One common problem – Love …
I felt slightly out of place and several people in the queue looked weird at me.
And some asked me if I was sure I was in the right queue, was I really going to watch this film?
And I said yes.
Did I know that this was an Indian film? (as I was the only non Indian around)
I knew that. I wondered if it was going to be subtitled? The girl beside me thought so. I hoped so. And they seemed pleased and proud that a non Indian was going to watch a film from their country.
Had they known me they would have understood , as “Salaam E ishq” means “Tribute to love” and the script for this film is loosely based on, guess what – a classic you all have seen (if not – go away) – Love Actually. Which was enough to get a tragic romantic like me into the cinema to watch it.
Let’s start with a minor down point here : there was no Billy Mack.
But the major up point: I loved the film.
It was filmed on different locations in India, and also partly in London, which always gets bonuspoints from me.
One thing that is different in Indian cinema – at some points in the film, it shortly turned into a musical. (this seems to happen often in Indian films) Only shortly, one song where all the actors dance and sing and loads of other people dance like they do in Saturday Night Fever. After that back to the story, I loved that, as the music was very uplifting, funky and happy. Very contagious.
I have never seen a film in which all male characters cry – not just a bit, a lot, and often! If something gets me crying it’s watching a man cry, so I sniffed away constantly. Another surprise was the length of the film, it lasted, are you ready for this – about 4 hours! (Obviously Indian cinema doesn’t care about rules like films should be no longer than 90-100 minutes (Europe) or 120 minutes(US) – great – break those rules!) After 2 hours there was a short break. I checked my watch and saw that I had already been watching the film for 2 hours. I got 2 hours more. Can you imagine, 4 hours of Love Actually like stories on your screen, I was in rom-com heaven!
So yeah, I had an amazing Indian film experience, I had a great Saturday evening, it was just what I needed and this wasn’t the last time I saw a Bollywood film. I can definitely recommend Salaam-e-Hisq if you want to see something a bit different from what you are used too. Different the good way, and Love is all around in this one, makes you feel good.
The original cut of Love Actually was an hour longer (actually).
How I would love to see that original cut then!