Om Shanti Om : Reincarnating Manmohan Desai !
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RUPAK GHOSH (Delhi, India)
Email :
rupak.ghosh [at] gmail.com
Reincarnating MKD
There’s a particular shot in “Om Shanti Om”, where the director, on a film set, tells the producer that he has three cameras for the next shot – “Ek Satyajit Ray angle, ek Bimal Roy angle, aur ek Guru Dutt angle.” The producer coolly tells him to try out the Manmohan Desai angle because that’s the one that sells.
.
That sums up the entire film for me.
I have not seen “Main Hoon Na” and to be very frank, Farah Khan, to me, has never come across as someone who can make serious cinema. And that’s exactly where I had gone wrong.
In the happiness of my pursuit for cinema, I had all but forsaken the pursuit of happiness that is watching films. I still remember one of the interviews of the late Manmohan Desai where he had emphasized that there is already a lot of strife, pain, loss, sorrow and grief in the world. When an individual enters the cinema theater anywhere in India he wants to leave those behind at the entry gate. For three hours he wants to visit another world where “Everything is fine in the end. If it is not fine, it is not the end.”
Whether the 1970s was the “golden age” of Hindi cinema or not, why Manmohan Desai is not studied the way he should be, might or might not have been some of the questions the researcher and/or even the filmmaker had in mind while conceptualizing Om Shanti Om. But it is quite apparent, that they have, indeed, expressed their love for that era and the man.
What has really impressed me about the film is the fact that it has the guts to laugh at itself. Being a film about the industry (in fact, considering there’s a literal roll-call of yesterday’s, today’s and tomorrow’s film personalities in a much talked about song sequence – I refuse to use the term ’star’, because it does not apply to at least 4-5 of them – it can, in fact, be called a film of the industry, for the industry and by the industry) the little nudges in the ribs that it gives to itself, are quite commendable. It has taken almost every stereotype that you can think of from the 70s (there are actual footages from 70s films with the film’s stars inserted in the frame, a la ‘Forrest Gump’) and thrown them back at us. In fact, it has delved on certain aspects that I have always wanted to ask while gorging on those stupendously entertaining films by the Desais and Mehras and all. For example, how does the mandatory mole on the cheek so drastically alter one’s appearance?
There are many such references, whether a nod to actual incidents that occurred during shooting (watch out for a take on “Mother India” with Deepika Padukone doing a Nargis and Shahrukh Khan doing a Sunil Dutt) or aspects that were patent in those blockbusters – the suffering mother, the selfless friend and the scheming villain. In fact, it mixes today with yesterday seamlessly and am not talking about the 30 year time-frame that the film covers. For example, I know for a fact that everyday thousands of youngsters still arrive in Bombay (I still prefer to call the city that, Mumbai just doesn’t have the correct twang to it) with one dream, like the one Shahrukh Khan’s character has in the film – to make it big – ‘a round bed, velvet slippers, silk coat, loads of servants and to top it all, a FilmFare award’.
The film is not an ode to the 1970s. In fact, it is not an ode to any era at all. It is a paean to the joy of, both watching a film and making it. It unabashedly lauds those people who, when they enter the darkened theater wants to be transported to a world where the hero can do no wrong, where the heroine is “dreamy” and where the villain will get his due, even if he seeks refuge in Hollywood!
The spoilsports among us might point out the fact that not all oblique insinuations have been of good taste. Especially those who refused to be a part of the “roll-call number” (for want of a better term) have had quite a few digs made at them, be it a photo on a driving license or anything but parental affinity to girls young enough to be daughters. But, these again, are minor issues as compared to how well the film has tackled the 1970s in the first half, in particular and filmdom, in general.
Shahrukh, the self-proclaimed “rockstar” will possibly find an even bigger fan following because this is the film where those gazillions who come to Bombay everyday will find themselves reflected in the superstar’s persona – at last in a character he plays on screen, they will find themselves. There are, I think only three films of Shahrukh that I like. But this is the film which has made me realize why he is such a huge star on the film firmament. In between a “Chak De”, a “Swades” and a “Kabhie Haan Kabhie Naa” this man has, as an actor, carried on the legacy of Manmohan Desai, the legacy of unadulterated entertainment. We all know by now who the real “Mohabbat man” is, don’t we?
About three-quarters into the second half, many of us, especially the Bimal Roy fans, will know the climax of the film, but that, to me, was not a deterrent. It is just Farah’s way of taking her hat off to one of the best films ever made on the same premise that her film is based on. It, to me, was not plagiarism, not even an “inspiration”, just a film fan’s way of saluting a master and his masterpiece.
There’s one prop in the film that encapsulates the spirit of Om Shanti Om. Shreyas Talpade handing Deepika Padukone a wine glass filled with tea. Yes, Hindi cinema has traveled, the form has changed, but the essence of going to a film is still the same old entertainment, like the staple morning cup of tea.
And those of us who smirked at the issue of reincarnation (in fact a character in the film also asks the same question; it really is amazing how most characters in the film ask questions that we audiences have had in mind) in a film releasing in 2007, you just mistook the 70s to be dead, it is still with us, in ’spirit’, we only didn’t recognize it till now.
MKD would have said “Om Shanti Om – I likes lot.”
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26 Responses to “Om Shanti Om : Reincarnating Manmohan Desai !”
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great review,.. ab tau aaj hi jaana padega
You have done a Subhash Jha on us!
