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Review - Mumbai Salsa

2nd November 2007 | posted in Hindi Movies, Reviews, meetu |

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Rating: Watch if you have nothing better to do (Rating Scale)

Movie Info, Detailed ratings, To each his own

Mediocre

Quick Review

Not all love stories are the same. So, we have four. There is an attempt to touch upon some serious issues in relationships, while retaining a sense of humor. Unfortunately the humor is neither atrociously funny nor subtle. The serious parts lack novelty and punch. And neither can you take anything seriously nor can you sit back and enjoy the laugh.

Rating: Watch if you have nothing better to do (Rating Scale)

Anyone who stays in a metropolis and is reasonably social will know people who remind them of each of the eight characters in the movie. But yet, neither do you identify with any of them nor do you feel good about/bad for any of them. Conclusion - the characters are reasonably well sketched out but the narrative doesn’t engage you.

Since the characters are regular people you aren’t really expecting a never-imagined-before story. Four couples - four different types of love stories. Fair enough. Presumably each one represents a type of metropolitan relationship. But, does a story about regular people really make for an interesting movie? True, we crave for realism. But, it has to be insightful, leave a mark on your thought process. If a few laughs are what you want, you’ll get those, but I don’t think that is what the makers had in mind. They intended to make something more meaningful in a lighter vein, but light vein is all that we are left with.

And there are a lot of inconsistencies. The funny lines make you laugh, thought not “out loud”. And some supposedly funny situations don’t do even that. The “boss” character was entirely avoidable. Introspective and/or emotional moments turn into lectures that you have imparted/listened to at some point in real life. And most likely, you used much better language. The writer has to be given due credit for inventing a new swear word though.

The actors who deliver these lines aren’t the best at their job either. The best of the lot, Manjari, is just about average in talent. Amruta is loud at most times, Neelam shouldn’t have been given dialogues at all - certainly not English monologues. (Neelam’s screen name is Xenobia and every time she came on screen the word “Xenophobia” kept popping into my head.) Anyway, none of the actors have the screen presence to make it work.

The music could have been a little appealing had there been different tunes to different songs. Since almost all of them sounded the same, by the time you listen to the third song, you have reached the expiry date of the tune. The presentation is at best random. No sizzling dances to sweep you off your feet. Lyrics are by Sameer. Do I really need to say that they weren’t interesting either?

What was interesting though was the camerawork in one of the scenes. So, this is a movie about relationships, you have proposals and you have break-ups. Amidst all the ordinary camerawork, at one such break-up, you have the camera crew getting all creative on you. They take handheld camera shots as used in thrillers, thrilling background music et al. Technically, the entire scene looked completely out-of-place.

Oh well. Mediocrity, thy name is Mumbai Salsa. Stories of our lives may seem interesting to us, but unfortunately they do not make watchable movies. So much for realism!

Click here to read what I scribbled on my notepad while watching this movie (what worked and what didn’t for me). Might contain spoilers!

Click here to see what 9 other reviewers/viewers think. Average rating 1.9 / 5.0: 1 thumbs up, 5 so-so, 3 thumbs down.
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- Meetu, a part of the audience

Rating: Watch if you have nothing better to do (Rating Scale)

Detailed Ratings (out of 5):

Direction: 1.5 Story: 1
Lead Actors: 1.5 Supporting Cast: N/A
Dialogues: 1.5 Screenplay: 1.5
Music: 1 Lyrics: 1

Mumbai Salsa - Details

Director, Story, Dialogues: Manoj Tyagi
Screenplay: Manoj Tyagi
Music Director: Adnan Sami
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Relationships

2 comments

Articles linking here

  1. 1 On January 10th, 2008, kunal baikunth singh said:

    yaar vikram bhatt apne reputation ka khayal rakho bhai.mana ki film bahut achchi nahi hai par aap kiya soch kar tv pe bade bade baate karte hain…its not good for you ..you are agood director bt bad producer
    good luck for next timre

  2. 2 On January 19th, 2008, COP said:

    I think this was one of the classic.. touched me at so many levels.. it was so original.. dude how many movies have u seen where a girl has sex and then says “i was wanted to confirm that I m straight”.. or where an American gets racially discriminated.. simply awesome..

    yes it might seem “regular” to you. and believe me its harder to characterize the realism.. than fiction..

    I was so much impressed by the acting of new comers.. especially the Vir guy and Manjari.. so natural..

    I liked the fact that movie was kept light and fun.. instead of getting too serious..

And what do you think...

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