yuliya-alexa

Salaam-e-Ishq is the second new Indian movie i have ever seen, and so I speak from a western view point. This movie is quite good, especially the first 2 hours. The characters are diverse, and so are their stories. Many dialogs are absolutely hilarious. Passages from comedy to drama episodes are done carefully, and the movie rolls by in a dynamic, entertaining way. However, towards the end of the second hour the movie starts to stretch. Some scenes are unnecessary, and some songs are too long and could have been saved for the ending. As a result, by the time the conclusion comes, one starts gazing at the watch. Also,towards the end, the drama is in some cases exaggerated and not every actor and actress manage to pull it off well. For the rest of the movie, performances range from excellent to satisfactory. This movie should have been edited down to about two and a half hours and would have been perfect. Still, it's a good one to see with your friends, or someone you love. The great comedy and the diverse issues make it worth it.

This is an excellent movie, and a very underrated too. First, it is the kind of serious approaching-adolescence stories that are funny, touching, sometimes troubling and, overall, the most memorable. Dubravka is a wild, boyish Crimean girl ( the movie is beautifully filmed and presumably set on the Crimean coast, Soviet-era southern paradise) who is struggling not to lose her childhood dreams and illusions while discovering the adult world that is so often mean, cruel and unfair. Yet some things, like friendship, endure beyond. The movie's strong is in staying a children's movie while frankly showing adult and family problems. Some scenes are very powerful. I would recommend this movie to anyone, but notably to pre-teens, especially girls. But although it tackles issues that are still valid, it is old and romantic, and being set in the Soviet Union might not be understood by all.