I had great expectations from Salaam Namaste and needless to add it did live up to them.
Nick (Nikhil Arora) is a classic representation of the modern urban male - a perfect metrosexual who freaks out at the mere mention of commitment. He is selfish and unafraid to admit it. Ambar is similar in that she has rebelled against her parents and moved abroad and live life on her terms.
Their initial meeting leads to fireworks...but soon enough the couple move in together. At first life is bliss but unpredictably problems creep in when Ambar falls pregnant leading to chaos and friction between the two ultimately culminating in a happy ending.
To be fair for a debutante director Anand has done a great job, lacing the film with witty one-liners and handling the complex issue of live-in relationships with utmost sensitivity. The music by Vishal Shekhar is good but they look better on screen with their imaginative factorisations.
Performances are first rate. Arshad Warsi (getting better with every film) and Javed Jaffery score full mark for their humour. Jugal Hansraj is average at best whilst Abhishek Bachchan's hammy cameo has to rate as his worst appearance to date. His scene in the climax is drawn out and awfully silly. It is the lead paid Saif & Preity that keep the movie going with their charming chemistry and character development. Saif looks good and gives us a restrained believable performance - a hat-trick after award winning Hum Tum and Parineeta. Preity Zinta is perfectly cast and has given the character her all but her bulging tummy is awfully fake and how she bounces around at mid night singing songs defies complete logic.
A great effort though far from perfect and a tad prolonged. Still it's worth a watch if you're a fan of films of the Kal Ho Naa Ho genre.
Nick (Nikhil Arora) is a classic representation of the modern urban male - a perfect metrosexual who freaks out at the mere mention of commitment. He is selfish and unafraid to admit it. Ambar is similar in that she has rebelled against her parents and moved abroad and live life on her terms.
Their initial meeting leads to fireworks...but soon enough the couple move in together. At first life is bliss but unpredictably problems creep in when Ambar falls pregnant leading to chaos and friction between the two ultimately culminating in a happy ending.
To be fair for a debutante director Anand has done a great job, lacing the film with witty one-liners and handling the complex issue of live-in relationships with utmost sensitivity. The music by Vishal Shekhar is good but they look better on screen with their imaginative factorisations.
Performances are first rate. Arshad Warsi (getting better with every film) and Javed Jaffery score full mark for their humour. Jugal Hansraj is average at best whilst Abhishek Bachchan's hammy cameo has to rate as his worst appearance to date. His scene in the climax is drawn out and awfully silly. It is the lead paid Saif & Preity that keep the movie going with their charming chemistry and character development. Saif looks good and gives us a restrained believable performance - a hat-trick after award winning Hum Tum and Parineeta. Preity Zinta is perfectly cast and has given the character her all but her bulging tummy is awfully fake and how she bounces around at mid night singing songs defies complete logic.
A great effort though far from perfect and a tad prolonged. Still it's worth a watch if you're a fan of films of the Kal Ho Naa Ho genre.