Namastey London - Movie Review
Published: September 30, 2010
Starring Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Rishi Kapoor, Upen Patel, Javed Sheikh, Clive Standen
Their first film together—Humko Deewana Kar Gaye (2006)—was a disappointment, but Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif sparkled in Namastey London—her first major hit and his first of four hits in 2007, including another with Kaif later that year, Welcome. They co-starred in the blockbuster Singh is Kinng the following year. But Namastey London remains their best outing together—and one of Kaif's best films.
In only her fifth Hindi movie, Kaif's still a little green, but her promise starts to show here. She plays Jasmeet, who goes by the nickname "Jazz," a London-born girl with India-born parents. With her mother's encouragement and to her father's dismay, she's thoroughly British—in the way she thinks, dresses, and socializes. The role was likely not a stretch for Kaif, who is half-British herself and was raised in the West.
Actor Rishi Kapoor as Jasmeet's father, Manmohan, nearly steals the show. He's no stern villain who only sees his daughter as a reflection of his own honor. Rather, he's like most dads—caring, concerned, struggling to let go of his adult child, worried she's making the wrong choices (which she is), and completely at a loss about what to do about it. Sick of dragging his drunk daughter out of clubs and horrified that she's engaged to her thrice-divorced boss, Charlie (Clive Standen), Manmohan tricks Jazz into going on a family vacation to India with the intention of marrying her off to an Indian while they're there. He thinks he's doing what's best for her when he betroths her to a rural rube, Arjun (Akshay Kumar).
Back home, Jasmeet's friend Imran (Upen Patel) is disowned by his Pakistani father, Parvez (Javed Sheikh), for moving in with his girlfriend Susan. When Imran gets a desperate call from Jazz in India, he advises her to go along with the wedding—because God only knows what her brutish fiancé might do to her if she refuses—return to London, and point out to everyone that the marriage isn't legal in the UK, and then no one can force her to do anything. Which is exactly what she does—and then proceeds with her wedding plans to Charlie.
But it turns out that Arjun is a good guy who really loves her and he sets out to win her heart by letting her go and being her friend, with the hope that she'll pick him once she gets to know him. Charlie is such a jerk that even his own father tries to warn her off and Arjun cherishes her so honorably that it's hard to understand what takes her so long to make up her mind.
Namastey London is rated Worth Watching.
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