Rushed out to see this when I heard it would be showing in Pittsburgh on opening day (a rarity in our city for Hindi films these days, unfortunately)....and I can't say I was disappointed.
The film draws its storyline from both "Kaho Naa....Pyaar Hai" and "Madumati" and features exquisite art direction and cinematography, with Shah Rukh Khan playing both himself and a Hrithik Roshan-style character and Deepika Padukone reviving (pardon the pun) Vyjayanthimala's role in the Roy/Ghatak classic. All of the actors do a fine job, and SRK has some very funny moments in the film (particularly in the first half). The mise-en-scene of the studio-within-the-movie scenes was reminiscent of Guru Dutt's "Kagaaz Ke Phool," and the visual design by director Farah Khan and cinematographer V. Manikandan is exquisite and richly detailed. The pacing isn't quite as tight as in FK's directorial debut "Main Hoon Na," but seems to fit the narrative.
OSO is also loaded with all sorts of "inside" references to Hindi (and American) films, past and present, which made this a most enjoyable viewing experience. The "Filmfare award" scene and song "Deewangi Deewangi," coming right after the interval, were a blast -- I'll need to see the movie again to catch all of the Hindi stars crammed into those fifteen minutes (the scene also gains a few additional laughs by lampooning the recent stage musical "Bombay Dreams"). As was done for the cover design of the Beatles'"Sgt. Pepper" album, someone ought to run a contest to see who can identify everyone in these two scenes! Vishal and Shekhar's soundtrack is very fresh; they do an excellent job hinting at various Indo-pop musical styles from the 60s and 70s. I only wish that the opening title version of "Om Shanti Om" would have been included on the CD as well....will just have to wait for the DVD release, I guess.
Now time to head out and see SLB's "Saawariya," which also seems to be playing in Pittsburgh on opening night. The world is definitely changing!
The film draws its storyline from both "Kaho Naa....Pyaar Hai" and "Madumati" and features exquisite art direction and cinematography, with Shah Rukh Khan playing both himself and a Hrithik Roshan-style character and Deepika Padukone reviving (pardon the pun) Vyjayanthimala's role in the Roy/Ghatak classic. All of the actors do a fine job, and SRK has some very funny moments in the film (particularly in the first half). The mise-en-scene of the studio-within-the-movie scenes was reminiscent of Guru Dutt's "Kagaaz Ke Phool," and the visual design by director Farah Khan and cinematographer V. Manikandan is exquisite and richly detailed. The pacing isn't quite as tight as in FK's directorial debut "Main Hoon Na," but seems to fit the narrative.
OSO is also loaded with all sorts of "inside" references to Hindi (and American) films, past and present, which made this a most enjoyable viewing experience. The "Filmfare award" scene and song "Deewangi Deewangi," coming right after the interval, were a blast -- I'll need to see the movie again to catch all of the Hindi stars crammed into those fifteen minutes (the scene also gains a few additional laughs by lampooning the recent stage musical "Bombay Dreams"). As was done for the cover design of the Beatles'"Sgt. Pepper" album, someone ought to run a contest to see who can identify everyone in these two scenes! Vishal and Shekhar's soundtrack is very fresh; they do an excellent job hinting at various Indo-pop musical styles from the 60s and 70s. I only wish that the opening title version of "Om Shanti Om" would have been included on the CD as well....will just have to wait for the DVD release, I guess.
Now time to head out and see SLB's "Saawariya," which also seems to be playing in Pittsburgh on opening night. The world is definitely changing!