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Salaam e Ishq **
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comes in different packages but to enforce three hours and forty minutes
of this film on anyone would certainly be the 21st century version
of bamboo stick torture. In 2003 Nikhil Advani directed the super
hit Kal Ho Naa Ho, experimenting with the ensemble cast, quick cuts
and multiple screens and he balanced it superbly. In 2003 Love Actually,
written and directed by Richard Curtis, was also released and evidently
inspired Advani so much that he spent the next four years writing
Salaam e Ishq and then directing this masterpiece of failure. As a
reflection of Love Actually, the fantastic romantic comedy that spins
around ten different couples and how their love lives build up to
a climax towards Christmas time, SEI is indeed a very twisted picture. |
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SEI is a film about six different couples, all in different stages
of their relationships. Though their stories do overlap at times,
there is no coherence to bind them together and when they all assimilate
as the film finally concludes, it comes as an unrealistic ending to
stories that are supposed to be inspired from real relationships.
There is no originality nor is there anything new in the treatment
of film or its screenplay. Instead it is a terribly tedious stretch
of incidents that can bore you to death.
Priyanka Chopra and Salman Khan try to out-do each other in overacting
and irritate to no end. Ditto for Sohail Khan and Isha Koppikar, who
come across as the most useless addition to the film, especially as
their characters disappear into thin air and then return for a split
second conclusion. Advani could easily have done without them as they
certainly do not provide the sex appeal or comic relief intended.
The other four couples come with rare glimpses of hope. Anil Kapoor
and Juhi Chawla are picturized in a very grim light but being the
brilliant actors that they are, they manage to inspire interest. Plus,
the mid life crisis they deal with is a very realistic phenomena.
John Abraham and Vidya Balan have no on-screen chemistry whatsoever
but again, their love story provides moments of suspense. Akshaye
Khanna and Ayesha Takia seem to take off where Dil Chahta Hai left
but their characters too are likeable and easy to relate to. Surprisingly
the Govinda-Shannon couple provides the most entertainment. They actually
deliver a palatable performance but their story - an educated foreigner
falling for an illiterate, ageing taxi driver just doesn't seem convincing
or romantic in this day and age.
Unfortunately any good coming out of SEI gets lost in the enormous
mess it creates as it proceeds. The characters do not get a chance
to evolve and consequently become forgettable in the haze.
It's not easily to handle an ensemble cast and with this film, Nikhil
Advani bites off more than he can chew. There are no moments of glory
for the story or its characters. Interest does build in the last forty
minutes of the film, but only because after watching three hours of
it you want it to climax. The only saving grace of SEI is its soundtrack.
The songs - surprise, surprise - are actually quite good. Advice:
skip the DVD and buy the CD instead.
– Aamna Haider Isani *YUCK
**WHATEVER
***GOOD
****SUPER
*****AWESOME
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