Ramblings

OSO Is "Oh! Sexy and Oomphy"
Om Shanti Om is this 3-hour in-joke on Bollywood , which is total paisa-vasool entertainment. It's a tribute to the Bollywood we have grown up with, with its cliched dialogues, corny plots, and chamaktay sitaray. And it needs a duo like Shahrukh Khan and Farah Khan -- both of whom are at the top of their game -- to pull it off successfully.
In fact, a part of the enjoyment of seeing the movie is trying to spot the numerous in-jokes. Like Shahrukh looking into the camera and saying, tongue firmly in cheek, "Overacting karna to mera family ka problem hai!"
Though the film cocks a snook at everything Bollywood, the sense that you get at the end is that it's a labour of love. It's as if the makers of the film are recounting to their friends the mad-cap antics of a favourite uncle.
In fact, over the past year there have been several attempts at 'doffing a hat' to the magic of Bollywood of the 1960's and 1970's. Farhan Akhtar did it fairly competently by updating Don, while Ram Gopal Verma screwed it up with his execrable RGV Ki Aag.
Farah Khan, I must say, gets the mix just right.

P.S. Someone, I know, said he didn't like OSO because the film lacked substance. Now, who the hell, goes to see a Bollywood film for substance? OSO is pure Bollywood bheja fry, tarka maarkay!