Om Shanti Om: Review By LarveeK

Om Shanti Om is a Bollywood film directed by Farah Khan. It stars Shahrukh Khan and Deepika Padukone in the lead roles as the protaganists while Shreyas Talpade and Arjun Rampal feature in supporting roles. The story centers on Om {Shah Rukh Khan} and Shanti {Deepika Padukone} Om is a junior artist in the 70s and Shanti is the reigning superstar. He is her biggest fan and he's also in love with her. Om dreams of being a superstar, but an incident changes his life forever and he dies in a mishap, but is reborn into the present day. He attempts to discover the mystery of his demise…~~>The general feeling of this film is that Farah Khan has remade Ghai's KARZ or another Karan Arjun however this isn’t the case because OM SHANTI OM takes you by complete surprise at several points. The first twist in the tale is Deepika's (Shanti) heated confrontation with Arjun (Mukesh Mehra) while SRK (Om) is listening to this important conversation comes as a bolt from the blue. The second comes slightly before the intermission, when Arjun takes Deepika to the set of his film 'Om Shanti Om' and the entire episode that follows, right till the intermission, is spellbinding. That's brilliantly done as seen from the screenplay, as also is the execution point of view. When the opulent set is set to flames, it leaves you awe-struck. Such is the impact!!!!! The next post-interval portions only get better and better! If the initial portions are laced with humor, the premiere of 'Dreamy Girl', the Manoj Kumar episode, Ghai directing Rishi on 'Om Shanti Om' song, and all, the second half moves into a new zone completely. The drama builds up gradually. The voices that SRK keeps hearing, the 'fire' soon after the 'Dard-E-Disco' track, the mother (Kirron Kher) an old lady now, chasing Om's car (reminds you of Rakhee of KARAN ARJUN), the flashes of SRK's earlier birth excetera…makes you see how well the sequences have been structured. When Deepika re-emerges as well, the viewer is confused, but the mystery is resolved towards the end, which, again, takes you by complete surprise. OM SHANTI OM is a Manmohan Desai kind of a film set in the present-day, but the second half could've been a lot longer and better despite that Shirish Kunder's editing is perfect.

~~>Farah knows what her priorities are and most importantly, knows exactly what her target audience is. The execution of a number of sequences clearly shows Farah's growth as a storyteller. Mushtaq and Farah's writing works because the writers pull out several surprises in those 2.47hours.

~~>V. Manikanandan's cinematography captures the gloss and grandeur to the minutest. The opulent sets (Sabu Cyril) deserve distinction marks. Dialogues (Mayur Puri) are witty and do raise a chuckle at several points. Background score (Sandeep Chowta) is effective. ~~>Vishal-Shekhar's music is perfect for this film. The score is in sync with the content of the film and what accentuate the goings-on are the choreography and execution. Although every song is visually enticing, the 31-star track as also 'Dard-E-Disco' has the masses going into frenzy.

Now to the performances! SRK proves his supremacy yet again. If you thought that playing to the gallery came easy to certain actors only, watch SRK spin magic in OM SHANTI OM. He's magnificent, the star attraction, the soul of this film, the true Baadshah.*****~~>.Deepika has all it takes to be a top star-- the personality, the looks and yes, her talent will improve with time . Standing in the same frame as SRK and getting it right is no small achievement.~~>Arjun Rampal is a complete revelation. Cast in a negative role this time, he enacts his part with panache and style. Shreyas Talpade is another surprise. A complete natural, he stands on his feet all through, not getting swayed while sharing the screen space with the topmost star.~~>Kirron Kher is superb as the over the top mom. Javed Sheikh is alright. Bindu adds to the funny moments.~~>On the whole, OM SHANTI OM is Bollywood masala in its truest form and also, at its best. At the box-office, the film has already set new records and is being appreciated worldwide thanks to the popularity of SRK and his world fans, and it will indeed keep doing so in days to come and has the power to emerge as one of the biggest hits of SRK's career...What can i say except that...SHAH RUKH KHAN IS A VERY SUPERB AND BEAUTIFUL MIND~. Om Shanti Om is a Super & Blockbuster hit! OSO Gets 5/5 stars~

P/S:~ AND NOTE~ FOR THOSE OF YOU PSEUDOS & PSYCHOANALYSTS OF ART CINEMA…DON’T ASK TOO MANY QUESTIONS WITH A LOGICAL SENSE OF DIRECTION…LIKE WHAT? HOW? WHEN? WHEN YOU WATCH OM SHANTI OM IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR AN ALL OUT OF THE BOX ENTERTAINER THEN THIS WILL BE THE FILM FOR YOU BUT IF YOU’RE LOOKING TO MAKE SENSE TO SOME ALL EXTREMELY DRAMATIC AND QUIET MOVIE THEN DON’T BOTHER WATCHING OSO~