Om Shanti Om: film review

Director Farah Khan's penchant for old-school Bollywood is particularly palpable in her latest self-indulgent offering, Om Shanti Om. It stars her best pal and reigning king of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan, playing a background artist working in multicoloured 70s Bollywood, along with newcomer Deepika Pandukone, playing the biggest film star of the time. Nostalgia is fused with reincarnation and the fight for love continues until the happy end - (well, near enough). It's all applauds and cheers here and you won't be disappointed.

Om (Khan) lives for the movies. He is a junior artist working in 70s Bollywood and dreams of one day being the biggest film star in India. His love is Shantipriya (Pandukone) - the queen bee of the industry and someone whom Om can never hope to have. But fate works in mysterious ways. After an incident in which Shantipriya is literally roasted alive by her money-hungry husband (Arjun Rampal), and in which Om too reaches a not too fancy end saving her, we fast forward to present-day Bollywood and the tables turn. Now Om (yes, Om again) is the superstar, winning awards and attending glitzy parties. But his quest to unravel the truth about his previous life haunts him. And like any good Indian movie, justice is served and the baddie must die!

"STING IN THE TAIL"

Both a homage to and parody of Bollywood, this cinematic feast delivered straight from the heart of the film industry will have you glued to your seats till the end. Khan is his usual jovial self while Deepika proves her mettle, even in her unashamedly restrained role as the damsel-in-distress. Some clever special effects and the sting in the tale at the end should cement the reputation of this novel choice for cinema-goers.

Om Shanti Om was out in the UK on 9th Nov 2007.