Ig-jactly!!

* How does it matter that I am in Melbourne?
* So what if I have seen all the places that they show in the movie? Its going to be good fun.
* Arrey, I have heard it from A. She reckons its great!
* Lets go see it naa.... I dont want to wait for it to show up on DVD.
* Pleeeeeeeeeeaase!!

Finally I went to see "Salaam Namaste".

Warning - Possible plot-spoiler ahead! My apologies. :)

*Phew*
A 'big' critic of Bollywood movies that I am (with reviews of some latest movies and older ones like this, this, and this. ) But this movie... I walked into the theatre with a biased mind..I'll have to admit. Melbournian, that I am.... I'll have to say that I was really excited to see what part of Melbourne they had captured for the Indian audience!

My two cents!
=> Ofcourse they have captured all the scenic locations of Melbourne + surrounding places in the state (Victoria) like the Great Ocean Road. But its strange to see the actors driving in the middle of city traffic and seconds later driving on roads that are hours away from the city. And also some scenes with honking horns when there's hardly any traffic. That - I can say dosent happen here...because honking here is equal to swearing at someone.
But hey! Who's complaining.?

=> They did show the guy's character as pretty selfish n shallow - it seemed... but later as the girl explained - he had been honest abt it all. And I reckon it was not wrong at all.
Being so far away from home and family backup - financial situations can be messy at times and stress in such situations can bring out the worst. And the yelling and fighting and making each other's life hell - having gone thru my share of housemates here -- It was totally correct. Even I have had to yell like that *a couple of times!* :[

=> And I had heard that Javed Jaffrey's role was annoying. But surprisingly - I really enjoyed it. The whole theatre full of Desis at the 9pm screening - all at his "ig-jactly" brought roars of laughter every time!! :D The good thing was that it was short n sweet. Just long enough....

=> When the movie began - I was like - 'What the hey! Cant I escape from the AB khaandaan?!' In almost every movie that I have seen recently - either I have seen AB, or his son or AB's voice over and here - AB's son's voice over!!
But later when he finally showed as the wierd gynac - the serious second half of the movie was again provided with a comic relief. And the theatre was once again roaring with laughter all thanks to his idiotic antics. This one was again... just a few minutes of sillyness - not stretched to the limits that might start to bore n annoy. I laughed a LOT!!

==================================

To cut the long story short - I care to disagree with all those who didnt like the movie. Who thought that the guy was shown as a jerk. Or the girl had been ridiculous in her expectations. Who said the comedy was annoying......

I wont say that I know everything there is to know about - young adults thousands of kms away from home and family. But I can vouch for one thing - all that they showed in the movie is very much possible!

Yes.... falling in love can be the most amazing thing ever. And yes later its does tend to lose its initial 'magic' and thats something each and every one has to deal with.
How each of us deal with this loss of magic is entirely individual.... some take it as an inspiration to start the magic all over again, while others leave it and move on.

Living alone without family can be very liberating and will bring great sense of independence. But it is extremely stressful. At such a time - having understanding friends can be the difference between blissful and miserable existence. And stress has a strange effect on even the closest of relationships.

.....ok. I'll stop my lesson of 'gyaan' right here!!
:)

Movie Concept - ****
Songs - *****
Acting - ***1/2

Overall - ****

Go and watch the movie. Go and see my Melbourne.

(Haanji - YRFilms, where is my cheque?!) ;)