Salaam-E-Ishq (2007)

Director:

Nikhil Advani

Writers:

Nikhil Advani (co-screenplay)
Nikhil Advani (story)

Release Date:

25 January 2007 (India)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Musical | Romance

Plot:

Six couples in love must face different problems caused by love itself. Do they resolve their issues and face life anew, or do they succumb under pressure ?

Plot Keywords:

Love | Marriage | Taxi Driver | Publicity Stunt | India

Cast

Salman Khan	...	Raúl / Rahul
Priyanka Chopra	...	Kamna 'Kamini'
Anil Kapoor	...	Vinay Malhotra
Juhi Chawla	...	Seema Malhotra
Akshaye Khanna	...	Shiven Dungarpur
Ayesha Takia	...	Gia Bakshi
John Abraham	...	Ashutosh Raina
Vidya Balan	...	Tehzeeb Hussain
Govinda	...	Raju
Shannon Esra	...	Stephanie
Sohail Khan	...	Ram Dayal
Isha Koppikar	...	Phoolwati Dayal
Anjana Sukhani	...	Anjali
Kushal Punjabi	...	Rohit Chaddha
Vishal Malhotra	...	Jaggi

Runtime:

216 min (theatrical version)

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Ireland:PG | Australia:PG | India:UA

Trivia:

Sonali Bendre was to be paired opposite to Govinda in the film before Sharon Esra was put in place.

Goofs:

Continuity: Just before the Salaam e Ishq song, Salman Khan sweeps Priyanka Chopra into his arms, and we see that Priyanka's hand is on his neck. In the next shot her hand is on his shoulder. It then goes back to being on his neck in the next shot.

Quotes:

Gia: Shiven, love always stays with us. Because we don't love time, we love the one we want to spend our time with
Shiven: [confused] It sounds so complicated just listening to, Gia.

Movie Connections:

References Don (2006/I)

Salaam-e-Ishq: Snippety-snappety

Ya, ya - I've heard all about how long this movie is. But then a monumental epic never hurt anyone - as long as it's entertaining. Nikhil Advani's Salaam-e-Ishq has all the right ingredients - an incredible cast, rocking music and six delightful stories about love. The Problem? When the theatrewallah gets into scissorhands mode, viewers are in for some trying times.

How did Anil Kapoor get his arm in a sling? Apparently, he fell down (a colleague informs me). But shouldn't I see it on screen instead of wondering why Kapoor is sling-free in one frame and sling-full in the next. Media reports suggest that Advani, bombarded with complaints of the film being unbearably long, decided to make a few cuts himself. Bad move cos there's nothing worse than bad editing.

Anyway, that's not the only problem. Advani also has problems weaving in the six love stories together - the stitches are quite visible in some cases.

My favourite couple - Govinda and Shannon. The taxi-driver falling for an American was quite an original concept. Can't say the same for the Haryanvi combo of Sohail-Ishaa though. That track could have been safely edited out.

John Abraham and Vidya Balan have done some good work too and so have most of the others (including Priyanka Chopra). But Advani lacks the finesse of Karan Johar (who btw has a phone-in cameo in the film). In Johar's hands, Salaam-e-Ishq would have been gold. In his protégé's hands, the film is not the blockbuster it could have been.

Watch out for Kailash Kher's 'Ya Rabba' number. It left several in the audience teary-eyed and is easily the best song of the film.