Sunday, November 18, 2007

Picture Abhi Baaki Hai Mere Dost....

What happens when you go with an intention of watching 'Jab We Met', buy tickets for 'Saawariya' but end up watching 'Om Shanti Om'? You come back with a smile on your face.

OSO, as they call it, was not a movie I was dying to watch ever since I saw the promos. I thought Shah Rukh Khan looked too old with his six packs, Deepika looked too pretty, the set looked too made up and everyone seemed like they were trying too hard. I could not connect with anything. I read the review, like i always do, but I have never taken any review seriously, i have to watch the movie myself to say anything about it. And so i did!

I am not a Shah Rukh Khan fan. But he is a people's actor, he gives them what they want and he works his 'abs' off to do it! I admire him, and thats that. Or so I thought. His best performance to date for me is Swades. He was Mohan Bhargav and not Shah Rukh Khan.

Om shanti om in all its entirety celebrates Indian Cinema. Cinema with all its extravagance, illogic, cliched dialogues, manmohan desai style milna-bichadna, purely co-incidental, naach gaana, hundred costumes in one song, poor boy- rich girl, the maa and her dil, the kaash aaj tere pitaji zinda hote, the aaj se bees saal pahle (and beyond). The audience loved the 70s.

I have grown up watching a lot of seventies. So much so, that I can tell the name of the movie by just looking at a scene. I cant say the same about the 90s though. I am yet to come across an actor as brilliant as Amitabh Bachchan (Anand, Agneepath, Chupke Chupke, zanjeer, sholay, Deeewar), as natural as Shammi kapoor, not exactly 70s( Teesri Kasam,Junglee, Brahmachari, andaz) as romantic as Rishi Kapoor( khel khel mein, bobby,Kabhie kabhie, karz) , as versatile and effortless as Sanjeev Kumar ( you have to watch Koshish, Sholay, Khilona, Pati Patni aur Vo) as intense and as good looking as Vinod Khanna.

Not to forget the beautiful Smita Patil, Shabana Azmi (watch Arth, mirch masala) Rekha in Umrao Jaan and Khoobsurat, Jaya Bhaduri in Abhimaan, Mili, Guddi, Koshish and Sholay. Sharmila Tagore in Aradhna, Amer Prem, chupke chupke. Outstanding.

Also Amol Palekar with movies like Baton Baton mein and Golmaal. Naseeruddin Shah in masoom, sparsh and mirch masala. There was a bad bad villian, there was a too good to be true hero, then there was hero vs the establishment (mostly during the emergency) milna- bichadna still continues. Numerous love triangles, one very well made that I distinctly remember is 'Sangam.' My friends in school used to tell me, i need to go with the times. But i am a 70s fan and I love it.

Which is also why I loved OSO. yes, the dialogues could have been better, screenplay less dragging, but at the same time attention was paid to the details. In every sense of the word, OSO is an innovative movie. I felt it showed the routine re-incarnation drama with a million elements and that to me is intelligent cinema. You get the feel of that era, there is a subtle connect with Karz, only if you wanna see it. There is a lot of exaggerated play up of emotions, there is that trademark music.

Post-thirty years, running around trees is replaced by item numbers, the actor or the main lead has more say in the movie than the director himself. Cinema is more real but at the same time more plastic.

Arjun Rampal was superb. Deepika can act. Shah Rukh Khan looks sexy with the six packs. Shreyas Talpade's timing is brilliant. Kiron Kher's rendition of Nirupa Roy is worth watching.

Music was not bad either. The title track and 'ankhon mein teri' are songs you take with you. I also liked 'kaise naino se nain milaon sajna!'

OSO was a blend. The struggle of a junior artiste, a filmi mother, star struck Om, so much in love, the villain with his cruelty, pappu his best friend forever and the love for cinema. It was entertaining. It was colourful. I laughed till I cried. After a long time, I was taking back with me just the feel good factor. Happys Endings!

It was special cos I watched with one of my bestest friends. An evening I wont forget for a long time to come.

