OSO a superhit?OMG!!

I just watched Om Shanti Om, the movie that created a lot of hype so much so that it was the talking point months before its release date. SRK wearing an OSO T-Shirt to the 20-20 cricket world cup final was just a small step. To be honest, I can’t quite understand what’s behind all the excitement. Everyone who saw the movie told me it was simply superb, but I think they meant that it was a good entertainer. That’s the opinion I have, a good entertainer but large portions where I just felt that something was wrong.

The first part of the movie does justice to all the hype surrounding it. I liked the aspirations of Om Prakash, to become an actor, his dreams and the fantasy land he has about Shantipriya. Arjun Rampal as the villain looks quite the bad guy! Deepika Padukone does okay as Shantipriya and her second part isnt quite significant when compared to SRK's role as Om Kapoor. In fact, the movie was all about one person and so much centered on an actor, not a character, that makes me feel that the movie is really hollow. Beneath all the hype and excitement, there is absolutely nothing! It’s HOLLOW and the story isn’t something that really impressed me, all about reincarnation and the soul (or ghost!) of Shanti appearing at the end. It was predictable and one could predict each and everything that was going to happen in the second part of the movie, it was so obvious.

"Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!"?? OSO cant get anywhere near Margaret Mitchell's classic and it would take the impossible to make one of SRK's dialogues one of the most memorable ever in movie history! The movie does take a dig at some of Bollywood’s traditions and power concentrations with some remarks and hints of 'SRK is better than your kid and he cant beat me' being thrown on a certain tall, used to be 'the angry young man' person and someone who directs movies. It criticizes the entire tradition of star children entering the silver screen, when Om's friend Pappu asks him to change the name to some Kapoor or a name with tradition! This is something unique to Bollywood and politics, child following in parents’ footsteps and parents protecting them till they have some success under their belts.

Also, the jibe thrown at the way in which movies become successful due to an item song! SRK shouldn’t forget that he too did an item song for a movie along with Malaika Arora!The camera work by Manikandan is really good with several shots having angles that give a unique view and the art direction by Sabu Cyril deserves a huge round of applause, especially the recreation of the 70s feel and surroundings. That remains an outstanding part of the movie. Also costumes were designed with some real good sense by Manish Malhotra, Karan Johar(??!!) and Sanjeev Mulchandani. Music by Vishal and Shekhar was good and some of the songs were really good, which is just business as usual for Javed Akhtar but I have strong opposition to one track that was around 8mins long. I am talking about the song where all of Bollywood’s stars decent upon the set to congratulate Om. A song stretched long enough to present all of Bollywood’s stars (bar a few notable exceptions who I mentioned before), was just too much for me. Editing too deserves some praise I believe for the blending of the first 'Om Shanti Om' actually starring Rishi Kapoor track with Shah Rukh Khan and Farah Khan was flawless.

OSO proves that a movie with a lot of hype, a lot (and I mean a LOT) of superstars, although for just a few minutes, will pull in the crowds and make your movie a huge success even if it lacks a soul and remains hollow!!!

PS-I am posting this around 3 weeks after actually watching the movie but was written immediately after watching it.