22 | September | 2005

Since this is pretty late for a review and you would’ve read many by now, I’m gonna keep this brief.

This is one movie that had awesome potential with an exciting premise of live-in relationships. But it really doesn’t exploit it much.

Don’t get me wrong though. Salaam Namaste is entertaining, has pretty decent performances by Saif, a slimmer Preity, a loud cameo by Javed Jaffery and a very underplayed Arshad Warsi and rocking end-credits.

The pace is tight and the tone pretty light till the Nine Months-inspired climax. It just does not work! I just don’t understand how can you just take the supposedly mature tone of a movie and infuse it with loud slapstick humour for an end. It seemed so forced.

And oh yes! The second half does make for some excruciatingly painful viewing if you have bullshit-allergy. Preity’s pregnant pot-belly is the work of a highly untalented blind potter. And the way she dances to a song makes you wish someone got the director young Siddharth Anand pregnant just so that he would know what it really feels like.

There is a touch of smartness here and there: the breaking of stereotypes with role reversals for example. Saif cries at the movies, cooks, wears pink and all sort of effeminate clothes, likes to keep his place clean while Preity hates to clean up or cook. The ‘Mouna Raagam’ sort of setting where a couple has to share the roof for a year even after the break-up is again a very nice ploy in the script.

But here’s why I was let down:

The movie makes live-in relationships look like a stupid idea.

It makes it look like sex is the first thing they explore.

And worse, it makes it look like protection is of no use really cuz the girl ultimately gets pregnant.

So basically, the film tells you: Guy and a girl move in, they f*** like bunnies apparently … cuz the girl gets pregnant within two months in spite of them using protection. And then they have no choice but to get married. Whoa!

Salaam Namaste is likely to find appreciation in the 18-22 age group. The older adults would find it ridiculously simplistic and dumbed down for a country at the crossroads of social change. Hum Tum was a much better film in the same genre.

Apart from that, it is a good tour of Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road. So now I don’t have to show you guys pics from my video grabs.

😀

This has to be among the city’s most loved plays.

It’s probably the only play LTS did back-to-back, due to public demand. And Mike, the veteran of the Chennai stage came back with what I suspect is his favourite play, this time for Evam.

Biloxi Blues was certainly the highlight of The Hindu Metro Plus Theatre festival. People had to be sent back because the hall was full.

I managed to catch the play on Sunday evening when Evam had its last show for the season.

Though I had seen some of the actors read at a casting session for the play and hence had a rough idea of how funny it would turn out to be, I really hadn’t bargained for the amount of laughing I ultimately ended up doing.

I really think Mike has done a brilliant job putting some amazing talent together, polished their timing with military precision and made you forget the nitty-gritties of the sub-American accent demanded by the content.

He probably went unsung at the festival but its not too late to say: Mike is THE best stage all-rounder we have. Probably in the whole country. And probably the only technician-director-writer-and-actor rolled into one. I didn’t personally like the rhymes in his original musical ‘Fallen’ but I totally admire the guy for his passion and vision. I wish I had half of it. Here’s a man who acted in one, directed two plays apart from chipping in with sets and sound for other plays during the festival.

So here he was in Biloxi bringing alive the role of a seemingly sadistic eccentric sergeant who gives his cadets an education of a lifetime. Mike was spitting fire with his delivery, not floundering even once as he charged through the lines like a man possessed. Here was a man truly in command.

Sunil, who plays Epstein (and Zebra in That Four Letter Word) was clearly the best of the cadets, as he underplayed the role of the philosophical, mentally strong and physically weak cadet who refuses to comply with the idiosyncracies of the military. He strikes a chord and leaves you with a lump in your throat in the scene where he narrates how he was humiliated.

The lead guy and narrator Jimmy who plays Eugene seemed to have overdone the cuteness that made his dialogue delivery a tad effeminate. However, he is effective in the challenging role of a simple neutral cadet who comes of age.

The support cast was even better. I don’t remember the names of the guys but the way they got under the skin of the characters was exemplary. Comedy thrives on timing. These guys were near flawless and the ensemble pulls off an incredibly funny yet thought-provoking bitter-sweet play quite convincingly.

It’s expected to come back in January for at least a coupla shows. So in case you haven’t seen it yet, mark it in your calendar.

And if you do want to help backstage or get onstage and be a part of Evam’s future plays, email evam@evam.in. Heard they can do with some help.

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30

Archive For September 22nd, 2005

Review: Salaam Namaste

Biloxi Blues!