Film: Salaam-e-Ishq

At a whopping 234 minutes, this star studded heavyweight took out most of my Saturday to watch. I even had to lift my never-before-broken Salman Khan ban to watch it, but it was worth every minute.

Salaam-E-Ishq is another typical popcorn movie, and one that isn't particularly deep either. Nonetheless, it manages to smash a barrage of romance, tragedy and comedy in your face, mainly due to the breadth of the six (although it's really closer to five and a half) disparate stories it offers us. I really really enjoyed this flick.

The film was well shot and directed, and focussed on the simple things like costume and setting instead of being too ambitious and risking messing it up. Music-wise, the context made me appreciate the soundtrack even more (although I was disappointed with the omission of my favourite track, Mera Dil). The script was funny, clever and even powerful in places, and supported the various plot arcs superbly. My only minor complaint is that Sohail Khan and Isha Koppikar's story should have been explored much more than it had been.

Acting was generally standard Bollywood fare, although I noticed strong performances from Abraham and Govinda (which was probably why his story was my favourite). All the women looked fantastic and I'm struggling to pick my tip, but at a push Vidya Balan probably takes it; although Anjana Sukhani (from that video), Isha and Ayesha were close behind.

Even with the three and a half hours it took to watch (possibly the longest film I've ever seen - I definitely needed the interval) the film didn't drag at all. Sure, it cashed in on as many of the Bollywood tips and tricks that it could, but it did it with with good effect. Adorably trashy Salaam-E-Ishq doesn't claim to be anything more than good ol' soppy fun.