Om Shanti Om

Director: Farah Khan
Producer: Red Chillies Entertainment
Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Arjun Rampal
Music: Vishal-Shekhar

So, you thought Shah Rukh Khan has grown up and will do only substantial roles to fetch a National Award. And not only you but everyone in the film industry felt quite sure that the Best Actor's National Award is sure to fall in King Khan's lap next year for his role in 'Chak De India' besides his newly developed political connection!
Shah Rukh Khan strikes back with what have made him a name to bank upon in Indian Cinema. 'Om Shanti Om' is a genre revisited that once gave the Hindi film industry its by much famous nick identity, Bollywood.
'OSO' is Bollywood at its best. Its 100% pure entertainer with all the ingredients of a festive menu card! Post 40, Shah Rukh has not only matured as a professional but has grown up as a businessman, too. 'OSO' has been in the making for about a year.
This time SRK has been just reading the minds of his viewers. The film's music has gripped the nation since its release. The boys are singing - 'Dard-e-Disco' and those who have become daddy and uncles are singing tunes of those songs, which were on their lips when they were in schools and colleges.
'Om Shanti Om' is a journey into the Hindi film industry of the last thirty years. The film starts in an era when Dream Girl Hema Malini was reining Bollywood. Deepika Padukone plays a character (Shanti) on the same lines. Om (Shah Rukh Khan) is a struggler; He dreams of making it big one day on silver screen.
But to cherish his dreams he has to be reborn and make it big. For some dreams, one life is not enough, is the tag line of the film. 'Om Shanti Om' has been developed on these two liners but once you sit down in the cinema hall and settle down on the cozy seat, a new world unfolds before you.
It is a dream drama and can be felt only by a person who has seen dreams like these with open eyes. The painter of the scenery is none other that cute Farah Khan who shows her caliber of handling the mega phone in her very first film as director of 'Main Hoon Na'. Farah has seen it all since her childhood.
She has been a witness to all this on the sidelines dreaming to join mainstream and rule it like a king. Born in a family, where cinema was topic of discussion at every meal, Farah has just opened up her dream box. Even at an age of 14, she has taught boys and girls to earn her livelihood. However, Shah Rukh Khan changes her destiny.
'Om Shanti Om' will be adored by one and all. The story is so common that even the man sitting in the front bench of a single screen theatre will immediately connect to it. And, this is the first winning point for 'OSO'. The film is opulent, it has grandeur and it has style.
And, it doesn't suffer from the overdose of pseudo intellectuality of a bearded man who thinks he has outgrown larger than cinema itself. 'OSO' is flashy in making but very simple in story telling. It never takes its viewers for granted.
There may be dashes of films like 'Karz' and some others made by Man Mohan Desai but its success is its purity at heart. The film moves on like narrating fairy tales that we listened to from our grannies in cold days but under warm quilts.
The pair of Mustaq Sheikh and Farah Khan has written a screenplay that is very filmy but it has a soul that makes you feel the pangs and pains of a struggler in life. No sooner the film unfolds and is through two reels than comes Om's struggle and what happens thereafter is like living a common man's fantasy on the silver screen.
There have been many films in Hindi cinema on a common man's dreams but this trend changed post-Sub hash Ghai's 'Pardes'. From there on Raju became an NRI and people on the streets were made witnesses to watch that was not part of their life.
Karan Johar's 'Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna' was a lesson for the makers of Hindi Cinema and if one person who took the lesson very seriously is SRK. Even though I criticized SRK sometime back for not being a viewer friendly, he has taken a U-Turn in 'Om Shanti Om' and emerges as the biggest winner at box office this season. The simplicity of 'OSO' is only going to harm Sanjay Leela Bhanshali's dreams in 'Saawariya'.
'OSO' is perfect in every department. As Om, Shah Rukh Khan revisits all his naughtiness and simplicity that was once witnessed in 'Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman' and 'Yes Boss'. He has shown again why he is called King Khan. His magic will grow magnanimous with 'OSO'. SRK has put his heart in 'OSO' and in return he has got love and affection of millions.
Deepika as his companion is most welcome in Hindi film industry. She is the new face the viewers can bank upon in coming days. She beats many heroines and signals a pack-up message for Preitys and Ranis. Arjun Rampal in a negative character is very positive in his approach and Shreyas Talpade is a revelation.
Not to forget the new mother of Indian Cinema, Kirron Kher and last but not the least is Bindu, who fills all the blanks in the story. 'OSO' is the right choice for celebrating this festive season. So, go and watch King Khan at his career's best.