No salaam for Nikhil’s ishq flick

Salaam-e-Ishq has not lived up to the hype generated over it. A soft romantic comedy that boasts of 12 popular stars, hasn't gone down well with the masses. But where does the desi version of Love Actually falter? Trade analyst Taran Adarsh says, "Barring two stories, the remaining stories in the film are not well etched. It looks like a disjointed effort, and also amateurish at times. The style of narrating the stories is absurd." He continues on the negative aspects of the film, "For a majority of viewers, especially the masses, absorbing the six stories running simultaneously is as difficult as sipping lassi, sharbat, cola, juice and milk all together. Either Nikhil Advani fell in love with the film and lost all objectivity, or the editor forgot to use the scissors or had no say in the matter." Taran adds, "What could've been conveyed in a concise format of 2+ hours is stretched to a boring three and a half hours. The film goes on endlessly!"

Echoing Taran's statement, trade analyst Vikas Mohan says, "The film needs to be really trimmed." Trade analyst Komal Nahta says that since the film has six stories running parallel, it leaves the viewer in a confused state. "The other drawback is that many of the love stories in the film are about unhappy people, and the audience are put off by that. Only the last few reels are interesting, but most of drama is so boring that the impact of the climax gets diluted." Nahta adds, "Given its high pricing, it will entail losses to its distributors. Its release on Thursday was a wrong move as it opened to dull business. The collections showed a rise on Friday because of Republic Day but it soon came crashing down on the days that followed."

As for the performances, Taran says, "Govinda, Akshaye Khanna, John Abraham, Vidya Balan and Juhi Chawla leave a mark. Shanon Esra, the foreigner turns out to be a pleasant surprise. But Salman and Priyanka are a complete let down, while Anjana, Ayesha, Sohail and Isha are hardly in there to make their presence felt in the film." Taran adds, "Business at multiplexes will be strong in the initial days only, but the film will cut a sorry figure at single screens and also at screens dominated by masses. Highly disappointing!"