The Hindu : Karnataka News : Nostalgia with a dash of humour

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Nov 11, 2007
ePaper

Karnataka

Karnataka

Nostalgia with a dash of humour

— Photo: AFP

Stars: Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone at the world premiere screening of the film Om Shanti Om at Leicester Square in London.

Om Shanti Om (Hindi)

Cast: Shah Rukh Khan,

Deepika Padukone

Director: Farah Khan

Farah Khan continues with her irreverent ways. She cloaks nostalgia with a dash of humour and manages to take little digs at the cinema many of us grew up with, the 1970s’ films that conveyed much joy, shared little angst. “Om Shanti Om” is a retro with a modern look, a film that throbs with vitality, pulsating at the edges. Inspired by Subhash Ghai’s “Karz”, from whose song it even derives its title, Farah this time goes a bridge too far. There is a fine line between being irreverent and disrespectful. The way the movie shapes up, it leaves one wondering if she is taking viewers for a ride. In trying to be light and jovial — the film has a feather-touch treatment all through — she at times veers too close to being trivial, even mocking at the sensibilities of viewers.

Yet for a large part, the film works. It works tremendously well in patches. That is when the director relies on the sheer charisma and the untamed energy of Shah Rukh Khan to carry it through. He is the life, blood and soul of the film. He towers above all the frames while getting good support from newcomer Deepika Padukone. The girl has grace and poise to go with those tantalising looks that tell you in the years to come people will still be flocking to see her films. As they say, she has the looks to get the looks.

Reincarnation

But hey, the lead pair alone does not make a film. It is the director who must lead the way. And that is where “Om Shanti Om” falls short. Based on the reincarnation theme, we have Shah Rukh as a junior artiste in love with a top heroine, played by Deepika. But fate snatches them away from this life, only for both to come back.

This time the guy is a top star!

Too much for the modern educated public to buy? Well, maybe. But where Farah errs is in spending too much time on nostalgia.

The first half with all the reference points to yesterday provides occasional laughter.

That’s all. The story does not move. The second half suffers similarly: Shirish Kunder is off form as the editor. And barring a nice song sequence with anybody who is somebody in Bollywood showing up, there is little to keep the viewers hooked.

No, not even the music. And by the time, the mystery of who killed the girl in her first birth is solved, too many reels have been wasted.

The film could have been easily trimmed without affecting either its nostalgia quotient or the retro look.

Yet for all its faults, if you are a die-hard Shah Rukh fan — and they are there in thousands — “Om Shanti Om” can be visited once. Just to see Shah Rukh do his bare chest act, his role reversal from being a top star to a junior artiste.

And his ability to momentarily forget that he is Shah Rukh. Of course, Deepika does not hurt the eye, and pleases where it matters.

Want a film with a breezy momentum, with a thread of credibility or logic? Stay away. It is only for those living off yesterday, longing for the times that were.

ZIYA US SALAM

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka