Saturday, February 03, 2007

Salaam-E-Ishq

Dear Diary,

Last night I went to see the latest blockbuster Salaam-E-Ishq with a few friends. Then I came home and watched Snakes On A Plane. And before that I went to rehearsals for this stage show that I am in.

Dear Diary, here are some things I learnt from Salaam-E-Ishq:

  • To get the pretty lady on the subway to fall madly in love with you, stare down her dress at her cleavage. Apparently this works in London.
  • Cellphones work on the London subways while underground.
  • If you want to woo an old flame, blackmail is the way to go.
  • If you stand in the middle of the streets of Muslim Lahore, Pakistan, and proclaim your love for a Muslim girl while you yourself are a Hindu guy, and she accepts, religious looking people in beards will cheer rather than shout about the gazab of Allah.

    Overall the movie was ho-hum. Nothing ahamori, or extra-special as they say in Bengali, but OK. You won't feel your money being wasted. Some people had told me the 3.5 hours (yes!) would make the movie seem long, but to be honest I didn't feel the movie dragging at all.

    Dear Diary, you know Vidya Balan, my current fav? Well, despite being sans make-up for 80% of the time, she still looked good. Her acting was one the best in the movie. Just to prove I am not biased though, Priyanka Chopra did the best job though in the movie. The songs were well choreographed, especially the title song. Akshaye Khanna was the worst actor, hamming awfully with zero comic timing, while surprisingly Govinda was the best. Six average love stories, an average movie, but stylish visuals and the multi-star cast obviously being the main draw.

    Snakes On A Plane. Now there's a fundas movie! Total B-grade effects, acting, but I had a ball of a time watching the movie. The predictability of the plot did nothing to hamper the fun, it was buckle your seat belts and hold on for the corny script, cheesy special effects and some R-rated fun. Paisa Vasool, as they say.

    You ask about the show I am in? It's on March 16. The last time I was on stage on such a show was three years ago. It's different now, even though some of the people I know are family friends it's such a younger bunch, but as a graduate student I expected that. It might be the last year I can do this, so I wanted to.

    You know what's funny? Sometimes now when I see someone, let's say four or five years younger than me, and he's wearing baggy jeans, tight t-shirts, loads of gel, some bling bling, and I laugh. I can so see right through those characters now, and what they are trying to do. Then when these girls walk into the room in a coat that is chic but really does nothing to protect them against -30 degrees outside, when they emit a fake laugh at some corny joke, you gotta laugh again. Not at them, but that few years back, I was one of that crowd.

    God I feel like Anil Kapoor plus Akshaye Khanna now.
  • 21 comments:

    'liya said...

    Haha, I was one of those girls :D When I see guys in baggy jeans now all I think is grow up (like if they're over 20, if not, then they still have a right to pretend they're all bad)!

    I haven't seen either of those two movies but tomorrow I'm going to see Partition. Maybe "If you stand in the middle of the streets of Lahore, Pakistan, and proclaim your love for a Muslim girl while you yourself are a Hindu guy, and she accepts, people will clap in happiness rather than stone you to death." - will relate to it in some way. Or maybe not.

    You don't mention the type of show you're going to be in?

    mezba said...

    Liya, changed that last bullet to be more reflective of what I wanted to convey. Sorry teacher :-)

    Also, have you seen the hindi movie Gadar (2001)? If not, then go see Partition - it's a copy! Surprisingly first time an Indian movie is the original and the English movie is a copy. I could not believe it.

    youngMuslimah said...

    mezba,
    Will reply to your comment in the last post by tmrw insha'Allah.
    About this post, well, I'm aware of the movie, yet don't watch bollywood anymore. Hollywood is 'chalega' for me, and I'm very choosy in watching movies. And believe it or not, i don't even remember the last movie I saw!

    Anonymous said...

    I have a question for anyone familiar with Hindu religion and having watched this movie....

    Just how many times do you need to go around the fire before your marriage is final?

    youngMuslimah said...

    Farah, it's 7 rounds.

    youngMuslimah said...

    Farah, it's 7 rounds.

    Anonymous said...

    I can't seem to put my finger on it but there is something really WRONG with 'Snakes on the Plane.' There is something wrong, wrong, wrong...... wrong. :)

    Anonymous said...

