Saturday, April 07, 2007

Film Review (D): Namasté London

Note: You can also comment on this post at the IMDB website.
Namasté London is a tedious film: it seeks to readapt Manoj Kumar’s “Purab aur Paschim” [East and West] to our times but the outcome is a yarn based on highly improbable and unbelievable premises.

For one thing, no first-generation NRI-Londoner [Rishi Kapoor] can possibly trick his remarkably liberated and fiercely independent adult-daughter [Katrina Kaif] into marrying a desi Punjabi [Akshay Kumar] while ostensibly “taking a journey across India to see the Taj Mahal”. Moreover, no self-respecting hot-blooded desi Punjabi is going to hang around London watching his ‘wife’ paint the town red with her fiancé- a spoilt and thrice-divorced heir of a British tycoon- in the hope that she will eventually come running back into his arms. As things turn out, that is exactly what happens.

Only two sequences stand out: first, the family’s hilarious interviewing of suitable matches for their daughter, including a lap-top yielding software-analyst from Hyderabad who demands to have a premarital ‘physical compatibility’ test with the prospective bride-to-be, and another loony from Delhi who thinks he is a character in an Ekta Kapoor soap-opera; secondly, a quiet family scene at the dinner table, which stands out for Rishi Kapoor’s efforts at suppressing his laughter. Apart from this, there is nothing else to the film.

Watch it only if you haven’t got anything better to do. Or, as in the case of the incorrigible Mohit Singhania, if your world begins and ends with Ms. Kaif!

AJ

7 comments (टिप्पणी):

Mohit Singhania said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

A very well written post. I enjoyed the movie [even second time], although the theatre doesn't have proper public amenities [bad seats,no-airconditioning, small screen etc]. By the way, the company of Mr Mohit Singhania [Raipur's Tomboy] was entertaining too...

Anonymous said...

@tiger
is it tomboy or playboy ?

Unknown said...

Most definitely: PLAYBOY!

AJ

Anonymous said...

Well, its not supposed to be a probable movie. May be from now on every Bollywood movie should come with 'an improbable' disclaimer.
Dood, we like movies like Rang De Basanti not expecting it to be probable. So whats wrong with this movie?

I liked the movie because being under the limitations of a masala bollywood movie, its a pretty smart and funny movie with some good performances. Only if there was no Himesh Reshmiya butting in after every five minutes with his I-dont-know-how-people-like-it kind off a voice.

duaatul (on the imdb message board)

sanjay kumar sharma said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
sanjay kumar sharma said...

sanjay Kumar sharma
reader in mining engineering BHU varanasi
Amit like earlier ones, this post of yours depicts a chhattisgarhi intellectual at its best. He is straight, direct ,penetrating and all encompassing as was Muktibodh and currently Vinod Kumar Shukla
Who wrote two of my very favourite lines
"Wo Aadmi chala gaya garam kot pahan kar vichar ki tarah" and "Ghadee dekhana samay dekhana nahi hota"
Geedam ke bazaar ke bare me unki kavita bahut hee marmik hai
I request you to include him in your bibliography
affection

get the latest posts in your email. ताज़े पोस्ट अब अपने ई-मेल पर सीधे पढ़ें

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

DISCLAIMER. आवश्यक सूचना

1. No part of this Blog shall be published and/or transmitted, wholly or in part, without the prior permission of the author, and/or without duly recognizing him as such. (१. इस ब्लॉग का कोई भी भाग, पूरा या अधूरा, बिना लेखक की पूर्व सहमति के, किसी भी प्रकार से प्रसारित या प्रकाशित नहीं किया जा सकता.)
2. This Blog subscribes to a Zero Censorship Policy: no comment on this Blog shall be deleted under any circumstances by the author. (२. ये ब्लॉग जीरो सेंसरशिप की नीति में आस्था रखता है: किसी भी परिस्थिति में कोई भी टिप्पणी/राय ब्लॉग से लेखक द्वारा हटाई नहीं जायेगी.)
3. The views appearing on this Blog are the author's own, and do not reflect, in any manner, the views of those associated with him. (३. इस ब्लॉग पर दर्शित नज़रिया लेखक का ख़ुद का है, और किसी भी प्रकार से, उस से सम्बंधित व्यक्तियों या संस्थाओं के नज़रिए को नहीं दर्शाता है.)

CONTACT ME. मुझसे संपर्क करें

Amit Aishwarya Jogi
Anugrah, Civil Lines
Raipur- 492001
Chhattisgarh, INDIA
Telephone/ Fascimile: +91 771 4068703
Mobile: +91 942420 2648 (AMIT)
email: amitaishwaryajogi@gmail.com
Skype: jogi.amit
Yahoo!: amitjogi2001