The King is back. After playing a subdued Kabir Khan in Chak De, SRK is back to playing what he is – a larger than life Bollywood superstar. OSO is a film that does not follow logic but it entertains to the core and that is the USP of the whole affair. Filmy is how I would describe OSO.
I know that the film is not going to appeal to all connoisseurs who look for substance but for someone like me who grew up on a staple diet of hindi potboilers, OSO is just what I would have asked for. In all fairness, let us give credit to SRK and Farah Khan for following their convictions and deliver what they set out to make OSO from the outset – a commercially viable product that scores with the audience. So the fairer sex got a new look six pack abs Khan to drool over and the rest of us got an exquisitely carved hot bod in the form of Deepika Padukone to dream of. Uncle SRK got lucky indeed!
Now getting back to some serious analysis. Let’s start with the positives.
1.) Scale: The film was about Bollywood and so had to be big. Did it live upto the expectations – it exceeded them actually. A plethora of stars descending for a 6 minute song, Abhishek Bachchan and Akshay Kumar chipping in with their small appearances. It was one big party and I was left overawed by the scale of the film.
I know that the film is not going to appeal to all connoisseurs who look for substance but for someone like me who grew up on a staple diet of hindi potboilers, OSO is just what I would have asked for. In all fairness, let us give credit to SRK and Farah Khan for following their convictions and deliver what they set out to make OSO from the outset – a commercially viable product that scores with the audience. So the fairer sex got a new look six pack abs Khan to drool over and the rest of us got an exquisitely carved hot bod in the form of Deepika Padukone to dream of. Uncle SRK got lucky indeed!
Now getting back to some serious analysis. Let’s start with the positives.
1.) Scale: The film was about Bollywood and so had to be big. Did it live upto the expectations – it exceeded them actually. A plethora of stars descending for a 6 minute song, Abhishek Bachchan and Akshay Kumar chipping in with their small appearances. It was one big party and I was left overawed by the scale of the film.
2.) Humor: SRK’s brand of humor was evident throughout the film. The film was full of jibes mostly aimed at self and at times at others (Manoj Kumar getting beaten up by a security guard has left him fuming and calling up press people I hear!). Akshay Kumar and Abhishek Bachchan make a one-scene appearance to take pot-shots at themselves. Kiron Kher plays the overacting filmy mom. The most hilarious punch, however, is provided during the southie film shoot where SRK plays the big shot from south Indian film industry. If you have a liking for senseless humor, you would simply love it.
3.) Music and Visual Effects: Hit and ruling the charts. Dard-e-Disco was novel and so was the picturization of the Dhoom Tana song that had Deepika dancing with Sunil Dutt, Rajesh Khanna and Jeetendra. Note that the effects might look kiddish but they go quite well with the mood of the film.
Negatives:
1.) Hangover and clichés: True, the film was designed to be clichéd but it goes to such an extent that it seems that there was no attempt to do something new. The film is based on rebirth and to say that the film has a hangover of the Subhash Ghai blockbuster would be an understatement. Starting from the title of the film, to its opening credit song and finally the climax, everything has references of Karz. Our filmy hero actually plots to trap the villain by replaying the Karz scene with his side kick.
“Pappu, Mukesh Mehra ko hum Karz ka repeat performance karke hi pakad sakte hain”
The last scene came as a surprise because it deviated from the Karz track to tread the Ramsay track with a prettier face (If you get what I mean!).
2.) Loopholes in story: Huge ones at that. Even if you are making a film which isn’t supposed to be intellectually taxing, things need to be coherent. Deepika’s character is that of a superstar of the yore but 30 years hence no one even knows her name (not even the reigning superstar). Then you have the villain burn the entire studio and get away without anyone noticing it. What’s stranger is the fact that no one even bothers to come back to that place after the huge fire guts it. The end too was not thoughtful. Too amateurish in the story department. But Farah is a smart filmmaker. She gave the audience what it wanted in the form of this glossy affair even though she forgot to tighten the other screws. Or maybe she didn’t even have the time to focus on other aspects amidst the razzmatazz.
