Sunday, September 11, 2005

Of Live-in relationships

Went to watch Salaam Namaste last night. What a delightful movie! And I have never seen Albion so packed! At first we thought one of the stars from the Toronto Film Festival was there, it was that crowded and chaotic. We had pre-purchased our tickets and the seating was by ticket number, so had no trouble getting in.

This movie is about a live-in relationship. This is a 'taboo' topic in India (and Bollywood) so the movie can be said to push the envelope. Often, however, such movies go to one extreme in an effort to be controversial and lose the plot. Thankfully Salaam Namaste realized its prime duty was to entertain, and that it did!

It's good that movies such as these are coming out. Even amongst Muslim countries such as Bangladesh, let alone India, it seems sex before marriage is becoming quite common, for some reason, in many circles. Does it have anything to do with women (and men) putting off marriage till later? Abstinence, good religious values, and other morals are becoming rarer. Its better we talk about it, and discuss it rationally, including why it happens, what are the benefits and pitfalls of it, and what is consistent with our values and outlook on life, rather than trying to bury our head in the sand and pretend it does not exist.

Salaam Namaste manages to hold your interest for the duration of the movie, and gives much food for thought for later. The songs are well choreographed, Melbourne looks smashing - all in all, worth the 8 bucks we paid for the ticket.

UPDATE! Oops, I forgot to mention the best line of the movie:

"When in Rome ... do the Romans!"

3 comments:

Hallucinator said...

You liked that travesty of a movie?
I was dragged to it. My eyes are still bleeding.

Nevermind that the ending is more or less entirely ripped of Nine Months...

mezba said...

I guess we have different tastes in movies. I hated Company.

Cheers.

- Mezba.

rashed said...

"When in rome .. do the romans" ??? LOL :) I already like the movie.