Salaam Namaste

I have just returned from India, on holiday, and discovered that this is a film that just about everybody over there has seen. In fact many people talked about the film because I was from Australia. Because of this I went to see the film with some Indian friends and enjoyed it. It is not the greatest film I have ever seen, but it doesn't pretend to be . It is a fun light comedic Hindi film with a study of "modern" lifestyle. I am looking forward to the Australian release with English subtitles, so I can pick up some things I missed due to my lack of knowledge of Hindi.I am also anticipating finding Ben and Jerry's dark Belgian chocolate ice cream somewhere here. One thing I should advise Indian guys if they come to Australia. You may be surprised to find that most Australian girls are not so fast, and that prostitutes are not found at suburban bus stops.

How they came up with this movie:

Aditya: ...But you know it gotta be new.

Siddharth: Lets see what we can do? How about a new location?

A: Oh yes! In the past movies, We've been to London, new york, LA.. how about Melbourne this time?

S: Fantastic! and we can have a couple of beach songs there, you know thats the latest trend these days.

A: OK Lets talk about the story. I've an idea, lets do a different kind of romantic movie.

S: What different?

A: How about if we make a modern day love story, girl and boy both living outside India. That way we can also capture those NRI sentiments you know?

S: Whoa whoa. But that we have already seen in so many other movies lately. Need to add something more to it.

A: How about if the boy and the girl live together?

S: Live-in relationships? Indian audience will never accept that.

A: Ha! They are going' to jump on it, it will be a fresh story, wholly new idea, you know. Boy and girl stay together, fall in love, have sex, and then the girl becomes pregnant.

S: You are talking about "nine-months"?

A: whatever! how many in India have watched nine months? forget it. people are just going to love the idea.

S: OK so the story is finalized. What about the music?

A: Yeh, we need one or two dance item numbers, one wedding song?

S: why a wedding song?

A: You don't understand! its that superstition thing!

S: OK OK! But how are we going to have dance numbers when the heroine is pregnant?

A: Don't worry! Audience won't care. They come only to see the dance and songs. Nobody gives a damn even if she dances while giving birth to her baby.

A: I've got this gut feeling, in last movie remember, people loved the comedy. We have to have that in this movie too.

S: But its a serious movie. How can it have comedy?

A: Then arrange some part time TV actor. You know those anchors, they can speak so much on the spot you don't even need to worry about writing dialogs for them.

S: Thats fine. How about the cast?

A: Lets see, Preity is hot these day. See if we get dates from Preity, else go for Rani. Male actor, I don't think Shahrukh is that good after Swades. and Aamir, just don't approach him, he'll demand the god-damn script first.

S: Then how about Saif.

A: He'll do. Anything else?

S: We'll see that on the sets. Lets start working on it.

Salaam Namaste started off really well. Although the concept of the movie was nothing new (Remember, Chalte Chalte and few others that deal with people in relationships..), I liked seeing Melbourne on the big screen. It makes me want to visit that place. There were certain scenes I thought were really rude and against our Indian culture. The scenes between Javed Jaffrey and his girlfriend. After a while it also got pretty irritating to hear words like "Exactly" and "Sorry" over and over again. The worst part of the movie was the ending. Abhishek Bacchan seemed totally unnecessary in the movie. I wonder what made him chose this role! The ending could have been a little more graceful and all the chaos in the hospital was totally unwanted and rather unpleasing to watch. Saif, Arshad and Tania go a good job. Preity is also good but at times she does get pretty loud in the movie. I would give this movie a 5 out of 10... for acting credentials (except Abhishek) and Melbourne.

I was so surprised by this movie! The only reason why I watched it was because my french teacher was making me watch it. I agreed after a while but I wasn't looking forward to it. I was so surprised at how good this movie was! I didn't want it to finish! It tells the story of a girl and a guy who, when they first talk don't like each other at all, but with time they fall in love and move in together. It is set in Australia and the characters are Indian. The movie, not only has a great story line, but it also shows us a lot about the Indian culture. It has a few songs in it, which are always fun. The movie has it all - i know that's cheesy - but it does! It is a great movie to have fun but it also has some really sad parts when you'll want to grab the tissues. It is amazing how many great movies there are out there but we don't realize it just because they aren't Hollywood. This kind of movie is great to have fun, and it also teaches us a lot about another country's culture. I recommend everyone to watch it, nobody will regret it... the acting is also pretty good, it is harder to tell when you don't understand the language, but it seemed decent. There are very funny lines, and of course the occasional sad part. A great movie that everyone should be able to enjoy!

Salaam Namaste Starring : Saif Ali Khan, Priety Zinta and Arshad Warsi. It has taken nearly nine years for an Indian Director to be "inspired" by Nine Months. What we get then is a Siddharth Anand meets Chris Columbus in a Yash Raj package. So you could meet Hugh Grant (Khan-competent),Julianne Moore (Zinta-dependable), Tom Arnold (Warsi-getting better) and Joan Cusak (Tania Zaetta- getting worse) and Robin Williams (Abhishek Bachchan in one of his most hammiest cameo) or go to Blockbuster and pick up the original instead. Too much hype little spike. I will be posting a more a detailed review on dus-ka-bees.blogspot.com