My over all rating would be a 3 on 5 for OSO. Take is as one point for each of its strengths or a minus one for each of its weaknesses. I would recommend it to all those who are either in a festive mood, indulge in senseless humor, belong to the Vidhu Vinod Chopra hate club or do not belong to the National or Oscar film selection jury.
11 comments:
@fromspace: Is it you Adi?
People keep coming back to me asking about my take on films so I do it for them. Thanks for appreciating the fact that I write well. I will come up with smth better some day and mind u, it won't be for free ;)
hey fromspace...I think you are indeed one of those silly indians who go to the bar and try to woo white chicks with their grammatically wrong romantic lines in a heavy dehati indian accent, or one of those who overpraise all hollywood flicks irrespective of whether they (or for that matter anyone else) understood a single scene of it or not.
Movies are for entertainment and not for PhD/research. As long as people come out happy the purpose is achieved. Okay fromspace that is all from me. Now please go back to space and give us all some breathing space after all the "shooting from the hip" you have done.
Hello Mr Anonymous( ofcourse you are of rotten Indian mentality),
I know anurag very much and he is a very talented writter, so it pains me very much writting about stupid Indian movies. Most of them are copies of Hollywood themselves.You know in your heart that these bollywood flicks are no match to hollywood ( even the name of indian film industry is 'inspired' from Hollywood). I do not say all the Indian movies are 'kachra' but most of them are..and so is the audience( and u r one of them). I am sure you must be a big fan of AAJ TAK!!!
Peace!
I dunno if anonymous is a fan of Aaj Tak but I am and I think the 'silly' movies would always find their audience till people like me live here. If someone brands it as rotten mentality, I ca't help it. Truly speaking, I am not able to differentiate between those 'n' number of similar looking action films churned out by hollywood with a budget that is at least 10 times that of a hindi film to make them look better. I am a poor man, I always look to spend my 150 rupees on something that appeals to my senses. Whether it is in English or Hindi is secondary.
There is no need to get personal both of you. Let us give peace a chance.
hey fromspace...from your comments you have convinced me that what I said was right. I agree that there are a few % of songs/movies which are not only inspired but scene by scene copied from english movies. But the good thing is the number is small compared to the total number of movies produced every year (same goes for songs/tunes). The strange thing is most of such movies are not the biggest hits of bollywood. So it is not as if bollywood is living off hollywood. I totally condemn copying and one who even thinks to do that has rotten mentality. But it seems you did not read what you wrote as you yourself have proved that you are of the same mentality by expressing
"Lets us pledge to think like west, eat like west,walk like west,speak like west". Or were you just shooting from the hip again?
BTW, the greatest asset the US has is its marketing. With that sort of marketing any crap is made to look like gold. Just fait a few years. If you follow showbiz you would know that the latest trend in hollywood is to tie with bollywood. The west themselves understand the importance of east...if only the east understood it too.
This movie is a classic example of what hype can do for you. There was nothing in it except for the music, which I thought was great. The acting was below average. I always expect SRK to overact, but even the rest of them were so bad that it made Arjun Rampal look good. Shreyas, who in my opinion is a great actor had nothing to do in the movie..what a waste!! Finally I think, Saanwariyan being released alongside made OSO look better. Nevertheless, I was never got bored watching it (unlike Saanwariyan which I left midway through).
Hmmm...gud review.
After the ballyhoo of Saawariya and OSO for the last 2 months, I finally decided on Saawariya for Diwali. What a let down it was...horrible movie to say the least. That explains the success of OSO !!
BTW..I don't think audience expect nething else than senseless humour, run of the mill story, foot tapping music, larger than life SRK, and a hot looking babe - from Farah Khan. So, we shud at least give credit to this lady for this - delivering just what was expected out of her :-)
@All - It would be great if I was able to give a name to each one of the anonymous people around. Unless, of course, they need to blast me for smth or want to say smth controversial ;)
why did you delete the posts by fromspace? He was my bunny :(
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