Although many of my friends hated this movie, I for one though that Farah Khan’s blingy Bollywood blockbuster Om Shanti Om was just the refreshing breath of air Indian audiences needed after a long lull of unentertaining, uninspiring stint of flops. For a nation that thrives on a heady mix of glycerin-fueled melodrama coupled with the most ludicrous overused plotlines, OSO brought back a reminiscence of all that Bollywood traditionally was known around the world for. If you look back at the major hits of the Indian film industry in the past few years, you will find that the box-office has been ruled by either off-beat movies or the out-and-out family/romantic drama. And with makers increasingly choosing to experiment with characterization, plot and cinematography, the essence of Bollywood, I feel, was beginning to fade away. It was at such a time that Farah khan took it on herself to reinterpret Subhash Ghai’s 1980 hit Karz and dished it out an audience that couldn’t have identified with the sentimentality and charm of such Indian classics. Sure it was very over the top with its extravagant dance and song routines and sure it sought to glamorize the soppy tear-jerking over-romanticization of reality, but the fact remains that OSO is the only link people of my generation have with one of the golden eras of Indian cinema and that is why I absolutely loved the movie.
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