Rating: 3/5 (Good)
It is the 1970’s. A junior artist Om Prakash Makhija ( Shah Rukh Khan) dreams of becoming a bigtime movie star. He also dreams about Dreamy Girl - the reigning heart throb, Shantipriya (Deepika Padukone). Om manages to get Shanti’s attention but fate has other plans in store for them. Without getting into too many plot details, let’s just say that Om does go on to become a superstar - but it’s not in this lifetime!
‘Om Shanti Om’ is director Farha Khan’s tribute to Bollywood - both of the past as well as the present. Like her first film, ‘Main Hoon Na’ - this is her take as well as take off on films that she’s grown up watching. It’s all in good humour, as Farha affectionately spoofs the overblown films of the seventies in the first half. In the second half, she is equally irreverent when it comes to the Bollywood of today - so the joke is on everybody and everything - item songs, star kids and the Hindi film world’s new found love for superhero films. No one is exempt - not even leading man and OSO producer Shah Rukh Khan - he plays a superstar called Om Kapoor, whose claim
to fame is that he always plays Rahul in films like Phir Bhi Dil Hain NRI and Main Bhi Hoon Na! Yes - the film pokes fun liberally and a lot of the fun is directed inwards.
Like Farha Khan though, you have to be a hardcore Bollywood buff to enjoy this film. Get all the references be it Karz or Madhumati - both of which this film borrows from.. Or rather pays tribute to (!). The downer in the film is that it loses steam in the second half, especially when the drama
overtakes the fun. That’s when you may find yourself running out of patience!
SRK is the undisputed star of the proceedings - be it as the earnest junior artist or the brash superstar, he is having a ball and it is showing. The rest of the cast more than does its bit though - Shreyas Talpade and Kiron Kher are super. Arjun Rampal is effectively evil. Deepika Padukone makes a very confident debut - and she is what is called in Hindi film palance -
“heroine material”!!
OSO is not path breaking cinema - but it is not meant to be. Within its own genre though, the film is clever, high on energy, good looks and production values. For her third film though, Farha Khan will need to go beyond reinventing the cinema she loves - but that’s something we can come to later.
Currently, this Diwali if you are looking for a masala, paisa vasool entertainer - OSO fits the bill. Expect that and no more, and you will get your ticket’s worth. The E NOW Weekend rating is three stars.