Namaste England Movie Review: It Has A Pure Heart

Namaste England

Starring:  Arjun Kapoor,Parineeti Chopra,Aditya Seal,Alankrita Sahay

Directed by: Vipul Amritlal Shah

Rating: ****(4 stars)

Vipul Shah likes to come clean. His movies are straightforward  simple and  aimed at the heart.Namaste  England is no exception.  It bears a strong thematic resemblance  to  Vipul’ s Namaste London that came  11 years  ago. In both , the desiPunjabi  son-of-the-soil  hero makes it his  business to bring his London-based wife back to her roots, and her senses.

 This  image of the hotheaded impetuous somewhat selfish  heroine  suited Katrina  Kaif’s haughty  personality  in the earlier film.Parineeti Chopra is way too homely  to  look convincing in her Londoner’s avatar . In a way that suits  the plot’s purposes, as the image of the desi girl hellbent on acquiring a British residency acquires a sense  of ironic wistfulness in Parineeti’s tangy personality.

Param, her  pure-hearted husband  is played by Arjun Kapoor with an all-heart earnestness. He follows his over-ambitious wife to London to get her back, ropes in a  London-Asian  girl Alisha(Aankrita Sahay)’s help to  set up  charade that fits in snugly with the film’s main thematic thrust: don’t ruin your today  in pursuit of  your dreams for tomorrow.

The  cast performs  with  sincerity that sometimes gets stagey . While  Arjun and Parineeti look comfortable  in each other’s company, some of their  romantic moments together  are done with the over-cute impishness that  seems  way  out of line. Curiously,the second leads are  far more appealing and convincing. Aditya Seal as  Parineeti’s  trophy-husband  succeeds in  making his character  of  a spoilt NRI brat  anything  but a jerk. Considering the limited  he has been provided to make his  presence felt , Seal  does well for himself.

 Aalankrita Sahay starts off as spoilt silly  Saira Banu from Purab Aur Pacchim,  desi girl lost in a haze of Western influences but  quickly make way  for a more empthatic  character.

Miracles, says the plot, are not  impossible.Just look for them in  your heart.

 Ah, before we forget , Vipul squeezes in his Manoj Kumar/Purab Aur Pachchim moment when Arjun’s Param  gets  to tell aphoney firangi Indian why he will always a  be  a second-class citizen  in  England.  Akshay Kumar,  you will remember,  did the  patriotic act  with  impeachable  conviction  in  Namaste London.

While the narrative  serenades  the  effervescent  mood, a serious tone is allowed to creep in with a statement on the issue of  illegal migrants in Europe.Stand-up comedian Mallika Dua plays a swanky Punjabi Londoner whose husband mops the floors on  Heathrow  airport.Considering the amount  of cleaning up going on  in India, he could just as well use that mop at home.

Namaste  England is beautifully shot  by Yiannis Manolopoulos. The  film looks and feels as though it has been shot in adreamscape. The  free-floating baby-shower feeling sees  the  saga to its unimpeded  end.Of course Param and  his truant bride(now fully sobered-down)  live  happily ever after. Given the film’s blithe mood that isn’t a spoiler. It is  the  need of the hour.

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