Om Shanti Om

 

A.V: **1/2

E.V: ***

 

As a child I loved visiting fairs. The variety enthralled me: roller coaster rides, the bumping cars, the clowns, and the cave of horrors. Welcome to the Farah Khan fair, Om Shanti Om. This one should be subtitled, ‘For the love of Hindi commercial cinema.’ Continuing in the Main Hoon Naa mould, Farah Khan makes a typical Bollywood blockbuster complete with action, emotion, romance, comedy and horror. Taken with liberal doses of cinematic licenses. Her films would classify as a new genre called fantasy.

 

The film opens grandly with a junior artiste Om Prakash (SRK) grooving to the beats of the original Om Shanti Om from Karz, as part of the studio audience while Rishi Kapoor goes round and round the famous silver record. Om has two dreams, to be a famous actor some day and being with the woman of his dreams, Shantipriya (Deepika) a top actress of the 70s. The latter gets fulfilled when he rescues Shanti on one of her outdoor sets. He woos her with the help of his best buddy Pappu (Shreyas). However Shanti has a secret which leads to her murder and Om dies attempting to save her a second time. He is reborn as the son of a famous actor and the superstar of the current era. Old memories catch up with him and he sets about seeking retribution for his dead love.

 

The movie is replete with references and asides to the film industry, actors and technicians. The most interesting task must have been the dialogue writers, having to string together the most heard and clichéd lines throughout Hindi cinema. While the first half in the 70s has the top actors or their duplicates acting with Shanti, the second half in current times looks at starry tantrums, item numbers and even the casting couch. But some things never change: the storylines and dialogues of both eras are similar, so are the background dancers and Om hams in both his avatars. Infact there is a justified sense in the over the top performances as it is another dig at the actors.

 

While the first half is entertaining, the story starts going downhill in the second half. Most of the plot in the second half borrows from Karz, as stated even in the movie by Shreyas. The climax requires you to suspend all logic The all star cast song resembles an extended awards ceremony and is a bit too stretched. Out of the two looks, the 70s certainly is more visually appealing though showing the old songs in clear digital quality takes away a bit of authenticity.

 

In this movie, SRK does everything he has ever been criticized for; overacting, repeating himself and hamming. All this being built into the role makes it seem he plays his natural self. Deepika exudes both the charm and dignity of a yester year’s actress. Besides her looks, her performance leaves an impression though one wishes she had more to do in the second half. Kirron Kher plays the quintessential ‘Ma’ to the hilt.

 

Farah Khan is certainly a better choreographer than a director. Do not expect subtlety and you shall not be disappointed. But she knows who her audience is and what they want. Mind It!!   

- Suprateek Sinha

Saawariya

A.V: **

E.V: **

While coming out of the theatre after the show of Saawariya, I overheard two viewers sharing their views on the movie. The first said “Why did Sanjay Bhansali have to shoot this movie in blue?” The other person replied dryly, “Even if he made it in any other colour, it still would not make sense!” Bhansali’s latest enterprise though being a visual treat is a test of patience for the audience. Like his earlier movie Khamoshi, this one claims to be a musical. Music proves be one of the redeeming factors of this kitsch tale. But more on that later.

 

The story is set in a imaginary town which looks like a combination of the rooftops of Gotham City and the neon signs of Moulin Rouge. Ranbir Raj, a singer and dreamer is a newcomer in this town. He sings at the local bar where he befriends a prostitute Gulabji (Rani). Gulab is smitten by his innocence and serves as his advisor and guide. Raj’s life changes one night when he spots a mysterious girl Sakina (Sonam). He is besotted by her beauty and after some reluctance she accepts his friendship. However Sakina is committed to wait for her secret love to come back and accept her. She confides in Raj who is stuck in an awkward situation of losing her love and friendship by helping her.

 

The plot moves along this single path at an extremely slow pace, perhaps the attempt was to make a theatrical drama. And the weak screenplay does not help matters either. There is only one sequence which has a touch of vintage Bhansali; Gulabji’s rejection of Raj’s offer. True to most of his previous films, the sets are opulent and tasteful. Beyond a point however the dark settings add to the gloomy mood of the narrative. A lot of sequences are inspired by Bhansali’s own Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam especially the conversation in front of the half blind mother. As mentioned earlier, the music score deserves a mention not only for its appeal but the fact that the songs provided relief from the dreary proceedings. The title track, already very popular, is the best of the lot. Masha Allah is one of the most beautiful romantic songs in recent times though it sounds like Bairi Piya in parts.

 

Among the performers, Ranbir Kapoor stands out distinctly as the happy-go lucky lover who believes in constantly ‘boxing’ with grief. He has the boyish charm of Kumar Gaurav and the mannerisms of his grandfather complete with the hat, and the simplicity of Raj Kapoor in Shree 420 and Awara. Watch out for his tribute to his father here. One question which crossed my mind several times during the course of this movie was regarding the brief Sanjay Bhansali must have given to Sonam for her role. Her portrayal looks convulated and is hampered by a lack of character development. Still she gives a decent performance overall and is quite natural in the lighter scenes. The chemistry between the two sparkles in the aforesaid portions. Rani as the vivacious Gulab plays a vibrant version of Chandra Mukhi here.

 

The last time two star children were launched in the same movie was in Refugee. Though the film did not fare well, the actors have come a long way and have established themselves. Heres hoping Ranbir and Sonam build a niche for themselves in future times.

      

- Suprateek Sinha