Salaam Namaste...Offbeat

A subject that has not been dealt effectively finally finds its way into the folds of Hindi cinema. It depends on the viewer's take on live in relationship. A simple story of a couple(not a married one) staying together just to find out whether they can be compatible in the future or not forms the backdrop of this movie.

Writing a review on Salaam Namaste at this point may not serve a lot of purpose for others, since I guess most of them would have watched the movie by now. But I had the opportunity to watch it after a considerable time thanks to the India Association here. As always, my punctuality deserts me at such moments and I arrived at the Physics seminar hall a good fifteen minutes late. But the good thing about Indian movies is that the viewer can follow the story from any given point. It doesn't matter whether one is fifteen minutes late or an hour late!

It is about two people, Preity Zinta and Saif Ali Khan, who have divergent set of views and though both of them lead their lives with different ideologies, have mutual feelings for each other. Saif is pretty keen on a long term relationship with Preity, though the latter is very doubtful of the both of them striking good chemistry. So, they decide to live in together for a few days and then see how the relationship takes shape before deciding to tie the nuptial knot. The early days goes on brilliantly before a series of events force both of them to decide whether they are making the right moves.

Now, to watch such a hindi movie after a lot of repetitive, cliched and boring themes leaves us with a pretty good feeling. It is not the run-of-the-mill movie where the hero and the heroine are running around trees and then finally decide to come together at all odds. The subject here is quite touchy and the director(I missed the credits. Remember I was fifteen minutes late!!) has done a good job to portray such a theme with ease. When most of the movies flash the The End message on the screen as soon as the hero and the heroine get together, here the movie ends once the two of them have stabilised their relationship after showing the viewers the pros and cons of a relationship. It is never easy to direct a movie of such a controversy prone subject(Kushboo and Suhasini can tell how controversial this is), but at the end of the day, a nice message is conveyed. But inspite of all that, the movie could have ended on serious overtones instead of getting meaningless comedy elements interleaved in the ending. It was totally disgusting to see Abhishek Bachchan(yes it is Abhishek in a guest appearance) wield his role as a doctor and that too with some slapstick comedy that was irritating.

Saif and Preity have done a terrific job. Dil Chahta Hai has made a big difference to Saif and he seems to fit any role to perfection with his good acting skills and he is one of those few actors these days who has a perfect sense of timing in comedy sequences. He makes it look really casual. Preity is as cherubic as ever, displaying lots of enthusiasm and energy, and springing to life with gaiety. Her display of emotions is truly commendable. It is not one of those movies where the actress has got just a job of pleasing the hero with her song and dance ability. She has a clearly defined role in the movie and plays it to laudable limits. Arshad Warsi, as Saif's friend in the movie, has played a good supporting role. He is the favourite of the masses after his fantastic role in Munna Bhai MBBS and here too, he does not let anyone down with his acting skills. Javed Jaffrey has been roped in for a very small role and I did not find anything exciting about his comedy. The songs are pretty lively and the cinematography is excellent capturing the picturesque locations of Austraila very well.

Overall a decent Hindi movie to watch and the offbeat theme breaks the dull lullaby of the old fashioned themes so often repeated in Hindi cinema.

A laugh riot!

Seeing Michael Madana Kamarajan for the nth time does not give the viewer the chance to change his opinion on the movie. One Kamal Hassan is more than enough in a movie, but what do you do when you are put up with four Kamal Hassans for three hours. You just put up with him in glee!! There are some movies where you just hope the movie ends within the first ten minutes of the start, but MMK is totally different. At the end of the movie, the reaction is Oh! The movie has got over! This movie was released in the year 1990, but almost 15 years later, the movie can still be glorified for its comedy.

I will not be delving into the details of the movie. Obviously, everyone should have seen the movie more than once. It is about four sons Michael, Madan, Kameswaran and Raju who get separated at birth due to a conspiracy hatched by their father's brother. The movie basically deals with the tryst of the four brothers in various situations and how they come out unscathed to get together in the end. Kamal Hassan, as Kameswaran is a delight with his Malayali accent. His encounters with Urvashi and her paati(grandma) is a treat to watch. That particular sequence where a fish falls into a sambar in an Iyer aam(house) keeps the viewers in splits. The dialogues etched for that scene is unforgettable. I mean It is too good! Urvashi's oodles of talent is well captured, and no wonder Kamal Hassan speaks highly of her in any interview. Delhi Ganesh, as Kamal's father has done a little cameo. He is such a gifted actor that he fits in a role to sublime ease.

Kamal, as Michael plays a local goon and Madan is a multi-millionaire Kamal. Madan's personal secretary as well as friend is the Bheema of Mahabharata fame. Bhim boy is characterised in a peculiarly funny way, totally different from the angry young man we see in Mahabharata. Nagesh, as the corrupt secretary dons his role to perfection. The final Kamal is Raju, who is a part of the fire brigade. Roopini, Kushboo and Manorama have done a good job as supporting actresses, but it is Uravashi who steals the show with her dynamic prowess.

Kamal of course as expected steals the show. The supporting cast is excellent too. Every actor enacts his role to a nicety. Coming to the dialogues of the movie, Crazy Mohan has come up with unbeatable dialogues. There is not an iota of doubt when he is acknowledged to be the best dialogue writer in Tamil cinema. Ilayaraja's music is highly commendable. Isaignani's music fits perfectly in the movie. The sundari neeyum.. song and its picturisation is the highlight of the movie. Singeetham Srinivasa Rao has crafted a lot of movies with Kamal and the duo share a special rapport that has seen them come up with a number of hits - Apoorva Sahodarargal, Pushpaka Vimana, and Mumbai Express to an extent.

If merry making is the mantra, watch this movie to beat any time blues!!