Review - OSO & Saawariya

Om Shanti Om.....senseless entertainer

The second directorial venture by Farah Khan simply exceeded my expectations in virtually all departments except screenplay. But do we care so much about the script if the movie keeps you interested? No! And that's exactly OSO's advantage which played into the hands of none other than SRK. It's all about reincarnation and that fine line between mystery and reality.

The film is set in the backdrop of 70s where they use the old Bombay studios to portrait the vintage Hindi cinema. SRK plays a junior artist and he fits like a T in the role with superb comic timing and then there is Deepika who is the "dreamy girl" in celluloid. Both of them die under mysterious circumstances when our villain Arjun Rampal come to know that Deepika is carrying his baby. Having spent lacs of rupees on a future project titled Om Shanti Om, producer Rampal couldn't afford to waste the money because the heroine is pregnant. The argument between them leads to a fatal incident and phew Deepika and SRK who comes to help her in between, die.

Meanwhile, SRK reincarnates as the son of another top hero and later becomes the hottest star the country has ever seen. The rest is all about how he confronts Arjun Ramphal to death. There is a surprise in the climax which is good enough to win the audience's hearts. The story is as old as the Shahjahan n Mumtaz epic but the undisputed strength of OSO is its surprises which includes a song with 30 odd Bollywood stars, those sumptuous sets, well-packaged dance numbers, riveting climax and ofcourse SRK's new attire. On the whole, it's not a bad idea to spend some penny on this pot boiler which I am sure will satisfy all kinds of audience.

Saawariya.......Simply pathetic

A classicalexample of a much hyped disaster is Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Saawariya starring Ranbir and Sonam Kapoor. The film doesn't deserve to be reviewed but I just want to show how angry I was watching oops tolerating it. Getting inspired from an English short story which talks about romance in 4 nights, is not really an excuse to make such pathetic films. The whole film hams all the way and is undoubtedly one of the worst films in Hindi cinema.

The script is wafer thin and I wonder the whole thing could have been wrapped up in 1 hour. A bar dancer falls in love with a Muslim girl in an artificially created city but the girl is waiting for her lover for the past one year. Yep, that's the story and in the last scene the girl goes away with her sweet heart much to the horror of Ranbir Kapoor. Even colorful sets and beautifully choreographed songs doesn't help the cause for this ill-made film but Bhansali should have had some sanity for stretching it beyond 2 hours. The biggest problem is that Saawariya is a musical just like Jhoom Barabar Jhoom or Jaan-e-Mann for which the audience has no option but to ditch.

Sonam Kapoor looks promising but is more unfortunate to have a wasted debut like this. Ranbir Kapoor exaggerates his mannerisms which is the last thing expected from a debutant. After that cult classic Black, Saawariya is undoubtedly Bhansali's biggest mistake till date and it's not because it's a flop. I don't really care if an average movie bombs but when the media and newspapers keep shouting about one flick, there is every chance that people expect something new. Bhansali may have recovered the movies' cost thanks to the very hype but what about my 200 bucks. It's not even worth watching for free. There can only be Saawariya like Saawariya because I don't think any director is as crazy as Bhansali to make such a crap in the name of romance. Don't ever watch it even on T.V........