[...] Link [...]
[...] Posted by mate on November 9th, 2007 Om Shanti Om : Reincarnating Manmohan Desai ! [...]
Badmash:You should watch the film. It really is quite a treat for those who love the Manmohan Desai style of filmmaking.
Guru: Not too conversant with most film “critics” (I have discontinued taking newspapers and I, by design, neither read nor listen to what others have to say about films, but form my own opinions after watching myself), I am not too sure if I should take that as a compliment or not!
Mate: Thanks for posting it on Filmi Khabar.
Am going for Saawaariya tomorrow. Hope to write on that as well.
Thanks!
First half, i absolutely loved!!!!
Second half bored me!!!
And was a medicre remake of ‘Madhumati’!!!
But, atleast it didnt dissapoint me entirely like ‘Saawariya’ has!!!
That was like a cheap firework!
Which has started and fizzled out even before you realized it was alight to begin with!!!?
Sanjay could
I think Srk acted(over) well ..he deserves an applause…you can overact when u need to act but its very difficult to overact when u are supposed to overact..:)
A great read Rupak, and I agree 100% with you views on the filmmakers intentions, both in offering that unique 70’s style of hindi cinema entertainment and as well on the “salutes” and the “pokes” throughout the film. Very well put.
great read….Not just Manmohan Desai..I love David Dhawan brand of cinema too…:d
Farah Khan seems to have made an intelligent film wrapped in senseless stuff………I guess..:)>-
A great write up indeed. Haven’t seen the film, but my expectations were bordering pretty much around what you have summed up so beautifully. I am glad that form and content is finally ending up in a ‘Diwali Blockbuster’ quite better from the every year excursions.
Good review.
Faraha understands her audience very well. I love movies like Blace-Friday at the same i have blast watching Om-Shanti-Om.
Movie is all about story telling, about presentation. There is nothing in OSM story, but its well presented.
When i was watching, at the end of the movie all audience started to leave the hall, and then the credits fallowed, every one stopped on their way and wanted it till the end. WoW i loved that part, Farah did the same in Mai-Hoon i credits every one contributing for the movie.
I loved OSM, i am going again with my parents. Its “poora paisa vasool”, on this diwali.
[...] but if anyone is really looking for a review that I think expresses what I felt about the movie, here it is (who thought something like this will come from [...]
Wonderful review!
If OSO was a tribute to MKD’s style of film making , then in retrospect Main hoo naa was perhaps a tribute to Prakash Mehra!
Whats next?
OSO is just an average movie…the first half is awesome..but the second really disappoints. Just bcoz we are comparing OSO to Sawariya, we feel its a good movie. In all this hype of two ‘BIG’ movies relesing on Diwali, actually Sawariya has helped OSO bigtime..as Sawariya is unatchable, so by default (& tnx to the long weekend) OSO turns out to be a blockbuster.
I’d like to highlight Om Shanti Om, and in fact other films whose sole objective is to entertain, by way of the following quote:
“Because films, movies, are, first and foremost, entertainment. It
A QUESTION
does any one know in OSO .. in a sequnce where the baraat is shown.. and there is girl running behing the baraat on crutches .. yelling bhaiya..
what movie was it taken from?
Badmash, It’s Sacha Jhutha (1970) starring Rajesh Khanna in a double role and directed by Manmohan Desai.
http://imdb.com/title/tt0148691/
Badmash, that was from Sachcha Jhoota. Rajesh Khanna’s movie where he plays a double role.
Rupak, you have hit the nail on the head with your write-up!
Sorry, but if entertainment was the sole objective of OSO — it failed. The first half was OK, the second dragged like hell…!!!!Farah needs to shake herself up.. jusr piggy-backing on SRK doesnt make an entertainer….the only redeeming features were the credit lines, Deepika and Shreyas (in that order)…SRK was just as he is, nothing more, nothing less.
i loved the movie for it’s spirit of tributing the cinema of yesteryears.. as an standalone i found the movie average.. only the one who has good and deep knowledge of movies will be able to enjoy movie.. i went with few friends and some dont watch as many hindi movies so they didnt get lots of scenes… i am still trying frame few scenes in my head… like this one.. Rupak Ghosh has in his article above.. could someone please elaborate.. on this scene..
“”"About three-quarters into the second half, many of us, especially the Bimal Roy fans, will know the climax of the film, but that, to me, was not a deterrent. It is just Farah
Hi Badmash,
What I was referring to indirectly, fearing that if I mention upfront then I shall have to incorporate a SPOILER ALERT, was the fact that when the elaborate scheme was being hatched to kake Arjun Rampal’s character confess to the murder by bringing in a false “spirit” angle, anyone who has seen Bimal Roy’s “Madhumati” would have guessed that, in the end, the spirit will, in fact, arrive to deliver justice. The climax of OSO is identical to that of “Madhumati”. Hope this helps.
completly crap….don’t tell me u r comparing FK to MD.MD doesn’t back only on biggest star,with absolutely no story like OSO.
SK even made crap remake like DON a superhit,so OSO was a cakewalk.
No credit to FK
[...] PassionforCinema
Why did he almost always have a disabled character in his movies?
I think King khan needs a break, atleast for reincarnation of his acting skills. He is interestingly monotonous and with stereotype roles hes screwing us.
Chak de n swades was such a relief to watch, it like some character playing the role.
Anyways..OSO is a crap one would never miss to watch.