Salaam Namaste
The attraction of opposites has some obvious youth appeal and the film taps into it big time.
Salaam Namaste begins on a rather bright and breezy note. Ironically, that's when nothing much happens by way of the story. Only the boy Nick aka Nikhil (Saif) meets the girl Ambar (Preity), they fall in hate, then friendship and eventually in love. This attraction of opposites has some obvious youth appeal and the film taps into it big time. Good looks, great locales, foot-tapping song-'n-dance, designer garbs, in-your-face attitude, smart packaging, sharp lines and glib talk—SN has it all to woo the urban and NRI youth.
To be fair, there's a little more to Saif's hipness than just the Calvin Klein underwear. SN must be a rare Hindi film which manages to keep the family completely at bay. The youngsters live for their own selfish self with just a few friends for support. They're truly global citizens who fit in perfectly in Melbourne with no India tugging at their heartstrings. A few gender rules are also easily broken: it's Nick who cooks and cleans while Ambar lives in a mess. And they readily go for a live-in relationship to give love a chance.
It's Ambar's unplanned pregnancy that turns the film a loser. The pregnancy debate, quite like Kya Kehna, is unconvincing. Why does the free-spirited Ambar decide to become baby-bound? How does the cad Nick, who initially advises Ambar to "kill it", turn repentant? Certainly a mere ultrasound and a doctor's voice-over about the joys of parenthood can't bring about such instant attitudinal shifts. The second half of SN gets utterly tedious and dreary, the Nick-Ambar quarrels are grating screamfests and the Nine Months-like slapstick finale at the hospital's delivery room is irritating to say the least. So is the hysterical, inept doctor AB Jr. Saif does the cool-dude act charmingly, yet again. SN must be the first film where a top-rated star pair does some hot scenes (not just innocent kisses) without an ounce of coyness. Crowd favourite: Javed Jaffrey paying tribute to Channel V's Quickgun Murugan by doing an exaggerated, Bihari-turned-Crocodile Dundee act. Nevertheless, he gets the best line: "In Rome do the Romans". Other highlights: Maria Goretti's guest appearance and a fleeting glimpse of Preity's real-life dude Ness Wadia.
INDIAN Top 5
1. Salaam Namaste
2. No Entry
3. Aashiq Banaya Aapne
4. Mangal Pandey: The Rising
5. Iqbal
US Top 5
1. The Exorcism of Emily Rose
2. The 40-Year-Old Virgin
3. Transporter 2
4. The Constant Gardener
5. Red Eye
Courtesy: Film Information
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