Salaam–E–Ishq

Director: Nikhil Advani
Producer: Sunil Manchanda, Mukesh Talreja, Nikhil Advani
Cast: Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Anil Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Akshaye Khanna, Ayesha Takia, John Abraham, Vidya Balan, Govinda, Shannon Esra, Sohail Khan, Isha Koppikar, Aroon Bakshi, Anjana Sukhani
Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Lyrics: Sameer

(To download the file, click on the link below)

Synopsis:
The basic premise of multi starrer SALAAM-E-ISHQ is quite interesting. The film puts six stories together. It portrays six different pairs around whom the film moves ahead.
The opening scenes are quite impressive. The twelve main characters are introduced one by one. Each of them is introduced in an interesting manner. The characters are colorful.
Let us take a brief look at each pair.
Ashutosh (John Abraham) and Tehzeeb (Vidya Balan) are in love with each other. But Ashutosh’s father is adamantly against his marriage with a Muslim girl. But Ashutosh goes ahead with his plan. Their married life is shattered as Tehzeeb is badly injured in a train accident and loses her memory.
There is a taxi driver who waits everyday for his dream girl at the airport. Raju (Govinda) is a taxi driver, living with the hope that one day his dream girl would walk out of the airport door and straight into his heart. The day comes when Stephanie (Shannon Esrechowitz) arrives from New York. But she comes to search for her boyfriend who is about to marry ‘an Indian girl’.
Shiven and Gia are the lovers with broken engagement: Shiven [Akshaye Khanna] is engaged to get married in the next 10 days. But a bizarre thought enters his mind. He wants some thrill. So he wants to break off the engagement. He does so by hurting his fiancé Gia [Ayesha Takia]. Gradually, he begins to realize the real worth of what he has lost.
Kkamini and Rahul (Priyanka Chopra and Salman Khan) get close together in a surprising manner. Kkamini is an item girl who is ready to do anything to get a chance in a Karan Johar movie. She wants to change her image and hence hatches up a fictitious story about an imaginary boyfriend named Rahul. But to her surprise, a real Rahul walks into her life and claims to be her boyfriend.
The married life of Vinay and Seema (Anil Kapoor and Juhi Chawla) is perfect. However, Vinay feels his married life too monotonous after fifteen years. He wants to revitalize his life with new experiments. He gets attracted to a beautiful, sensuous young woman. But his extra-marital fling is soon exposed to his wife who loves him very much.
The problem of Ramdayal [Sohail Khan] is something different. He a middle class Haryanvi, married to Phoolwati [Isha Koppikar]. No matter how and where Ramdayal tries to fulfill that burning desire, something goes wrong and his desire remains unfulfilled.
Director Nikhil Advani, who proved his abilities in his debutant venture KAL HO NAA HO, fails to impress in SALAAM-E-ISHQ. He tries to pack too many stories and too many incidents in one film. Under compulsion to do justice to the magnum cast, the director and writers have made the film too long. The result: the film tests the patience of the viewer.
The beginning of the film is quite interesting. The way the characters with different backgrounds are introduced triggers much expectation. But the script fails to fulfill the expectations as the six different stories have not been shaped up well. Each introduction throws some intriguing questions but the way they are addressed leaves much to be desired.
Each story has its own minus points. Especially the one involving Salman and Priyanka is very weak. Priyanka desperately wants to star in a Karan Johar film and Salman latching on to her is the core of the issue. The way it has been handled is quite amateurish. Salman loves Priyanka, while she loves her career. But she changes her mind all of a sudden and there is no justification in the script for the change.
The concept of Anil-Juhi-Anjana story is interesting. But Anil’s transformation is not credibly established. However, the rift between the couple is excellently portrayed. Anjana’s character is half baked.
Govinda-Shanon story has too little potential to become a strong sub-plot. The story involving John-Vidya is the best among the lot. Vidya losing her memory and John trying every possible thing to revive her memory are remarkable.
Akshaye-Ayesha is credible but the way it as been stretched is somewhat boring.
Sohail-Isha story tries to entertain but miserably fails. The appeal of this episode is cheap, to say the least.
Though the idea of packaging six different stories in a single film is quite interesting, the film fails to impress as the construction of the story is quite weak. The stories, barring two, are not well etched. It looks like a disjointed effort. Unfortunately it is also amateurish at times.
The abstract style of narration alienates the audience. Six stories running simultaneously actually confuse the audience. Moreover the length of the movie is too much.
Nikhil Advani, who proved his abilities in his debutant venture KAL HO NAA HO, fails to make any impression in SALAAM-E-ISHQ. He tries to pack too many stories and too many incidents in one film. Under compulsion to do justice to the magnum cast, the director and writers have made the film too long. The result: the film tests the patience of the viewer.
Nikhil however, has handled certain sequences remarkably. In fact, he does pull off some amazingly well-tuned moments as well as some funny ones. The twist in the tale of John - Vidya episode keeps the interest alive. The sequence at Akshaye’s residence is outstanding.
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s music is pleasing. ‘Dil Kya Kare’ and the title number are excellent. Piyush Shah’s cinematography is marvelous.
Govinda stands out amidst a horde of actors. While Akshaye Khanna does well, John Abraham makes his presence felt. Vidya Balan looks great and actes well. Shanon Esra and Juhi Chawla impress. Salman fails to impress while Priyanka irritates with her screeching. Anil Kapoor, Anjana, and Ayesha Takia are just about ok. The performances of Sohail and Isha are forgettable.
The plus point of SALAAM-E-ISHQ is its huge star cast. But the director has failed to make use of the star value. The disjointed script, inconsistent narration, and excessive length [3.30 hours/23 reels] are the villains of the movie. At the box-office, the hype might ensure a fairly good collection during the initial weeks. But the movie lacks the vitality to sustain the interest of the audience for a long period.

Tracklist:
Dil Kya Kare - Adnan Sami
Saiyaan Re - Shilpa, Shankar Mahadevan, Loy Mendonsa
Mera Dil - Shaan, Nihira
Salaam-e-Ishq - Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal, Kunal Ganjawala
Tenu Leke - Sonu Nigam, Mahalakshmi Iyer
Babuji - Nihira
Ya Rabba - Kailash Kher