Salaam Namaste

Salaam Namaste

Movie poster for Salaam Namaste
Directed by Siddharth Anand
Produced by Aditya Chopra
Written by Abbas Tyrewala
Siddharth Anand
Starring Saif Ali Khan
Preity Zinta
Arshad Warsi
Tania Zaetta
Jugal Hansraj
Narrated by Abhishek Bachchan
Music by Songs:
Vishal-Shekhar
Background Score:
Salim Sulaiman
Cinematography Sunil Patel
Edited by Ritesh Soni
Distributed by Yash Raj Films
Release dates
  • 9 September 2005 (2005-09-09)
Running time
 159 min.
Country India
Language Hindi
Budget ₹130 million (US$1.9 million)[1]
Box office ₹570 million (US$8.5 million)[2]

Salaam Namaste is a 2005 Bollywood musical romantic comedy film. It is directed by first-time director Siddharth Anand and produced by Aditya Chopra and Yash Chopra under the Yash Raj Films banner. The film stars Saif Ali Khan and Preity Zinta in their fourth film together. Arshad Warsi, Tania Zaetta and Jugal Hansraj appear in supporting roles. Released on 9 September 2005, it was the first Indian movie to be filmed entirely in Australia.[3]

The film tells the story of two young and modern Indians, Nick and Ambar, who have left their homes in India to make a life on their own in Melbourne, Australia. The story follows one year of their lives, dealing with their problems and relationships, from their first meeting at a wedding ceremony, to their decision to move in together without marriage, to their break-up upon discovering that Ambar is pregnant.

Salaam Namaste became one of the biggest box-office hits of 2005 in India, as well as India's biggest hit in the overseas market that year.[4] On 24 September 2005, the script of the film was invited to be included in the Margaret Herrick Library, which is operated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[5][6] Zinta received several nominations for her role in various film ceremonies, such as the Filmfare Awards, IIFA Awards, Star Screen Awards and Zee Cine Awards.

Plot

Two young progressive Indians, Nikhil "Nick" Arora (Saif Ali Khan) and Ambar "Amby" Malhotra (Preity Zinta), have left India to live their lives in Melbourne, Australia. Nick was sent to Australia to become an architect. After graduating, he got a commission to design a restaurant, where he works as the head chef and the restaurant has been named "Nick of Time". His job allows him to have a laid-back lifestyle and get up late in the morning, both aspects that he values very much. In Bangalore, Ambar was shown twelve men for marriage and she rejected each one. Her parents suspected that she did not want to get married, however, she denied it. She went to Australia for a one-year foreign exchange program and decided to stay and become a surgeon. After hearing this, her parents cut off all ties with her. To pay for her education, she works as an R.J. at a local radio station, 'Salaam Namaste'.

When Nick is supposed to do an interview for Salaam Namaste, he oversleeps resulting in him getting insulted by Ambar on the air. His boss, Dheka, demands that he go to the radio station or he will "kill" him. Nick oversleeps again and he is, once again, insulted by Ambar for being late. Nick is the caterer for one of Ambar's friend's wedding. His best friend Ranjan "Ron" Mathur (Arshad Warsi) falls in love with Ambar's best friend Cathy (Tania Zaetta) at the wedding. Nick also feels a connection with Ambar, although they have no idea who the other really is. Nick tells Ambar he is an architect. Ron and Cathy marry the next day and Nick and Ambar discover each other's true identities. Nick gives the interview on Salaam Namaste, where he states, publicly, that he loves Ambar. They both end up at Ron and Cathy's house, where the two just had a fight. Nick persuades Ambar to move in together, where they fall in love. Two months later, Ambar discovers she is pregnant. Nick takes her to get an abortion that she later tells him she did not have, resulting in a break up.

