Taran's got his review up, and guess what, it's the best film ever made!

http://www.indiafm.com/movies/review/12950/index.html

I get to watch it this weekend I think

Ali

here's another one by a fan i think....


Reincarnating MKD

There’s a particular shot in “Om Shanti Om”, where the director, on a film set, tells the producer that he has three cameras for the next shot - “Ek Satyajit Ray angle, ek Bimal Roy angle, aur ek Guru Dutt angle.” The producer coolly tells him to try out the Manmohan Desai angle because that’s the one that sells.
.

That sums up the entire film for me.

I have not seen “Main Hoon Na” and to be very frank, Farah Khan, to me, has never come across as someone who can make serious cinema. And that’s exactly where I had gone wrong.

In the happiness of my pursuit for cinema, I had all but forsaken the pursuit of happiness that is watching films. I still remember one of the interviews of the late Manmohan Desai where he had emphasized that there is already a lot of strife, pain, loss, sorrow and grief in the world. When an individual enters the cinema theater anywhere in India he wants to leave those behind at the entry gate. For three hours he wants to visit another world where “Everything is fine in the end. If it is not fine, it is not the end.”

Whether the 1970s was the “golden age” of Hindi cinema or not, why Manmohan Desai is not studied the way he should be, might or might not have been some of the questions the researcher and/or even the filmmaker had in mind while conceptualizing Om Shanti Om. But it is quite apparent, that they have, indeed, expressed their love for that era and the man.

What has really impressed me about the film is the fact that it has the guts to laugh at itself. Being a film about the industry (in fact, considering there’s a literal roll-call of yesterday’s, today’s and tomorrow’s film personalities in a much talked about song sequence - I refuse to use the term ’star’, because it does not apply to at least 4-5 of them - it can, in fact, be called a film of the industry, for the industry and by the industry) the little nudges in the ribs that it gives to itself, are quite commendable. It has taken almost every stereotype that you can think of from the 70s (there are actual footages from 70s films with the film’s stars inserted in the frame, a la ‘Forrest Gump’) and thrown them back at us. In fact, it has delved on certain aspects that I have always wanted to ask while gorging on those stupendously entertaining films by the Desais and Mehras and all. For example, how does the mandatory mole on the cheek so drastically alter one’s appearance?

There are many such references, whether a nod to actual incidents that occurred during shooting (watch out for a take on “Mother India” with Deepika Padukone doing a Nargis and Shahrukh Khan doing a Sunil Dutt) or aspects that were patent in those blockbusters - the suffering mother, the selfless friend and the scheming villain. In fact, it mixes today with yesterday seamlessly and am not talking about the 30 year time-frame that the film covers. For example, I know for a fact that everyday thousands of youngsters still arrive in Bombay (I still prefer to call the city that, Mumbai just doesn’t have the correct twang to it) with one dream, like the one Shahrukh Khan’s character has in the film - to make it big - ‘a round bed, velvet slippers, silk coat, loads of servants and to top it all, a FilmFare award’.

The film is not an ode to the 1970s. In fact, it is not an ode to any era at all. It is a paean to the joy of, both watching a film and making it. It unabashedly lauds those people who, when they enter the darkened theater wants to be transported to a world where the hero can do no wrong, where the heroine is “dreamy” and where the villain will get his due, even if he seeks refuge in Hollywood!

The spoilsports among us might point out the fact that not all oblique insinuations have been of good taste. Especially those who refused to be a part of the “roll-call number” (for want of a better term) have had quite a few digs made at them, be it a photo on a driving license or anything but parental affinity to girls young enough to be daughters. But, these again, are minor issues as compared to how well the film has tackled the 1970s in the first half, in particular and filmdom, in general.

Shahrukh, the self-proclaimed “rockstar” will possibly find an even bigger fan following because this is the film where those gazillions who come to Bombay everyday will find themselves reflected in the superstar’s persona - at last in a character he plays on screen, they will find themselves. There are, I think only three films of Shahrukh that I like. But this is the film which has made me realize why he is such a huge star on the film firmament. In between a “Chak De”, a “Swades” and a “Kabhie Haan Kabhie Naa” this man has, as an actor, carried on the legacy of Manmohan Desai, the legacy of unadulterated entertainment. We all know by now who the real “Mohabbat man” is, don’t we?

About three-quarters into the second half, many of us, especially the Bimal Roy fans, will know the climax of the film, but that, to me, was not a deterrent. It is just Farah’s way of taking her hat off to one of the best films ever made on the same premise that her film is based on. It, to me, was not plagiarism, not even an “inspiration”, just a film fan’s way of saluting a master and his masterpiece.