    Not a bollywood fan any more, but I can totally relate to the "i'm all that" look the youth have.

    The other day while I was at work, one of the guys said "When I was a kid, and put something in a microwave". When I was a kid, there were no microwaves...I have never felt so old before. When he was messing around with the microwave, I was getting married!!!

    Anonymous said...

    "Dear Diary"?? Helloo?? flash back, 14 years ago? probably BEFORE the sex change operation? MEZBA, honestly, a "Dear Diary" theme?! hehee.

    However, good review. Another Mezba sighting on Indiafm, perhaps? ;)

    Anonymous said...

    I'm so backward! I better watch some FILAMS!

    mezba said...

    frenchita:I look forward to your comment.

    Farah: I thought it was 7 too. First 3 or 4 the husband is in the lead, and then the wife switches over.

    Frenchita: so only after 7 rounds are they now husband and wife? if only 6 they are not?

    Saqi: Snakes. On a plane.

    Snakes.

    that's what is wrong.

    Mousehunter: oh no.

    I am not THAT old yet :-D hehe

    Nowal: what? sex change? girl you gotta get out of your books more.

    I also had a dear diary theme before, the night before my car was going to be "stolen" in the village - remember?

    Suroor: Do watch 'em. Some are starting to be quite good nowadays (when they are not trying to copy hollywood).

    Athena said...

    O.o

    we had rehearsels on friday?

    No one told me :(

    -SH

    Anonymous said...

    Salamaat,
    I like your dear diary themes :) you take me wayyyy back.

    man, I hung out with some younger cousins and their friends and they were all at most five years younger than me..but oh boy, did i feel ANCIENT that night.

    I had to remember did I giggle THAT much when i was their age?

    Anonymous said...

    look on the bright side....atleast ur blog is not disappointed with you coz you are personally addressing her :)

    -Behbood

    mezba said...

    Athena: ooooh, SH, so you are one of us! I wonder who you are. Not fair - it's usually bloggers who are supposed to be anonymous! :)

    Maliha: *tehee* I always wondered why girls giggle THAT much.

    suroor: Will do, soon, when I go to more rehearsals and know what I have to do. It's this show, the pics are from last year.

    Anon: haha yes she is happy at the moment.

    Anonymous said...

    If I'm not mistaken, I'm in the same part of the show as you. I was one of the girls who was practicing near you during the auditions :). I would've said hi but the fear of makin it to your list of creepy blog readers (that you might report on your blog :eek: ), I decided not to hehe.

    - SH

    Anonymous said...

    Mezba, Salaam E Ishq was too long. It literally dragged. The only thing I liked in it was Govinda.

    What was wrong with Salman Khans dress sense I will never understand - paisley wall paper for a shirt, orange gift wrap for a blazer ~sigh~ you could also see the weaving on his hairline where he's had hair implants :-p

    Look foward to hearing more about this show you'll be in!

    mezba said...

    SH: ooh such a tease.. yet another girl refuses to introduce herself to me.. story of my life.

    None of my blog readers/commentators are creepy. They are smart people.

    You give some clues.. Lemme see.. I might figure it out but I don't want to go to random girls in the BSA and go "Athena?" ... ja ijjot baki ache pani te jaabe...

    So don't be... um... "SHy". ;-)

    Sumera: I liked Govinda's acting too. Good comeback film, he seemed to get more mileage here than Bhaagam Bhaag. Don't even get me started on Raooool lol.

    Athena said...

    HAHA I do believe you just got my name :P. I'm not kidding. Just different spelling.

    -SH

    Monkey McWearingChaps said...

    Sorry, I just saw this post and wanted to clarify something. You're actually married before you take the 7 steps of marriage together. It's at some point in the ceremony before that.

    My sister had her Hindu ceremony translated to English (this is the fashion now as people are suspicious of all that chanting when they don't know what they are agreeing to heehee) and for the life of me I can't remember at what point they were actually married. The 7 steps is actually towards the end AFTER they're married and it's an expression of their covenant/sacrament to each other and with God and what they're going to pursue in the marriage (partnership, children, etc. etc.).

    Hope that helps.

    Monkey McWearingChaps said...

    Also, the going around the fire thing is different from the 7 steps, sorry to have to double-post.