Director Vipul Shah proved his mettle in his first 2 films WAQT and AANKHEIN with an actue grasp over the medium of direction, technical finesse and good performances from his cast. His new outing NAMASTEY LOINDON doesn’t strive or pretend to be a great piece of filmmaking, however it does manage to entertain for the most which is its core purpose!
Jazz(Katrina) is married to Arjun(Akshay) against her wishes.Born and brought up in London, she loves and wants everything that’s western, including a husband.But her father forces her to marry a stranger. Although Arjun loves her more than anything, Jazz sees him as just a rustic farmer who cannot even speak English properly. She refuses to acknowledge the marriage and longs to be with her British boyfriend.
Arjun’s love for Jazz remains unchanged even when he realizes that she feels nothing for him. A good hearted man that he is, he won’t force anything upon her. He decides to win her love instead. Jazz returns to her former life and wants to marry her British boyfriend.In pursuit of his beloved, Arjun lands in London. Soon he begins to win everyone’s heart with his simple, straight-hearted and jubilant nature. But the question is: will he win Jazz’s love?
The story itself is no great shakes; however it’s the treatment which makes all the difference.Bollywood has witnessed the love stories for years and years on end and in that retrospect the story isn’t anything new at all. However its Shahs screenplay that makes all the difference. Despite having a age old story, his screenplay and is alive and crackling throughout.
As a director Vipul Shah yet again proves his mettle. He takes his time to tell the story and build up the rapport between the viewers and his characters.The sequence of events that in the entire first half infant keep the viewer with the constant smile on their face and the light hearted movie connects with the viewer. The second half abounds in clichés, however the emotional scenes for the most are well etched out which again makes all the difference. However the second half does get slightly too long.
AKshay Kumar gives a FANTASTIC performance. The actor, once again completely dominates a movie in every frame he is in and delivers a performance that CONNECTS with the viewrs.His comic timing is simply superb . Katrina gives a tremendous account of herself and performs her part remarkably well. She looks stunning and her delivery, getup and body language are all simply fantastic.
She is a complete natural .Must add-the chemistry that she shares with Akshay is simply FANTASTIC and the two are a pleasure to watch when they are on-screen together. Rishi Kapoor is likeable. Upen Patel is royally wasted. The actor doesn’t even get any good scenes like he did in 36 CHINA TOWN. The music in the movie is just OK. I didn’t think much of Chakna Chakna which seemed like it was a rehash of countless Himesh Reshamiya songs of late. Rafta Rafta too is just OK.
The dialogues deserve a special mention as they are witty and downright hilarious. The film is laced with humour, and the lines are successful in evoking humour throughout the movie Technically the film is a slick product and cameraman has captured the ”look and feel of the movie superbly. I’ve seen London many few times on the Indian screen this is the most inviting London has EVER looked on celluloid. To sum up NAMASTEY LONDON is an entertainer in the true sense and has something for everyone although there was room for improvement as the movie has its share of flaws.