Sunday, November 27, 2005

Movie review: Salaam Namaste

Bollywood. That word either brings you into rapture or sends you into shudders of agony. Me? Well some of it I like, some just annoys me. Salaam namaste was/is apparently a ground-breaking Bollywood movie in that it was the first to be filmed completely outside of India...and that it shows *gasp!* (spoilers here)
KISSING
PRE-MARITAL COHABITATION
LOVE SCENES
SINGLE PARENTHOOD
And if you know your Bollywood, you know how ground-breaking that is. But I mostly saw this movie because it was filmed in and around Melbourne.

Anyway, the story is pretty simple and standard. Ambar (Preity Zinta) is a medical student and DJ (although its called RJ in the subtitles for some reason). She left India because her parents didn't want her to study medicine, instead preferring that she get married. Her move caused her to be disowned and in her day job is the most popular DJ and the most popular Indian station in Melbourne, Salaam Namaste. One day she is supposed to interview Nick (Saif Ali Khan). Nick came to Melbourne to study architecture, but his real passion was cooking and he is now head chef at the hippest Indian restaurant in the city. Nick sleeps in and doesnt make the interview. Ambar is incensed that he didn't have the manners to apologise for ruining her show and embarks on a ...well, its not quite a crusade, to ruin his reputation. And so they start hating each other. Unknowing of each other's appearance, they meet and feel an attraction at a beach wedding that Nick is catering for and where Ambar is bridesmaid. When they discover their identities, they have a moment of *How can I love this person? I hate them!* followed by many adventures.

And when I say many adventures, I mean it!
The movie takes place over a year and they really cram in the stuff tha can happen in the space of a year although oddly enough they dont show the rain :-P. At 158 minutes you're really glad when the intermission arrives but at the same time, if you suspend belief you shouldnt feel the burden of time. Just sit back and enjoy the many hilarious moments. (For everyone who knows him, one of the people I watched this with was Nick Chu, so you can imagine that even if you dont find it funny, it was amusing to just hear him laughing all the time.) Some of the especially amusing bits were Ambar and Nick singing their love by dancing around Melbourne, at one point Nick is playing a guitar with those Latin Guitar guys in Bourke St. Mall. Nick also parks his girly little SMART car in the Mall. The Indian-Australian Crocodile Dundee landlord (EXACTLY!). Driving to get ice-cream in the middle of the night and finding a vending machine thats just standing on the street. At the wedding, the completely random introduction to the first song by having some anglo guy shouting *everyone take off your clothes!* and having everyone comply and then run into the water to play volleyball (I dont think this scene was filmed in Melbourne :-P). And of course (spoiler) Ambar's hilariously pregnant belly which seems to begin at 8 months - and given its size, her continued ability to dance and run and when the baby kicks for the first time!! I think this last one made everyone crack up the most.

One of the biggest complaints about Bollywood is the random singing and dancing. But you know, there were only about 4 or 5 singing and dancing pieces, its certainly manageable, but still probably not some ppl's cup of tea. This is a pretty hard movie to review. I know pretty much all of the movies I've reviewed have a 3/5 rating or above (generally cos I don't bother going to movies that I know I don't like - e.g. Stealth or Sky High), but while I did enjoy this movie, I see soooo much wrong with it that I'm not sure if I can recommend it to many people. It was ultra long. An unbelievable yet completely predictable plot full of cliches. The sometimes crappy acting - stand up Tania Zaetta. The crappy script. The way a leafy Melbourne boulevard turns into the Great Ocean Road...The movie is pretty crappy. But it was highly enjoyable!

Just don't expect too much and its a 4/5 movie.
All other times, 2/5

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