Review: Om Shanti Om (3 stars) Mark Medley, National Post Published: Friday, November 09, 2007
In the Indian film industry's continuing quest to break into the North American market, today could be considered B-Day. Two films will land in multiplexes across the continent; they'll either act as beachheads allowing other Bollywood films to flood the market, or prove audiences aren't ready to sit through three hours of song-and-dance routines. There's Saawariya, the first Bollywood film produced by a Hollywood production company, which was not screened in time for review. And then there's Om Shanti Om, opening on over 2,000 screens worldwide, making it the widest release for a Bollywood film in history.
Om Shanti Om is spectacle, not film. Running just under three hours, it's an epic movie; everything about it is over-the-top and larger-than-life. From a dance sequence that incorporates a badminton match, Bollywood tributes to spaghetti westerns and superhero films, or the extravagant sets (credit to art director Sabu Cyril) that evoke Golden Age Hollywood, you may find yourself rubbing your eyes, incredulous to what you're seeing on screen. For those unused to Bollywood, Om Shanti Om may be overwhelming.
Indian megastar (and host of the country's version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?) Shahrukh Khan plays Om Prakash Makhija, an actor trying to make it in 1970s-era Bollywood. He's a lowly extra -- or "junior artist" -- who dreams of playing the hero. He spends his days scheming with friend Pappu (Shreyas Talpade) and pining over the enormous picture of starlet Shanti (the lovely Deepika Padukone, making her Bollywood debut) that graces a billboard near his home.
Om gets the chance to play the hero when he saves Shanti from a fire on the set of her film. He's in love with her, but an evil movie producer named Mukesh (Arjun Rampal) stands in the way. There's double-and-triple crossing, a half-dozen show-stopping musical numbers, and an action-packed climax. And that's only the first half of the film. It's impossible to discuss the movie's last half -- set 30 years later -- without giving anything away.
The film is a mess for all the right reasons; elements of comedy, drama, romance, action and the supernatural are packed in. But really, the plot is just a vehicle to get from one song-and-dance number to the next. The film is scored by the duo of Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani, who bring Indian flavour to tracks ranging from Meatloaf-inspired rock to glamorous disco to sultry R & B. The film's musical apex is a 10 minute long set-piece at an awards show afterparty which features cameos from (seemingly) every star in Bollywood.
Director and screenwriter Farah Khan (her last film was 2004's Main Hoon Na and she was nominated for a Tony Award as choreographer of the musical Bombay Dreams) crafts the dance sequences beautifully, and cinematographer V. Manikanda intoxicates you with vibrancy and col-our. It's like sticking your head in a bowl of Skittles -- this movie is pure eye candy.
Yes, at almost three hours long the film drags a bit, but you'll have more fun at Om Shanti Om than most of the Hollywood movies released today. Watching it, you can't help but smile.
Rating 3
(c) National Post 2007
-- My humanity is in feeling we are all voices of the same poverty. - Jorge Louis Borges