Om Shanti Om : One Life Is Just Not Enough!

Well well well folks, Diwali's finally upon us. The season of lights.
The season of delicious sweets and noisy crackers. The season of
Blockbusters and Box Office Turkeys. This Diwali was a Mexican
Standoff between 2 of India's loudest film-makers, Sanjay Leela
Bhansali and Farah Khan. Both directors with a taste for opulence and
escapism (Except SLB's Black). The former took a gamble by launching 2
rank newcomers whose illustrious family speaks for them in a grand but
offbeat love story. The latter however plays it safe by totally
catering to the masses and the classes with a hardcore commercial
masala flick with the King Khan in the lead.

Out of the 2, I decided to play it safe and watch the SRK starrer, Om
Shanti Om because it had a watchable story. And besides, I'd read the
Dostoevsky story White Nights from which Saanwariya has been adapted
and I'm not very keen on watching cinematic versions of depressing
Russian fiction. So,today morning I walked into the theatre with high
expectations for the 1st Day 1st Show of Om Shanti Om.

Om Prakash Makhija (SRK) is a junior artist living with his mother
(Kirron Kher). His best friend is Pappu Master (Shreyas Talpade) who
also works in the movies. Om is deeply enamored by Shantipriya
(Deepika Padukone) a starlet whose career graph is on the rise. After
saving her life from a fire and pretending to be a South Indian star
Omswami, he manages to get her attention and the 2 become good friend.
However Om is broken-hearted when he comes to know that she's in love
with the suave movie producer Mukesh Mehra (Arjun Rampal). However
Mukesh has other plans for Shanti and viciously murders her by
trapping her in a blazing set. Om tries unsuccessfully to save her,
but is beaten up badly by Mukesh's bodyguards and is then hit by a car
while wandering wounded and disoriented on the road. He is rushed to
hospital, but all attempts to revive him fail and he dies.

INTERVAL

Omprakash is reborn as Om Kapoor, the son of former superstar Rajesh
Kapoor (Javed Sheikh). He's a typical star-son with all the airs of a
superstar but equally lazy and prone to temper tantrums. A visit to
the same set where Shanti was murdered and his getting the Filmfare
award soon after triggers off a set of memories from his past life. At
the same time, Mukesh Mehra who has now become a hot shot producer in
Hollywood returns to India and Om on meeting Mukesh remembers every
detail of what happened in his past life including the murder of his
love. He immediately catches up with his mother and Pappu and devises
a plan to take revenge on Mukesh with the help of Sandy, A look-alike
of Shanti and a big fan of Om.

The movie is as commercial as it gets. Farah Khan literally indulges
the audience with a look at life in showbiz from the top as well as
the bottom. The sets are breath-taking and the cinematography is
awesome. The dialogues are catchy especially when SRK acts as Omswami.

However what i felt was that the screenplay in the 1st half needed to
be tightened in the 1st half. There were times when i felt extremely
restless watching the movie. But the pre-interval sequences (Om and
Shanti's death) changed all that. The interval leaves you pondering
about what to expect in the 2nd half. The 2nd half starts off with a
bang and refuses to subside till the climax. It manages to keep us
hooked to the screen and doesn't let us look away even once. The
climax however is simply fantastic and is well written.

SRK is basically the star of the show here. He does well in both his
roles. But he's more fun to watch as Om Kapoor with the attitude and
tantrums. The SRK fans will not at all be disappointed.

Deepika Padukone is a star in the making. She's got the looks and the
talent. In fact,she manages to steal the thunder from SRK in quite a
few scenes. Unfortunately her voice has been dubbed in the movie. But
her expressions are perfect and she dances like a dream. Graceful and
Fluid.

Arjun Rampal is simply menacing as Mukesh Mehra. He manages to carry
off the negative role without being too loud.
Shreyas Talpade manages to charm you with his sincerity. Kirron Kher
is excellent as Om's filmi mother.

The music by Vishal and Shekhar is excellent. The music perfectly sets
in with the mood of the movie. The songs which stood out for me in the
movie are Jag Soona Soona, Deewangi and the title song that's shot at
the climax. The songs have been picturised marvellously especially
Ajab Si. Deewangi is also good to watch with all the stars making an
appearance. Farah Khan also manages to incorporate the Filmfare Awards
in the movie and yet make it look real and not forced. But the song
that takes the cake is the title song at the climax whose
picturisation is simply amazing.

Overall the movie has all the makings of a sure-fire blockbuster. Also
considering the bad reviews that Saanwariya has been getting all over,
I think SRK was right when he said 'Diwali sirf meri hai' (Diwali is
mine and only mine).