Farah Khans boisterous directorial venture wasnt only an ode to Hindi Cinema, it also displayed a filmmakers love for film-making and films.
A still from Om Shanti Om, Picture Courtesy: YouTube
After the ingenious Main Hoon Na, which was choreographer Farah Khan's directorial debut, she went on to make a bigger and grander film in the form of Om Shanti Om, also starring Shah Rukh Khan and introducing Deepika Padukone. This was described as an ode to the cinema of the 70's- glittery, glamourous, and grand. And the way Khan staged her frames, it seemed it was a love letter to the cinema she grew up on in the truest sense of the term.
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Before we saw Luck By Chance, we had Farah Khan's Om Shanti Om, a film about the world of films. And just like that charming film, the opening credits of this one also struck an impression from the word go. It opens with Rishi Kapoor dancing on the tunes of the song Om Shanti Om from Karz, and Shah Rukh Khan witnessing the hysteria of the star.
Every character was purposely loud, caricatures of the kind of people we don't often encounter in movies today. One of them was Kirron Kher, who claims she could have been better than Madhubala in Mughal-E-Azam had she not been pregnant with Om (Shah Rukh Khan). There was Shreyas Talpade as the hero's best friend, who thinks his friend needs a better name to be a star.
There were references and clever digs at former and upcoming stalwarts of the industry, right from Govinda to Sooraj Barjatya to Rajesh Khanna to Manoj Kumar. A thunderous song introduces us to the ride that lies ahead, where Padukone, a starlet called Shantipriya, dances with the actors of the 70's with their faces superimposed. It's tricky but also shows what Khan exactly wants from the film.
It's also tricky to show romance between a film star and a fan. It's also charming to see a star like Shah Rukh Khan play the fan and a newcomer like Padukone play the film star, a narrative that she twists and turns post-intermission. The Aankhon Mein Teri song seems to be a tune for the ages. As Padukone walks on the red carpet, we can see her charm and naïveté, both. It's impossible and implausible to expect what happens next, but it's arguably one of the most imaginative ways to bring the hero and the heroine in the same frame for the first time.
Post interval, as mentioned above, the story turns upside down, with Padukone the fan (Shantipriya's look alike) and Om Kapoor the star. (Om Prakash's lookalike) The promo of Dard-E-Disco had written in bold capitals- Introducing Shah Rukh Khan. This was the first time he dropped off his shirt, made six-pack abs, and channeled his unseen avatar. Om Shanti Om was everything at once, just like how Main Hoon Na was everything at once. Romance, revenge, redemption, ravish, every frame spoke volumes of Farah Khan's love for Hindi Cinema. It also had a bunch of self-referential and reverent cameos, a standout of Akshay Kumar.
With the blockbuster success of this film, a star was born, both in reel (Shah Rukh Khan) and in real (Deepika Padukone). But one of the most memorable aspects of this blockbuster is the end credit, where the director arrives for the premiere of her own film in an auto-rickshaw and arrives a little too late, when everyone has left. Not too many in Bollywood have the ability to laugh at themselves, especially since Twitter came in.
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Also Read: Deepika Padukone Recreates Her Om Shanti Om Hand Wave On Dance Reality Show
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