I watched Salaam Namaste (what an inane name!) yesterday evening. I was pleasantly surprised that the movie wasn’t all yuppy chickflicky like, but had some serious stuff, and even the humor wasn’t too bad, except the last few scenes and the staged outtakes which were really disgusting. This movie felt way better and more genuine than Hum Tum, but maybe I just was in that kind of mood.
I don’t to spoil the movie for readers, so I won’t tell you the story, but just describe what it’s about. It’s about young Indians living in a foreign country (’’Um-aye-zing Uss-tr-aye-lia’’ in this case), trying out some things that’re new to Indian society (don’t want to give spoilers), and what happens when they do this. There’s humour throughout the movie that keeps things light, but there’s a serious message that you take away at the end of the movie. Yash Raj have always had their finger on the pulse of Indian society, and have made their movies in the spirit of the times extrapolating out to where our evolving culture will take Indians. And in this case, what they show is just around the corner.
If you’re in the mood for a light breezy yuppy comedy with some serious undertones (not just complete fluff), you’ll enjoy the movie.
The spoilerless negatives:
Graphic sex scenes which to me are just wasted airtime.
Childish fights and ott yelling (boring)
Disgusting staged outtakes at the end (unmentionable, so I won’t
give examples)
an avoidable OTT slapstick routine at the very end of the movie
shows all westerners as easy for sex (nothing wrong with that, the negative part being just that it’s reinforcing a stereotype and thus, misleading).
ppl tell me it’s a Hindi version of Nine Months On or some such English movie (this might be relevant for you. it wasn’t for me cuz I haven’t watched NMO).
Saif Ali Khan and Preity Zinta play the young airhead yuppies really well (unsurprisingly?). The rest (Arshad Warsi and a couple others) are good comedic add-ons. The little kid from Masoom shows up in this movie in a small supportive role. Abhishek Bachchan has a cameo appearance in an avoidable OTT slapstick section. Australians don’t have much of a role, but it’s great fun to hear their accents (ache-cints as they put it, :)). Coastal Australia itself is depicted as the heaven on earth that it is.
A treat for the eyes, a quiet subtle message planted in your head to mull over, presented in a fun package, a definite ’’upper’’ movie. It’s missing the earthy flavor, dishum-dishum and rona-dhona elements of a true-blue masala movie, but overall fun to watch once.
Messages/opinions that the storywriter wants to send to Indian youth in the movie:
On Abortion: It’s killing life, but life that’s not self-sustaining yet. So it’s the mother’s right to choose.
On sex before marriage: Be prepared to handle the consequences (AIDS, pregnancy, sexual diseases etc) since protection is never 100%.
On live-in arrangements: Instead of accepting a person as they are (as in arranged marriages), here, you’re trying to find out if you can accept the person before rushing into marriage. Downside, no mental security in the relationship.
On marrying non-Indians: probably won’t be able to speak your native language much in your life. Also, divorces and breakups are common, so again, no security.
On being a chef: You get to sleep late and wake up late :).