Om Shanti Om

Audience always look forward for the diwali festive releases which enter the theatres with a boom after spending astronomic amount of money on publicity and hype through various streams, so much that the courtesy list for the media partners and the list of actors in the movie match in number. October month saw promotional efforts of Saanwariya and Om Shanti Om reverberating throughout the country. This is an attempt to make sure that no matter how long the movies stay in the theatres, distributors can recover every penny they invest within the first few days. This is possible as far as we have the curious bollywood audience who reach the theatres every year forgetting all the anticlimactic claims of the past. Being one among them, I need to pen down my views on "Om Shanti Om" – the diwali release of 2007 J

Om Shanti Om!!! Is it a movie on spirituality? When did this paradigm shift happen in Farah Khan when her previous movie had every commercial aspect you could think of! If you exclaimed this way, there is no need for it; we are not new to naming movies after the names of the protagonists, are we? As far as Farah Khan’s spiritual inclination goes, she still sticks to bollywood masala commercial movies but with a difference. Now what is the difference? She has been successful in making a commercial film which encompasses almost every possible aspect that we have seen in our bollywood movies over the last three decades while making a spoof of it.

We have witnessed the exaggerated flow of a mother’s love described using all kinds of similes and heart rendering dialogues in every alternate Hindi movie –"Ma ka dil aisa hi hota hai" . Seems like we heard it in many King Khan movies recently too – Kuch Kuch hota hai, Kal ho na ho to name just two :D We may bend down our head in boredom unable to bear tear-jerking Mommy dialogues in any other movie but here we enjoy watching it when the scene is made to convey that it is boring to continue the same. Kiron Kher – the only elder supporting actress in the movie has carried the role well by making the audience laugh with her role of overacting filmi ma of Om Prakash Makhija. Did I say Makhija? Sounds unconventional and is intended to. It has been tactfully used to convey the nepotism favoring Kumars, Khannas and kapoors in the 70s where Bachan had to struggle to make his mark. It is tough to come across a movie which can include so many different aspects spanning 30 years of film industry. Whether it is the foul play of the hungry ones for power, money and fame or the aspirations of the struggling artists dreaming of becoming superstars or loopholes in the way movies are shot and projected or the path to stardom which is a bed of roses for star sons and daughters born with a silver spoon in their mouth; they have been portrayed very well with the required subtlety and impact.

It will not be an exaggeration if I say this is an excellent movie for the shrewd ones who can catch the implications and don’t get enraged when their favorite stars are at the gun point. Hardly any star has been spared from lampoon. Manoj kumar hiding his face in style, Salman Khan wearing a cap with "friend" and saying dialogues about rules of friendship , Hrithik Roshan flying as a superhero and jumping into a valley with his Dhoom lady love, Barechested disco of !!!hmmm!!! lost the count of heroes salman being the first one to come to mind, Stylish Rajanikanth’s action defying laws of Physics, King Khan himself for repeating romantic Rahul roles and in spite of that asking– "Rahul, Naam to suna hoga" –Why not ,when we have seen him as Rahul n times. Some common behavior in the film industry is captured in a comical way very much within the domain of the script. Gorgeous ladies of silver screen making clichéd remarks about their relationship with their on screen partners, men brushing aside rumors of homosexual behavior again finding shelter in friendship, Award functions where neck and neck nominees try to cover the pricked bubble with a smile, Taking pride as action heroes imitating action scenes from the other side of the Pacific Ocean to mention a few. It is surprising how a movie made as a comedy pulling the legs of the film industry has got the support of the whole industry coming on screen in this movie.

Coming to the performances in the movie, Shahrukh has delivered a good one except for some scenes where he overacts trying to play the cool dude of 2007. His effort to build the six pack shows on his face that looks leaner and longer now. However, his effort at 42 has to be appreciated. Deepika Padukone , an entrant to bollywood looks gorgeous in the 70s costumes. The effort taken to make her look like the Dream Girl of the 70s Hema Malini has paid off. In the scenes where she shares the 70 mm screen with Shahrukh Khan , she has the ability to make the audience face dilemma as to where to focus their eye balls on. Considering that this is her first movie, she has been good in carrying off the role well. But definitely she could have been better. But audience enchanted by her beauty will hardly notice that. Shreyas Talpade and Shahrukh look like buddies, that probably has come out as a result of the comfort they shared off screen too. Shreyas has done a good job as the tapori confidence booster of Om Prakash Makhija. Arjun Rampal fits well into the role of stylish, tall, dark and handsome producer of the 70s with grey shades.

The music of the film is good and has caught on with young people especially due to endless plug that has not spared even the advertisements for Shoppers stop. Dard e disco would not have made sense if you had watched Shahrukh dancing to the beats with sad lyrics without the previous scene in the movie. It is again pointed at item songs in the movies now a days that don’t fit anywhere in the story but are made just to act as a crowd-puller. Concept of Panchabhoot - Earth,Sky,Air,Water and fire has been incorporated in this song again which we last saw in Nayak-The hero. Main agar kahoon is melodious romantic song that will probably stay in the list of songs you will listen to while driving after the craze for Dard e disco comes down. This movie will go into record for bringing together 35+stars in the same movie. Guest appearances have become the element of surprise and fashion now days through which the film industry tries to prove existent or non-existent cordial relationships. And in case someone refuses to appear in a guest role, it makes news as a fight between the crew of the movie and the invitee for the guest appearance. It happened even with OSO when Amir Khan refused to be a part of OSO’s title song where 31 stars come together. This song of course is one of the most awaited songs in the movie. It is very much in the story and is not out of place where the stars are brought in just for the sake of it. Graphic technology used in the song Dhoom Tana must be really appreciated where Deepika gets to Dance with stars of the golden era.

70s settings and costumes are really good and for sometime you will forget that the movie is a 2007 diwali release. The film goes in a recursive fashion where Farah Khan is making "Om Shanti Om" in which Mukhesh Mehra (Arjun rampal) is making "Om Shanti Om" in which the character Ramesh is making "Om Shanti Om" and so on. J The movie catches your interest because of the humour almost till the end. It would have been better if some specific scenes were not shown many times in the movie just to convey that somebody is thinking about it. The scenes are well connected for which the editor must be praised. The climax of the movie was not so believable for the 2007 moviegoers. But the message was well transmitted through one of the dialogues that Deepika says in the movie -" When you can believe hero jumping from a tall building and landing on his feet, when you can believe a hero sole-handedly fighting 20 villians, you can very well believe the concept of reincarnation or the climax of the movie. The climax also changes the traditional theory laid by our own hindi movies that reincarnated souls get into bodies having same physical appearance. It might have been a cost saving strategy to avoid paying another actor or actress. Here Sandy is not Shanti and where is Shanti is left for you to explore!

It is a good thing about Farah Khan to introduce the whole crew of the movie at the end which she did in her previous film too. Otherwise probably some people who work hard for the success of the movie never get to show their face to the audience.

To conclude, it is a good entertainer and you will get the worth for your money. It is relaxing to laugh for 2 hours 45 minutes in a 3 hour movie. The more number of times you watch the movie, the more will be the number of subtle implications that you will catch. The movie is different and creative. Kudos to the crew of Om Shanti Om.