There’s one prop in the film that encapsulates the spirit of Om Shanti Om. Shreyas Talpade handing Deepika Padukone a wine glass filled with tea. Yes, Hindi cinema has traveled, the form has changed, but the essence of going to a film is still the same old entertainment, like the staple morning cup of tea.

And those of us who smirked at the issue of reincarnation (in fact a character in the film also asks the same question; it really is amazing how most characters in the film ask questions that we audiences have had in mind) in a film releasing in 2007, you just mistook the 70s to be dead, it is still with us, in ’spirit’, we only didn’t recognize it till now.

MKD would have said “Om Shanti Om - I liked lot.”

Producer: Red Chillies Entertainment
Director: Farah Khan
Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Shreyas Talpade, Deepika Padukone, Arjun Rampal, and Malaika Arora Khan
Music: Vishal-Shekhar
Lyrics: Javed Akhtar, Vishal Dadlani, and Kumaar
Genre: Musical
Recommended Audience: General
Film Released on: 09 November 2007
Reviewed by: Lidia Ostepeev
Reviewer's Rating: 7.5 / 10

Farah Khan’s second film is not as cohesive as her directorial debut – ‘Main Hoon Na’ even though it’s still a warm and flamboyant homage to the films of her youth. ‘Om Shanti Om’ doesn’t take itself seriously; there are no hidden meanings – only a clear purpose – to entertain. Without doubt, there is much to enjoy but taken as a whole, one crucial element is missing and that’s romance.

There is acknowledgement from the outset that Subhash Ghai’s Karz (1980) and Mushir Riaz’s Mehbooba (1976) are also being channelled for their reincarnation themes.


The way the past impacts on Om’s present isn’t drawn out carefully enough to imprint the memory of that first romance on Kapoor’s subconscious. Its texture and melancholy are not developed by subsequent musical numbers. I enjoyed ‘Dard-E-Disco’ but apart from displaying Shah Rukh’s six-pack – it did little to advance the story. ‘Deewangi Deewangi ’ - with its 31 stars, is a nice tribute to Desai’s ‘John, Jani, Janardhan’ from Naseeb (1981) but again, apart from giving us a terrific party it contributes little to the narrative. Maybe in this film, the parts matter more than the whole but why the incredibly drawn-out and dreary denouement? The Kapoor character goes through an unconvincing change of character where it’s clear that both the actor and director enjoyed doing the super-brat scenes so much more and the ending seems like a lifeless add-on.

Farah Khan has insisted that the film is homage rather than a spoof. I’d agree that this is true of the first half where the ‘Dhoom Taana’ number in particular lovingly recycles images from the past such as ‘Piya Tu Ab To Aaja’ from Caravan (1971) and the florid pirate scenes from Dharam Veer (1977). With the help of modern technology, Deepika Padukone is able to engage with the likes of Sunil Dutt and Rajesh Khanna. Yet even in the early stages – in the first scene between Kiron Kher (Om’s “angsty” mother) and Om - the rebellious son, spoof seems to dominate. The mother is introduced as a subject of fun so that when the character takes on a semi-serious hue, her attitude seems somehow unconvincing. The mother character further morphs into Farah Khan but she is even less engaging in the director’s role. Shreyas Talpade as Om Mukhija’s friend plays a bland and sorely underwritten character whose departure from the scene at intermission wouldn’t have been a great loss.

The post-intermission half is essentially straight-out spoof of the sort that Jha’s “King of Bollywood” (2004) did so well. A send up of nepotism, expedient filmmaking, stardom, award ceremonies overwhelm the homage aspect which is relegated to second place. In ‘Main Hoon Na’ – the masala balance was more satisfactory because the bonding of the characters was sustained and the line between send-up and “filmi reality” was clearly drawn. For this reason Farah Khan’s first had more “cross-over” potential. Although Westerners didn’t get a lot of the digs at Bollywood itself, the characters in ‘Main Hoon Na’ were more whole and interactions between them were more interesting. Those who know little about Bollywood films would probably regard ‘Om Shanti Om’ as a rather weak film because it confirms the worst Western stereotypes of Bollywood and because too much of the humor is in-house.

Where the performances are concerned, Arjun Rampal does a fine villain and Shah Rukh Khan reprises his multiple masala performances with the addition of a fresh slightly villainous comedic angle in the super-brat. I applaud Farah Khan for being successful in a “man’s world”. Her sense of humor and fun are great assets but need to be reigned in a tad for a tighter – more consistent end product.

Crap movie - just making fun of late 60s, 70s & early 80s movies.
Wait for DVD.