Over the next five months, they have several comical disagreements. Nick finds a restaurant to buy, but the loan is disapproved as he cannot afford the downpayment because he spent all his money on the house to live with Ambar. This results in another argument where the baby kicks for the first time and Nick realises he still loves Ambar. Ambar asks Nick to take a blood test because Ambar is thalassemia minor and if Nick is a thalassemia minor too the baby would have a problem. Nick goes to the hospital where he has his blood test and the doctor gives him a sonography, and informs him that Ambar is bearing twins. On the way home he thinks about what the doctor said to him and he realises that he has left Ambar alone through the whole pregnancy, when she needed him the most. He goes home and looks at the sonography and realises he still loves Ambar. He goes to buy an engagement ring and sees a pregnant Ambar trying on rings with her friend, Jignesh (Jugal Hansraj). Nick thinks that Ambar is marrying Jignesh and is devastated. He goes and gets drunk and takes a drunk girl home with him. When he wakes up, he is shocked, but the girl, Stella, is angry because he didn't do anything and was crying out Ambar's name all night. Nick is greatly relieved, but then Ambar sees her in the bedroom and is very upset and tells Nick she's moving out today. Nick discovers that when Ambar was trying on rings, it was for Jignesh's girlfriend, Tina. He searches for Ambar with the help of many devoted Salaam Namaste listeners. He finds her and apologises but, when he is about propose, Ambar's water breaks, and they rush to the hospital.

At the hospital, Ron is there with Cathy, who's giving birth as well, and the nurse turns out to be Stella. She tells Ambar that Nick didn't do anything the previous night and is in love with Ambar, who finally realises Nick's love for her. They then meet the obstetrician Dr. Vijay Kumar MDGGO (Abhishek Bachchan), who turns out to be a very comical and incompetent doctor, but manages to deliver the children. Ambar gives birth to twins and Nick proposes to her to which she joyously agrees.

Cast

Production

Several people have made cameos in the film. Abhishek Bachchan is the narrator and makes a special appearance as a doctor towards the end of the film. Director Siddharth Anand makes an appearance as the taxi driver towards the end of the movie. The mother and son in the bookshop Saif Ali Khan's character visits, are actor Arshad Warsi's wife and son, Maria Goretti and Zeke. Preity Zinta's then-boyfriend, Ness Wadia, makes an appearance as the man reading the newspaper beside whom Preity sits on the bus.

Soundtrack

Salaam Namaste
Soundtrack album by Vishal-Shekhar
Released
10 August 2005 (India)
Genre Feature film soundtrack
Label
Yash Raj Music
Producer Vishal-Shekhar
Vishal-Shekhar chronology
Dus
(2005)		 Salaam Namaste
(2005)		 Ek Ajnabee
(2005)

The film has seven songs composed by the duo Vishal-Shekhar. The music of the film released on 10 August 2005. The music includes four songs and two remixes. Lyrics are penned by Jaideep Sahni.

Tracklist

No. TitleSinger(s) Length
1. "Salaam Namaste"  Kunal Ganjawala, Vasundhara Das 04.37
2. "My Dil Goes Mmmm"  Shaan, Gayatri Ganjawala 07.34
3. "What's Going On?"  Kunal Ganjawala, Sunidhi Chauhan 04.41
4. "Tu Jahan"  Sonu Nigam, Mahalakshmi Iyer 05.15
5. "My Dil Goes Mmmm (English Club Mix)"  Shaan, Caralisa Monteiro 04.08
6. "Salaam Namaste (Dhol Mix)"  Kunal Ganjawala, Vasundhara Das 03.54
7. "My Dil Goes Mmmm"  Instrumental 04.08

Review

Popular Bollywood website Bollywood Hungama rated Salaam Namaste 3 out of 5 stars.[7] Salaam Namaste received mostly positive reviews.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Salaam Namaste's Box office results". Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  2. ↑ "Top Lifetime Grossers Worldwide". Boxofficeindia.com. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  3. ↑ Phillips, Mark (13 May 2005). "Bollywood on Bourke Street". The Age. Retrieved 25 April 2008.
  4. ↑ "bollywoodmantra.com". Salaam Namaste is a box office hit!. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2006.
  5. ↑ Adarsh, Taran (24 September 2005). "‘Salaam Namaste' invited for Oscar library". Retrieved 25 April 2008.
  6. ↑ "Salaam Namaste invited for Oscar library". 25 September 2005.
  7. ↑ http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/moviemicro/cast/id/65071
  8. ↑ http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/moviemicro/criticreview/id/65071

External links

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