Tum bore to nahi hue na?

Thenks!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmmm... Now I am wondering if I should watch OSO. :P

How've you been?

Anonymous said...

I personally think OSO is a big let down for me from Farah Khan. Main Hoon Na was a brilliant package from a debutant.
Main Hoon Na had everything proportion.
But that does not mean that I am not going to go for OSO for second time.
SRK was fabulous with his six pack abs. I am surprised his six pack was reduced to jus' one song. It has not been exploited.
Deepika Padukone looks like a behenji to me, not saying that she is not pretty.
I would like to repeat what my friend wrote about OSO: Silly, but fun.

Ganesh

Me Thinks.. said...

@AC Look who is here! Finally, you found the time to go through my humble offerings..I am honoured..
yes,you should watch it for the experience!
I have just been! Good, bad or ugly, I don't know ;)

@Ganesh I did not like Main Hoon na that much. OSO took me three decades back and brought a smile. I owe it. ;)

Cosmos said...

When you were in hall me and amma were discussing that wich film you will be watchin. We started our guess with JWM and ended on OSO. ;)

Was that the friend or the film, that brought smile on your face? ;)

Me Thinks.. said...

@Cosmos both the friend and the film!
The F factor!

Sh'shank said...

Dard e disco...
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Anonymous said...

Hey there! :) Yes, our posts are pretty similar! :) Glad to find someone else who cottoned on to what this movie was really trying to do.... :)

Goli said...

I completely disliked OSO because there was complete lack of creativity, Theme was more or less copied from Karz, audition scenes from RDB, and then the 70's kind of look from DCH.

Deepika, and shahrukh were decent.

Glad that someone liked the movie.

Me Thinks.. said...

@Pricky ;)

@ditty I know.None of the people I spoke to liked it, I enjoyed watching the movie.

@goli I thought there was a lot of creativity. the fact that so much attention was paid to details. If we just look beyond the frame we would be able to appreciate.

Pavitra said...

I loved Talpade! It was great fun quizzing myself on the dialogues and where they had been previously picked from!
I did think the movie could have been better....but it was fun!
It was mindless rubbish nonetheless. I don't object to such a film being made. But in my mind it is something an ameteur would make in his attempt to create a spoof. We see this kind of thing everyday in various programs where they spof indian cinema. In that aspect there was not much creativity. I agree it was fun but I think we're selling ourselves short. I think its scary to believe that these are the top actors and top movie makers of the country...which goes to show that they are allowed to have any standards...make any spoofs/rip offs and we as an audience would accept it as an attempt for either trend setting or top cinema!
Sorry...I enjoyed it...but I didn't appreciate it.

Me Thinks.. said...

@Prude I guess, I would have to say, to each his own...I thought the screenplay was too dragging at times. But if you have been a 70s fan, this movie would make more sense than just another spoof...I somehow dint watch it that way...

Anu said...

heeeyyy!!! I went with my best friend as well.. oops it was u!!! :) u know how I loved the movie.. I am not bothered about how mindless it was, whether it inspired me to write.. All I know that I went in with a smile and came out with a bigger one! I guess it was the situation and SRK was all that mattered!!! and Om Shaaanti OM!!! :)

Golden Words said...

why waste 3 hours sitting in a dark room watching people you dont know act like something they arent??

Better catch up with an old friend for a cuppa coffee..
trust me, you'll have enough time for movies when you are old and in bed.

[ignore me, i'm just in one of those moods]
G.W

bhavna2716 said...

bout SRK i sahre d same view with u he is looking older then AB.. but i heared its a disaster .. cant dare to c budda SRK 3 hrs cont..

Ree said...

sigh sadie...main agar kahoon, tumsa haseen, kayanaat me nahi hai jkahin, tarif yeh bhi to sach hai kuchh bhi nahi...
for the exact same reasong, i loved OSO...not for the film, but what its hilarious tribute

Fighter Jet said...

Oldies have no comparision.They dont make such movies any more.

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