Khanna-o-rama: Salaam-e-ishq -- a tribute to Akshaye

Meet Shiven:

First impressions are everything, aren't they?  This is our first glimpse of Shiven, played by Akshaye Khanna, in Nikhil Advani's 2007 film "Salaam-e-Ishq".  He's on a massage table, drinking champagne through a straw.

And he is late.  Shiven is perpetually late.  He is also selfish, self-centred, self-indulgent, and averse to committment. Shiven is, also, paradoxically, engaged to be married to the lovely Gia Bakshi (Ayesha Takia). 

Not surprisingly, perhaps, Shiven also has cold feet:

Now, if you're like me, you dislike Shiven intensely at this point.  But it's okay, because you didn't put this film in the player for Shiven, you did it for this guy:

The delightfully romantic taxiwalla Raju (Govinda, in probably his best role ever).  Raju has no committment problems.  Raju is fully prepared to commit. Raju's only problem is that the girl of his dreams has, thus far, failed to turn up.

But I digress, because this post it not about Raju, it is about Shiven.

As I said: when I first saw this film, Shiven annoyed the bejeebers out of me.  And it took a while for me to realize that he is *supposed* to do that.  Well, duh.  But when I finally did twig, I realized that it took no small acting skill on the part of Akshaye Khanna to take Shiven from someone I was happy to see Gia dump, to the man who finally understands what he is about to lose, and to finally take responsibility and be on time for once in his life.

Now, to be fair, Khanna has some help in this, in the way director Advani structures the film.

First, there is Shiven's friend and sidekick, Juggy.  I'll admit, when I really sat down to think about the Shiven/Gia storyline, that it was Juggy who annoyed me even more than Shiven.  And he annoys Shiven, too:

Juggy's sole purpose is to act as the external catalyst for Shiven's internal conflict, one minute teasing him about how his life will change after marriage, the next minute cajoling him to pick up the phone and talk to Gia.  And I also realized that my sympathy for Shiven increases as Juggy is slowly phased out of the film.

Next:  for all his flaws, Shiven does have some good points.  He does seem to care about Gia, and he's genuinely conflicted about whether he wants to get married or not.  He is not, for example, like the guy in this picture:

That would be Rohit, the wonderful (insert eye roll here) guy who dumps the lovely Stephanie (or the "blond bimbo" as he later calls her) in order to have his marriage to an Indian girl arranged for him by his parents.  Rohit has no redeeming qualities.  He breaks Stephanie's heart. He is just Not Nice.  Shiven, for all his flaws, is nice.

Shiven spends the first half of the film trying to get out of the marriage to Gia, and then, when she finally breaks it off (and has her marriage arranged to the lovely Rohit), spends the rest of the film wondering how to get her back. Not to marry her, mind -- Shiven just wants them to go back to the good times, not having to worry about all the bad stuff in life.  Gia tries to tell him there's more to being together than just the good times, but Shiven just doesn't get it, not until he finally has an epiphany, courtesy one of the other love stories, that of Ashutosh and Tehzeeb, happy almost-newlyweds, until the day that Tehzeeb loses her memory in an accident, and cannot remember Ashutosh at all.

Shiven finds Tehzeeb wandering the streets, calls Ashutosh (who has distributed flyers to try to find her), and takes them to his home, where he witnesses how they will manage to salvage their love story:

I've only grabbed two screencaps here, but the scene is fascinating to watch -- Akshaye Khanna is skilled enough as an actor that we see the internal thought process Shiven is going through here, through a series of very subtle changes in his expression.  Shiven gets it, finally.  And we, the audience, get to experience it and truly believe that he gets it, because of the actor's skill.

In fact, one of Akshaye Khanna's supreme strengths as an actor, I think, is his ability to change his expression with lightning speed, always taking us along with the character and his twists and turns.  Khanna gives the playboy Shiven a depth we are surprised to discover, so much so that we are actually happy when, for once in his life, he arrives just in time to do exactly the right thing.
  

And thank the gods for that, because otherwise Gia would have been stuck with Rohit, who is, truly, as Stephanie discovers:

Word up, girlfriend.  

 
 

 

Comments

[Beth]

Vah vah!!!! I am so glad to hear you say all these things. Akshaye was the first Bollywood actor who really impressed me as an actor (and okay, yes, also I thought he was beautiful), and I've begun to lose sight of some of those qualities because of the dreck of the films around him.

This role is interesting to me partly because it is similar to his role in Shaadi Se Pehle, also opposite Ayesha Takia, but much more nuanced - and, it must be said, inspired to final wisdom by seeing true love, not through madcap adventures involving a mafia don and his plastic sister.

I wish I could say something more thoughtful but I really don't remember the film terribly well, and you've really enticed me watch it again (even if I FF through a few of the arcs).

We had the same approach and response to this film but about the opposite people - I watched for Akshaye but walked away most impressed by Govinda! Together, we are both halves of the masala sibling locket :)

[katherine]

I will confess, that I FF through a few of the arcs myself. Despite that, SEI is a film that grows on me more and more, despite its flaws.

I worry (I really do) that this may be the last, great thing Govinda ever does. I'm crossing my fingers for Raavan, and hoping the rumours that his scenes have mostly been cut are untrue.

I will say that I prefer Akshaye with hair, but living with a guy who is hair impaired, I do understand the challenge of losing one's hair gracefully.

[Ness]

Great post, like, WHOA! I LOVE SEI and I fully agree with EVERYTHING you ave said about it, like, spookily so (especially the part about Govinda. Sigh. I love him so much). Akshaye is always my least favourite part of the film (OMG except for SOHAIL, shudder) until I remember he is supposed to be annoying and cartoonish, right before he has his realisation of what real love actually is. He pulls off the change so well, I forgive him his buffoonery every time.

[katherine]

Thanks, Ness -- you know, I love this film probably more than I should, given the criticial response to it. I'm still amazed to read reviews that dump on it, and say that the only good thing about it is Sohail Khan (oh, really? That's a story arc I could have lived without, truly.)

And I'd forgotten how good Govinda really is, and am so grateful SEI exists to remind me about that.

:-)

[Ness]

Are you serious? There are reviews that say Sohail Khan is the best thing about it? I am PROUD to disagree with the reviewers in that case, because they are clearly on crack!

[Filmbuff]

This is my first comment on your blog although I have been reading your posts. Congratulations - you really have a very interesting blog. I liked your Arshad Wasi week and look forward to reading your views on Govinda and his movies. I have only seen Govinda in a few movies like Partner and Salam E Ishq. I liked him in both. He was the best in SEI among all actors to my utter surprise. While I liked the Askhay/Ayesha and John Abraham/Vidhya story, the salman-priyanka story totally put me off.

BTW, your article on plaigarism and Bollywood was very good - insightful.