There were total 12 shows yesterday at Regal cinema in North Brunswick, NJ and all of them sold out except one last show of 10:15PM show.
Again today, 12 more shows. Looks like, Eros/Red Chilli/Farha can never go wrong with SRK movie in US and that too in festival weekend.

The 12 year-old in me enjoyed it. The adult that I am felt it was a poor remake of Karz, with a whole bunch of enjoyable scenes interspersed through out.

Actually, I think Farah just wanted to make another film to cram together a bunch of scenes thanking Bollywood cinema of the past and paying tribute to it. Fair enough. But the main plot here takes back-seat to the rest of the cast's fun shenanigans. Those scenes were all very enjoyable especially SRK's acknowledgement that he gets away with winning awards for films very similar to one another.

Karz, though, was a much MUCH better movie. Back in the day when Ghai was at his creative peak. And "John Jaani Janardhan" is still a classic track. "Deewangi" is more like a dance party at SRK's place... with each of the guests counting their screen time.

I am quite certain Farah has it in her to give us many enjoyable and time-tested flicks in her hopefully long directing career. "Main Hoon Na" is a film she should be very proud of. "Om Shanti Om", not so much.

6/10

The first 40 minutes were very good, very different too.......but by the end the movie was silly and overly long. It should have finished about 30 minutes before it did, as by then you'd actually forgotten what a good first half you had seen.

I remember ali bhaii! few years back, how elated you were to watch main hoon na on bhabi ji's insistence! seems this time it left you dry!

I saw it. And say what you will about Farah Khan, she knows how to make a masala film that entertains most, if not all of, the audience. Though not a great film by any measure, it was a fun film throughout. I loved the first half and though the second half tended to slow down the pace, it was all in good fun. What I respect most about Farah Khan is that she gives credit to those who deserve it at the end of her films. Also, hoping that this DVD too, will have a director's commentary (as I think all DVDs should regardless of box office performance). Shahrukh Khan, is well, Shahrukh Khan. The man can do no wrong in these types of films. After seeing him (and liking his performance) in Chak De! India, it was fun to see him play a role he's all too familiar with (as he himself will tell you). It's also nice to see a good share of Bollywood turn out to make fun of themselves (four words: Return of the Khiladi). I think that's what made this film even better on some levels.

The movie took in $1.5 million over the weekend in the USA according to Boxofficemojo.com. Coming in at number 14. Then Saawariya came in at number 23 with collecting $600,000 over the weekend.

Eros will surely enjoy this as they beat out Sony's Saawariya.

$ 1.5 million was an estimate. Actual number has been revised to $ 1,764,131 @ #11.

Missed the #10 spot by $ 80,000 to "Martian Child" that's showing on over 2000 theaters as opposed to O S O on just 114. A few more theaters (5 to 10 more) and O S O would have made to top 10 in the US. Perhaps for the first time for a Hindi film ??

Eros has an infamous reputation for grossly overstating its films' box office. MONEY LAUNDERING opportunity is greater with a SRK film AND necessary given the overhyped OSO and Saawariya rivalry.

Believe me, the theatre I saw this movie in, was three times as busy for past SRK movies like DTPH, DDLJ, etc. I'm having a tough time stomaching these new Eros numbers.

bad film is a bad film, whether it takes #1 or not!I am not saying that OSO is a bad film, but I am confident that all movies that make to #1 or top 5 of the box office by no means are good or even reasonably good films.

Variety review:
Om Shanti Om
(India)
By DEREK ELLEY
'Om Shanti Om'

An Eros Intl. release of a Red Chillies Entertainment production. (International sales: Eros, London.) Produced by Gauri Khan. Executive producer, Sanjiv Chawla.
Directed by Farah Khan. Associate director, Vaibhav Misra. Screenplay, Mushtaq Sheikh, Khan, Mayur Puri; story, Khan.

With: Shah Rukh Khan, Arjun Rampal, Kirron Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Deepika Padukone, Jawed Sheikh, Asawari Joshi, Bindu, Satish Shah, Nitish Pandey, Uvika Chaudhary, Shawar Ali.
Cameos: Amrita Arora, Shabana Azmi, Abhishek Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Mithun Chakraborty, Juhi Chawla, Priyanka Chopra, Yash Chopra, Bobby Deol, Ritesh Deshmukh, Dharmendra, Lara Dutta, Sanjay Dutt, Subhash Ghai, Govinda, Jeetendra, Karan Johar, Kajol, Arbaaz Khan, Zayed Khan, Rajesh Khanna, Karisma Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Tusshar Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Urmila Matondkar, Dino Morea, Rani Mukerji, Rekha, Hrithik Roshan, Shilpa Shetty, Sunil Shetty, Aftab Shivdasani, Tabu, Preity Zinta.
(Hindi dialogue)


