Salaam Namaste

Salaam Namaste released last week worldwide and surprisingly in the megapolis of Canberra, Australia's capital too. My friends and I waited for SN anxiously as we knew that it was shot entirely in Australia(Melbourne, as it happens). We wanted to see if we could connect to Nick/Amby, played by Saif and Preity. Saif, if I have not already mentioned, is a raging heart throb with my friends here after his Dil Chahtha Hai and Hum Tum (My friends go droool droool everytime the 'prince' comes on screen - the same kind of drool that you would expect for Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise).

There is only one thing to say - the director, newcomer Siddharth has done his homework. Melbourne sights greet you unobstrusively, the Australian accent unfeigned (as the Indians trying to speak 'affected' Australien mait), the beer stays Victoria Bitter, the clothes Von Dutch and Billabong, cyclists wear helmet, weddings take place in the beach, architects turn chefs, and yes, people, even Indians, live-in together.

The living in together concept has never been handled better but I fear that upkeepers of Indian values may ban the screening of the progressive Salaam Namaste, if they haven't already done that. While I do not encourage or support this de facto relationship, I know it does happen here. I have friends with live-in arrangements and it is nice to see the relationship portrayed honestly with less embellishments.

Preity has never been more prettier but there were a couple of places where I wondered if it was Bips; her clothes were that skimpy (not that we grudge that). Saif - less said the better. He was AMAZING. He does the Salman with no-shirt and half-shirt for much of the movie. Awesome body. (You have it- you flaunt it, right!). But at least he can act. Change that. He CAN act. The music is good and your heart goes hmmm when you listen to it. Arshad Warsi and Javed Jaffrey split you up. A riot. And so does the doctor who comes in the end (I am not disclosing who it is).

I believe Siddharth is a major 'FRIENDS' fan and he has borrowed some funny moments from the series. Saif appears to be a mix of Ross, Monica and Joey, cleaning up compulsively as does Head Chef Monica, dumb as Joey and panicky as Ross. Preity is Rachel with a 'hysterical yelling' bit of Phoebes. Arshad plays Chandler. (Just been watching Season8 - man! F.R.I.E.N.D.S rocks and we do not grudge Siddharth for any adapting/adopting)

Salaam Namaste a thoroughly enjoyable light romantic from the Yashraj Banner lives up to its hype and I do not grudge the 10 dollars I spent on it. And that is saying much.

Cinema Cinema

My 11th of July Vow restrained me from writing anything related to Cinema and I am proud to declare that I have maintained my pledge. Yes! it has been two months (1 more than I hoped to) since i wrote about movies and the kind, instead concentrating on issues ranging from the Iraq war to the 'Conversations with a theologian'. I should admit though that I have been less prolific during this period, being occupied with research. In celebration, let me write about some of the movies I have watched in this period.

1. Maria Full of Grace

A movie so simple yet so complex, it was powerful. A riveting tale of a small-town Colombian girl's 'mule' run in to the States. The turmoil of a pregnant girl in a mor(t)al crisis is a fertile ground for story-tellers, remember our own Santosh Sivan's 'Terrorists' which dwelved on the psyche of a pregnant human-bomb. The highlight of the movie are the credible characters and the straightforward sensiblity exhibited by the director throughout. The poverty, the lure of easy money, the dream of 'America', the innocence, the hope, the despair, Maria Full of Grace is all that and more - a must see.


2. Sin City

When you have Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller and Quentin Tarantino in the directorial credits, you just don't not see the movie. I simply loved the dark nature of the movie accentuated by the 'Black and White' cinematography (with colour to punctuate), the sheer strength and savageness of the characters, the comic strip kind (my personal favourite is Marv), the best ass-whipping dialogues I have ever heard (heres one for sample: "And when his eyes go dead, the hell I send him to will seem like heaven after what I've done to him"), the cast (including big names Bruce Willis, Elijah Wood, Jessica Alba, Clive Owen) - everything about the movie was different.I must admit though that I was left wondering, "What the... ?" when I left the movie hall. A bit abstruse for a Sunday afternoon.
Oops I almost did not mention the babes, the scantily clad kind!

3. War of the Worlds

Not the best Spielberg movie I have seen. A story of the effect of Alien invasion on the dynamics of a family. It wasn't bad but I enjoyed Manoj Night Shyamalan's 'Signs' better. However, Dakota Fanning was awesome.

4. The Interpreter

Again not the best Sydney Pollack movie but had a decent storyline and passable performances by Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman.

5. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Haven't read the books yet, but I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. The movie is full of clever and comical science fiction theories. From hitchhiking in spaceships to the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything, Hitchhikers Guide is a riot.

6. La Mala Educacion

A very clever movie that was compared to a Russian Doll by the maker (it has layers within layers). It was griping and disorienting and a bit like being on a rollercoaster.

7. Ong Bak

A Thai movie which is very close to our Dharani's 'Dhool'. A village boy, a village diety, a city don who steals it, a journey to the city, a breathtaking display of martial arts (hhhheeee Vikram not that much) and a happy ending. Formula movie of high calibre. (The semblance was uncanny, almost eerie when the village lad comes to the 'young age play-mate presently in the city' comedian's house for help)

More on Indian movies watched during this period later.

A loss

In my post on Iraq, I had mentioned Hatim Kathiria and mourned his death in Iraq. When a friend sent me the news little did I realise that Hatim's death was a personal loss. A lapse on my part. A bulb should have glowed as soon as that name was mentioned. I just didn't put two and two together until a chance conversation yesterday with another of my buddies. Hatim was my college mate.

Hatim was in different stream and I saw little of him in the college. Our acquaintance was limited to the pushing and pulling in the College Bus and more significantly to his room; just five minutes away from my own.

He was sharing a room with a close friend of mine and I have spent many hours in their room; frantic studying on the eve of exams, playing NFS on Hatim's computer and general hanging out together and bantering dollar to a cent. He had shown interest in my GRE preparations and my grand plans of higher studies in the US and I faintly recall that he had intention to go to the US himself.

I never knew what happened to him. Like several others in college I lost touch with, Hatim faded in to the dark recesses of my memory. Until today, that is. Now I shall remember him fondly as the roomie of my friend, a jolly guy who didn't speak a word of Tamil and survived with us chattering Tamil baboons. A guy with little dreams. A very simple man. God grant him peace. God grant us peace.