Salaam Namaste
Yashraj Films are on a roll. And now they are soon becoming the masters of popcorn entertainers too. While some of their earlier flicks revolved around mushy romance or high drama, they soon redefined the genre of 'feel-good' flicks with the release of DDLJ a decade back. This was followed by mushy 'Dil To Paagal Hai', teenage romance 'Mohabbatein', family entertainer 'Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai', neither-here-not-there 'Mujhse Dosti Karoge' and a take on marital drama 'Saathiya'.
But the zenith of their success came last year when they had back to back bumper successes in the shape of youthful 'Dhoom' and 'Hum Tum'. All this while they also kept their age-old loyal audience happy with a regular dose of 'sarson-ke-khet' and family values in timeless 'Veer Zaara'. Huge success of fun-filled 'Bunty Aur Babli' has only reaffirmed that Yashraj Films have managed to catch the pulse of the audience. Now with the trend being clear that viewers want to see designer movies with sparkling locations on screen, Yashraj films come up with yet another youthful fun flick that is innovatively titled 'Salaam Namaste', a symbol of coming together of the two religions!
What do you expect from a movie that has its opening promos set on Australian beaches? Imaginations turn wild with the very sight of pretty Preity dancing along with Saif Ali Khan with both the lead actors looking all the bit trendy and hip as seen amongst generation X. It is hard to imagine both the 30 plus actors looking ever so refreshing and the icing on the cake definitely comes in when one realizes that the starcast of 'Salaam Namaste' also comprises of John Abraham, Arshad Warsi and Tania Zaetta. Directed by debutant Sidharth Anand who also wrote the screenplay for Hum Tum, Salaam Namaste has already caught the fancy of the cinegoer.
At the very onset, the storyline of 'Salaam Namaste' is quite simple. BOY and GIRL meet, they quarrel, they hate each other and they eventually fall in love!
The BOY is Nick, Nikhil Arora [Saif Ali Khan], who migrates to Melbourne from Ludhiana and finds a new career dimension for him - he becomes the head chef of a cool Indian restaurant called 'Nick Of Time'. He is witty, he is wicked, he is fun to work with and above all, he wants to live life on his own terms. He doesn't interfere with anyone and expects anyone else to do the same with him. He likes to have fun, enjoy, party and then........go to dreams while sleeping for long hours. Quite possible for him because he stays all alone with no responsibilities to worry about.
But then life was never supposed to move on for him in the same way when Ambar enters his life!!
The GIRL is Ambar, Ambar Malhotra [Prety Zinta], who is a twenty something Indian settled in Melbourne. She too has left her native place Bangalore behind! Why? Because she is young, she is pretty, she wants to have fun and her parents have exactly the opposite in their mind - They want her to get married! She chooses to live life on her own and make a career for herself in medicine while also earn some quick money as a radio jockey [RJ] for the radio station - SALAAM NAMASTE. A no-show at her scheduled show of the interview of Nick - the celebrity chef - is what brings daggers out for Ambar. The daggers soon turn into roses [as expected] and after a few cool sequences, dance on the beach and the beginning of affection happens the inevitable - They fall in love!!
So one may say - what new? Well this is where the novelty factor comes in as the couple doesn't decide to marry. They in fact decide to live in together without worrying about the future. They are friends who are into a relationship. But marriage? Naah !! Because they are ultra cool, they wanna have some fun and above all they want to give it a try before they eventually take 'saat pheras'.