Ya, ya - I've heard all about how long this movie is. But then a monumental epic never hurt anyone - as long as it's entertaining. Nikhil Advani's Salaam-e-Ishq has all the right ingredients - an incredible cast, rocking music and six delightful stories about love. The Problem? When the theatrewallah gets into scissorhands mode, viewers are in for some trying times.
How did Anil Kapoor get his arm in a sling? Apparently, he fell down (a colleague informs me). But shouldn't I see it on screen instead of wondering why Kapoor is sling-free in one frame and sling-full in the next. Media reports suggest that Advani, bombarded with complaints of the film being unbearably long, decided to make a few cuts himself. Bad move cos there's nothing worse than bad editing.
Anyway, that's not the only problem. Advani also has problems weaving in the six love stories together - the stitches are quite visible in some cases.
My favourite couple - Govinda and Shannon. The taxi-driver falling for an American was quite an original concept. Can't say the same for the Haryanvi combo of Sohail-Ishaa though. That track could have been safely edited out.
John Abraham and Vidya Balan have done some good work too and so have most of the others (including Priyanka Chopra). But Advani lacks the finesse of Karan Johar (who btw has a phone-in cameo in the film). In Johar's hands, Salaam-e-Ishq would have been gold. In his protégé's hands, the film is not the blockbuster it could have been.
Watch out for Kailash Kher's 'Ya Rabba' number. It left several in the audience teary-eyed and is easily the best song of the film.
