

In an interview to Sunday’s fashion and entertainment section of Dawn’s weekly magazine, Images on Sunday, Ali answered a query about having the cast and crew in Pakistan at the premiere with: “We were meant to do a premiere in Karachi but then, look at the conditions here.”

The story of the MBKD revolves around Kush Agnihotri (Imran Khan) who is on the search for a prospective wife for his brother Luv (Ali Zafar) who works as a banker, lives in London and has recently broken up with his long-time girlfriend, Piali Patel (Tara D’Souza). Kush’s search leads him to the feisty and fiery Dimple Dixit (Katrina Kaif) whom he knows from his college days some five years back thanks to a flashback sequence, and he chooses her for Luv, not knowing that he’s about to open a Pandora’s box for all three of them.

Peppered with light, romantic, peppy songs such the title song Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, Dhunki, Choomantar, Ishq Risk, Madhubala and Do Dhaari Talwar, they propel matters towards a mildly predictable but nevertheless entertaining conclusion, for it’s the journey that matters here rather than the destination. Things come together in the end with the audiences giving Ali Zafar a big hand for his well-executed role although there are shades of nervousness as he faces Katrina for the first time and he falters in a few scenes when it comes to a display of appropriate emotions. But such minor setbacks are conveniently overlooked and easily forgotten, given that it is a big banner production by Yash Chopra and such lucky breaks for talent from Pakistan are few and far between. The bloopers at the end of the movie as the credits roll are also quite entertaining and not to be missed. Oh, and the MBKD director Ali Abbas Zafar is not to be confused with Ali Zafar.

Next, audiences will see Ali Zafar in London, Paris, New York, which he has already started work on and is also its music director. The film is presented by Fox Studios and produced by Rose Films.