"Masala to the max" would be a fitting tagline for "Om Shanti Om," ace choreographer Farah Khan's sophomore stint as director following her socko 2004 hit, "Main hoon na." Again teaming with megastar Shah Rukh Khan and many of the same crew, helmer has fashioned a dazzling love letter to the great Hindi spectacles of the '70s that fans out, via a hokey tale of reincarnation, into a celebration of those same values in a contempo Bollywood envelope. Out-and-out vehicle for King Khan lacks the emotional undercurrents and ensemble playing to engage at a deeper level, but as sheer eye candy, this looks set for red-hot biz on worldwide release Nov. 9.
Going out in a reported 2,000 prints, the film claims to be the biggest day-and-date international release in Bollywood history. (Official red-carpet world preem Oct. 8 was held in London, not Mumbai.) And with one number alone that features cameo appearances by 31 Bollywood stars, past and present, pic has a wow factor unequalled by any Hindi film in memory. Box office slugfest over the Diwali period with equally awaited "Saawariya," the first Bollypic funded by a U.S. major (Sony), looks to be a battle royale.

Unlike "Main hoon na," which, though set in the present, was heavily doused in '70s retro, new pic requires considerable knowledge of mainstream Hindi movies to get all the in-jokes. But just as the earlier pic referenced several classic Western musicals (from "Grease" to "West Side Story"), "Om" also stirs in some non-Hindi parallels, notably from "Singin' in the Rain" and "Phantom of the Opera."

Part one is set 30 years ago, during the high days of the studio system. Om Prakash Makhija (Khan) is a "junior artiste" (i.e., extra) on the fictional RC Studios lot, where he dreams of becoming a superstar. He's encouraged by his best buddy, Pappu (Shreyas Talpade), and mom, Bela (vet Kirron Kher), also a onetime wannabe actress.

In fact, Om doesn't need much encouragement, as -- in a string of eye-popping musical numbers (one digitally incorporating old stars' faces) -- he imagines himself singin' and dancin' alongside his dream actress, superstar Shantipriya (former model Deepika Padukone). Om befriends Shanti on set but, by chance, overhears an argument with her producer, Mukesh Mehra (Arjun Rampal), that completely changes his perception of her.

Part one ends with a technical tour de force that sees RC Studios destroyed by fire and Om and Shanti destroyed by the Machiavellian Mukesh. Post-intermission, 30 years later, the yarn follows a contempo superstar, Om Kapoor (also Khan), who was born on the day the studio burned down. Vain, terminally lightweight Om ("just call me OK") has a strange fear of fire and seems to have inherited the spirit of the old Om.

Pic is really two movies in one, with part one a jokey tribute to the '70s and part two much more plot-heavy and dramatic. With the hunky Khan onscreen almost the whole time, and seriously overdoing his mature-boyish charm in the first half, the movie also requires considerable tolerance of the King's limited range. Padukone, a real looker with major screen presence, acts as a balance in the early stages; more's the pity she's not given much chance in part two to develop her likeable, klutzy wannabe actress, Sandhya ("just call me Sandy").

Playing a villain for a change, Rampal is fine as the ruthless Mukesh, and Talpade, as Om's buddy, makes a good screen partner to Khan. Among the other thesps, Kher has the meatiest role as Om's mom.

Thick-and-fast musical numbers lack the lightness and pure fun of those in "Main," but compensate with sheer magnitude, topped by the foot-tapping, 9½-minute title song in part two, which is virtually a Bollywood "Who's Who." Production values are super-lavish throughout, from the kaleidoscopically colored '70s costumes through V. Manikandan's glossy widescreen lensing to the slick visual effects.

As in "Main," the whole crew, down to the grips and accountants, are feted in the end titles.


(color, widescreen), V. Manikandan; editor, Shirish Kunder; background music, Sandeep Chowta; song music, Vishal-Shekhar; music arranger, Jackie; lyrics, Javed Akhtar, Kumaar; choreographer, Khan; art director, Sabu Cyril; costume designers, Manish Malhotra, Karan Johar, Sanjiv Mulchandani; sound (Dolby Digital/DTS Digital), Kuldeep Sood; sound designer, Nakul Kamte; action directors, Angelo Sahin, Sham Kaushal, Aamar Shetty; visual effects, Redchillies VFX; visual effects supervisors, Arjun Mitra, Haresh Hingorani, Keitan Yadav; assistant director, Joyeeta Chatterjee. Reviewed at Empire 1, London, Nov. 8, 2007. Running time: 168 MIN. (I: 71 MIN.; II: 97 MIN.)