Movie Review - Om Shanti Om

I took a long break from Sharukh Khan's movies. It happened shortly after Kabhie kushi kabhie gham. I was tired of his hamming, tired of over dressed heroines wearing chiffon saries and bra-style blouses, and sick of the Yash chopra chorus going "aaahhhhaaaaa" in the background. And then, I watched Chak de India, and I felt a renewed connection with Sharukh, almost as intense as one during his kkkkkkkiran days. Now, with Om Shanti Om, I am in love again. All hard feelings are forgotten. He really is too cool.

Om Shanti Om has a fairly conventional (atleast for Indian cinema) re-incarnation story. But after a long time, you get to watch a movie that is brave enough to laugh at Hindi cinema itself. Almost every scene is priceless - Kiron Kher's Mother India style dialogues (which are genuinely touching in the second half), and the Filmfare awards scenes (Akshay Kumar deserves a real Filmfare for his cameo) being the most notable. All the reviews complained about the second half being too slow, but to me, the dramatic, and unexpectedly spine-chilling climax more than made up for it.

King Khan is in his element - more importantly, the new Queen Khan is in her element. It takes a lot of guts to laugh at ourselves (because, even with plenty of material, we Indians rarely do that), and she still makes everyone feel warm and fuzzy at the end. However, the 31 star song comes across more like a gimmick, a welcome cigarette/popcorn break really. Shreyas is sincere and Arjun is good. Deepika makes a commendable debut, both in her past and present roles. Except for her slightly over-arched right eyebrow, she is genuinely endearing, pretty, surprisingly innocent, and captures our sympathies in her superstar-with-a-golden-heart role.

"When you truly desire something, the whole universe conspires to make your wishes come true, and if your wishes are not fulfilled, then the story is not yet over my friend!!!"

Rarely has hindi cinema conveyed such an exhilarating message. Making us laugh, making us cry, and making us believe that our wildest dreams can come true....Om Shanti Om is incredibly wonderful cinema. Spoof or no spoof, it really is Bollywood at its very best!