Om Shanti Om (2007)

"Om Shanti Om" is an excellent film. However, it's also one that your enjoyment of it may depend on how familiar you are with Bollywood movies. If you haven't seen any or perhaps only one or two, it might be far less interesting for the intermediate and advanced fans of Indian cinema. As for me, I am definitely an intermediate and would actually loved to have had a big-time Indian movie fan watch it with me, as I only recognized some of the huge Indian movie stars that appeared in the film in the star-studded middle.The film begins in the 1970s. Om (Shah Rukh Khan) is a struggling actor--a bit player. He's smitten with a leading lady but she seems way out of his reach. Later, however, there is a fire on set and he saves her life--and definitely gets her attention. But, fires seem to come in twos in this film and a bit later, her evil secret husband murders her--and Om is killed as well! At this point, something VERY Indian occurs. Just as Om dies in the hospital, in an adjoining room, a baby is born--and the baby turns out to be the reincarnation of Om. The baby's name...Om!! This Om grows up to become a HUGE Indian mega-star and his life is good.Following a portion of the film at an Indian movie award ceremony (by far the best part of the film--and hilarious as well), Om starts to have memories of his previous incarnation. He slowly comes to realize what happened to Om #1 and decides to concoct a complicated plan to trap the murderer by re-staging the murder that happened 30 years ago! However, the plan ends up going askew...just how, you'll have to see for yourself.The film is a delight but a strange one. It's like there are three different movies all spliced together. The first and third portions are very serious and the musical numbers are wonderful. As for the second, it is completely different in tone. Om #2 is a mega-star-- and a hilariously self-absorbed one. And, to make it much funnier, lots of very famous Indian mega-stars appear as themselves...sort of. You just have to see this to know what I am talking about but it is something Indian film fans will love--as if they have a back stage pass to REALLY meet the stars as they supposedly really are! Wonderful--and by far the best part of the film.Overall, despite having a few clichés (ones you EXPECT in Bollywood films---such as an ever-present fan to make the stars' hair blow in the wind), the film is one of the most enjoyable and fun Indian pictures you can find. Well worth seeing for fans of the genre. By the way, after the picture ends, do NOT turn off the movie. In a really neat twist, not only the stars walk past the camera but just about EVERYONE involved with the film gets their moment on the runway--even the grips and choreographers!

Reincanation, Hindi cinema, love, betrayal are some of the themes Farah Khan's delightful and crazy comedy Om Shanti Om deals with. But frankly, it never really matters. This film is simply one of the most entertaining films made in recent times. A spoof of Hindi cinema of past and recent times, the film both pokes fun at it and celebrates its unique, inimitable style. As the story progresses the movie becomes even more alluring. It is at times a drama, at times a thriller, but generally it is just a musical comedy which is not to be taken seriously.Technically the film is very impressive. Farah Khan's direction is very good. The film is extremely colourful, with great costumes and fantastic, glossy sets. The 1970s settings are particularly authentic and visibly well-invested. One more aspect which helps to recreate the magic and the atmosphere of the 1970s is the wonderful soundtrack. "Dhoom Taana" for instance seems to have been rightly taken from a film of those times.The film contains numerous sequences which will have you floored. The Filmfare Award ceremony is one of the funniest sequences in the film. The red carpet scene with celebrities predicting the winners was very funny. The next scene which includes the ceremony and the Best Actor nominations clip was absolutely hilarious. I could not stop laughing as every nominee was unfolded, and Abhishek Bachchan and Akshay Kumar's reactions when they lost were awesome. The following sequence was the after-party which was another memorable scene. The famous "Deewangee Deewangee" song which has some of the best-known actors in India dancing to its tunes, from Dharmendra, Mithun Chakraborty, Rekha and Shabana Azmi to Salman, Saif, Juhi, Urmila, Tabu, Kajol, Rani and Preity, was very exciting and a pleasure to watch. It was truly a moment of unity and celebration for Hindi cinema.As far as acting goes, Om Shanti Om is a winner. Every actor understands the film's mood and acts accordingly. Shahrukh Khan is great as the Oms. He's simple as the first Om, cool as the second Om, and overall is as witty and funny as always. Deepika Padukone makes a confident debut. She is very beautiful and likable. Kirron Kher shines in another comic role as the loud mom. Shreyas Talpade delivers a noteworthy performance as Om's best friend and holds his own despite a smaller role. Arjun Rampal plays the typical villain with style.Well, to sum it up, Om Shanti Om is an extremely enjoyable flick which should provide a great watch for the entire family. Like Farah Khan's previous offering with Shahrukh Khan, Main Hoon Na, this film has a genuine sense of fun. It is the quintessence of Bollywood's uniqueness which makes us realise why and how much we love this film industry. Remember not to expect anything serious or life-turning, and you will not be disappointed.

This is a typical masala movie which has got nothing new. The story is a traditional old story. But the saving grace of the movie are Deepika and Farah Khan. Om Shanti Om is the story of Om, Shanti and Mukesh. Om is a struggling junior actor, Shanti is a established actress and Mukesh is a producer of the first league. Om is in love with Shanti and keeps talking to her poster all the time. In one of the fire accident in the sets Om rescues Shanti and then they become friends. Mukesh falls in love with Shanti, and when comes to know that she is pregnant, kills her. The witness to this murder is Om who is also killed by Mukesh's men.Om comes back in reincarnation as a star son to a very affluenced family in the movie industry. Shanti has also a clone as Sandy whom Om tries to use to take revenge on Mukesh with help of his mother and childhood friend Pappu. Om Shanti Om is a typical David Dhawan style entertainer. Storyline is a combination of a few old super hit movies like Milan, Karz and so on. The silliest part of the movie is when Shahrukh tries to copy Rajnikant and fails miserably. Some of the entertaining moments in the movie are the title song where all yesteryear actors appear; the commendable performance of Javed Sheikh (from Pakistan), the clean editing of the songs where Shahrukh and Deepika dances with all yesteryear's actors. Technically the movie is good, nice musics, nice cinematography, editing; but acting is a ham. The movie is superhit if you have left your brains in home.

I have seen my fair share of Bollywood movies, and was quite anxious to see this movie in particular as it was the first Hindi movie i owned on Blu-Ray, and boy did it not upset!! Watching this movie at home i was impressed, the lavish colours, beautiful sets and awesome intentional overacting!This movie is not meant for Filmfare awards, thats not why it was created. this is a sort of light-hearted black comedy that was created to entertain (even though it received 10 Filmfare award nods) i started watching this during a break from exam revision and ended up watching the whole thing, i just couldn't get enough.There are more cameo appearances than one could shake a stick at, and this made the film fun for the young or old, having family members pause the movie and trying to guess who they are is just awesomely well done and sooo captivating from Farah Khan, really brings people together, and ignites the Bollywood in you.This movie also introduces Deepika Padukone, and my gosh i could not believe this was her first movie. she was amazing, really lit up the screen when you saw how beautiful she is portraying a 70's heroine. SRK's performance and new appearance are both awesome, as hes allowed to act (and strut) his ass off, of which he does very well, and its understandable why he is crowned King Khan. all i can really say about him is "Vaah! Kya acting kar raha hai!... Vaah! Kya acting kar raha hai!"All in all this movie is fun, exciting, entertaining and a great laugh. i highly recommend viewing this on Blu-Ray and letting those lush on-screen colours EXPLODE!!