Biwi No.1 opened to positive reviews from critics upon release, with praise for its screenplay, humor and performances of the cast, with particular praise for Kapoor and Sen's performances, emerging as a breakthrough for the latter. The film also emerged as a major commercial success at the box-office, grossing ₹52.80 crore worldwide, ranking as the second highest-grossing Hindi film of the year.
Prem Mehra is married to the loving yet traditional Pooja Khanna; they have 2 children. Rupali Walia arrives at Prem's office to give a modeling interview. They fall in love and begin an extramarital affair. Pooja finds out and Prem leaves her to move in with Rupali. With the help of Prem's friend Lakhan, Pooja has a make-over, turning modern and taking on modeling assignments. She sends her mother-in-law and children to live with Prem and Rupali. They intentionally trouble Rupali and tell Prem that she keeps them hungry and wants to poison and kill them.
Ultimately, the relationship between Prem and Rupali breaks down. Prem realizes she only came to him since he gave her material things, while Pooja stuck with him through thick and thin. Rupali gets back with her former boyfriend Deepak. Lakhan befriends her, addressing her as a sister. While hugging her, his wife Lovely sees them and misunderstands. She leaves, but Lakhan chases after and they make up as she realises the truth. He says to Lovely that she is his "Biwi no. 1."
Cast
Salman Khan as Prem Mehra (Chetan Sashital as the Hindi Dubbed voice)
Initially, the role of Prem was offered to Govinda, Dhawan's frequent collaborator; however, he re-directed the role to Salman Khan due to his brotherly love for him.
Morever, Juhi Chawala, Aishwarya Rai, Raveena Tandon, Pujaa Bhatt all declined the part . Later Manisha Koirala was offered the role of Pooja, but she rejected it for unknown reasons and was subsequently replaced by Karisma Kapoor.
South superstar Kamal Hassan was the first choice for Lakhan's role but during his date issues he couldn'tdo the part. After that Sanjay Dutt was initially signed for the role of Lakhan, but was later replaced by Anil Kapoor.
Rambha was set to play the role of Lovely, but later opted out, post which the role was essayed by Tabu.
Bobby Deol and Suniel Shetty were both offered the role of Deepak, which was later played by Saif Ali Khan. Sonali Bendre and Pooja Bhadra were highly considered for Sushmita Sen's role .
The Biwi No.1 soundtrack was largely composed by Anu Malik and lyricized by Sameer except for the exceptions noted below. The songs "Chunnari Chunnari[2]" and "Ishq Sona Hai[3]" became major hits after their release in 1999. The track "Aan Milo Ya Milne Se" did not feature in the movie. "Chunari Chunari" was later used in the 2001 film Monsoon Wedding.
Biwi No.1 opened to positive reviews from critics upon release, with praise for its screenplay, humor and performances of the cast, with particular praise for Kapoor and Sen's performances, emerging as a breakthrough for the latter.[4][5]