THE FILM

�You should not ''piss'' and ''come'', you should ''come'' and then ''piss�
�Jab personal life ki aisi taisi hone lage to samjho career tarakki par hai�
�I slept with you because I wanted to make sure I am not a lesbian�
�You keep losing girlfriends since you don''t hit the gym. You see, what girls want is a cute butt�
�Come join me and we would have a threesome�

Shocking? Not really! Because if you have an appetite for naughty romantic comedies with some dose of sex incorporated into the narrative, Mumbai Salsa is the film meant for you. No, it doesn''t belong to the genre of American Pie series. Nor does it follow the bonding game a la Dil Chahta Hai. It treads a path in the middle of these two genres while also bringing on emotional elements, which are humane and practical.

Directed by debutant Manoj Tyagi, the writer of many Bhandarkar films like Satta, Page 3 and Corporate, Mumbai Salsa is a take on metro sexual urban youth who are the Vice Presidents and the Directors in MNCs even as they have barely touched 30 years of age. With enough spending capacity, spare weekends to chill out and a life that asks a number of questions in quest of that one life partner who could be relied upon forever, for these youngsters a pub or a lounge or a nightclub is a place that attempts at showing them a direction and narrating a thousand tales.

Overall, the film carries itself on a lighthearted route as one chuckles throughout the happenings on the screen. One word of caution though - the film is strictly meant for audiences who can absorb sex jokes and bedroom conversations with good comfort without resorting to cringing on their chairs/couches.

Comprising of mainly youngsters with minimal film experience behind them, Mumbai Salsa has eight characters (forming four pairs) who are shown to be quite successful in their respective careers. Their interaction with each other ranges from being tongue in cheek to, on your face but never once does the film resort to any banana peel humor or cheap gimmicks. In fact it is the camaraderie that they share with each other which forms the highlight of the film throughout it''s duration of close to two hours.

At a couple of spots in the narrative, the film''s narration does dwindle a little but the zero expectations factor makes one ignore these minor blemishes and keeps the viewer''s interest alive in the proceedings. Also, the film doesn''t take much time in coming back on track which makes Mumbai Salsa a decent time pass affair for home viewing.

PACKAGING

Mumbai Salsa comes in a basic plastic case though the design and layout is glossy and impressive while going in synch with the urban flavor of the film. Since the film gets it''s title from a pub/lounge, picture of each of the characters from the film is plastered as a label on a liquor bottle on the DVD cover.

DURATION

The film comes in a single DVD with the film''s duration being 131 minutes with no added features.

MOVIE DETAILS

Cast: Vir Das, Manjari Phadnis, Dilip Thadeshwar, Linda Arsenio, Indraneel Sengupta, Neelam Chauhan, Ray Irani and Amruta
Director: Manoj Tyagi
Music: Adnan Sami

SPECIAL FEATURES

The film doesn''t have any special features. However, one doesn''t miss them since the film itself is an incentive good enough.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

- 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen format
- Subtitles in English
- 5.1 Dolby Surround and 2.0 Dolby Digital

CONCLUSION

As a film, Mumbai Salsa could have been placed much better in the market. Despite being presented by Vikram Bhatt, the film came sans any fanfare and saw a minimal release. Film''s promos too caught on quite late in the day and by then the damage was done due to lack of awareness. Nevertheless, with the film''s arrival on DVDs, the makers can still hope for a better viewership of the film, especially amongst the younger generation at the urban centers.

Rating: ***