Review of Om Shanti Om (2007) by Jason S — 24 Jan 2008

Abso-fishing-lutely loved this movie!! Don't be mistaken by the glitz and the glamor, my friends. Farah Khan has given the entire gallery of bollywood traditions a nice big slap in the face, one that was well deserved. behind the dances and the cameos and shahrukh's wierdly timed english lines lies a film that makes us look properly at the entire bollywood industry that has surrounded us since forever. this is mostly thanks to its over-the-top parodies, guest-yesteryear stars, and dramatic bgm. and that's not all. Farah has, in my opinion, scored another point with the ending. I disagree with most people who think that the ending was the single unexpected thing of the entire movie. It was terribly expected. And despite that, Farah's attention to detail, Deepika's and Arjun's sudden burst of acting ability, and a SLIGHT hidden twist pulled it off so magnificently, it gave the artist in me shivers.

I'd say another round of applause to Farah, since she managed to fit every Bollywooder and their mother into the camera frame (thus paving the way for more subtly stabbing parodies). The only two actresses noticably missing were Kareena and our darling Aish. I mean, she even managed to get TABU to come out of her hidey-hole, and let's face it, how often does THAT happen?

On Shahrukh: Kudos for the body. Seriously. I wanna be him when I'm old and half dead from smoking, back pain, and ignoring my doctor's advice.

On Deepika: A pretty face who, at first, posseses what must be the deadest set of eyes in Bollywood. Then a third of the way into the movie she really opens up, and is given the key to unlock the variety of emotions that is Shanti.

Shreyas: The perfect best friend. In fact, so perfect, that I barely noticed him. Good job. Moving on.

Arjun: Loved him at the end. Overall he's improving. First few scenes with him were painfully stone-faced, though.

Kiron: Good grief, this woman moves me to tears EVERY FISHING TIME. She caught me as the mother in the earlier half of the movie, and she broke my heart in the second half, where she chases after the car, and onwards. Then her character tries to act, and I fall off my chair laughing. Seriously, woman, marry me.

I don't know why people say this is only for entertainment value. Surely someone else noticed the message that Farah was sending throughout the movie?

Although I AM curious about one thing. Did Farah rope in all these people as favors? Like, "Hey, wanna have a five second cameo in one of my songs?" and they're like "Sure! No charge, it looks like fun!" ? Because it really did look like everyone must've had a blast shooting this. The only alternative I can think of is a budget the size of the entire fishing subcontinent.

P.P.S.: To Shirish Kunder. You probably will never read this, but I'm compelled to say this anyway. Get a moustache. And a testosterone jab. I know I'm the last one to ciriticize femininity, and really, looks shouldn't matter, but with Farah flaunting the natural look, this is becoming a horribly wrong case of "famous celebrity and trophy wife".