This won't be an excessively long review but I do want to share my views on the film.

First half: I really can't tell you enough how amazing the first half of the film is, it is pure gold. First of all the story is marvellous. The struggle of the junior artist is realistic, the love for shanti is warming and the twist near the end of the half is dramatically sound. It is literally fantastic. The acting is of first class from all actors, and you really feel emotionally attached to SRK. The songs are marvellous, I loved all of them, shame ajab si wasn't picturised specifically. If i based my review on the first half alone I would rank it among SRK's finest films...

However, the second half to a certain extent is a let down.

The second half deals with his reincarnation and I admire the way that om prakash is in om kapoors body, as in there isnt a total transformation and there are parts of OK still present which makes it all the more believable. But after such a rollicking first half one expects a bang in the second, but you dont get it. Instead the pace slows down, rather understandably, as Om Kapoor begins to realise who he really is and then follows on to the fomrulating of the plot against Mike. Even though there is much to laugh about in the second half, the songs are beautiful and enjoyable, they don't give anything to the story. I understand DED and Deewanagi are meant to show the situation of Om Kapoor but looking back at it they weren't compulsary, simply eye candy, and this is where the film slightly falls. It gives too much emphasis on the masala of the film that it actually forgets the plot. A lot of time is wasted even as the plot unfolds and this just further drags the film on and on. No doubt the idea of revenge for your love is a good one but one would have liked to see more flashbacks of om's love for shanti to really emphasize why he wants to revenge her death, it just doesn't fit in as smoothly as desired. Moving onto the performances, Deepika has little to do but exceeds in making you laugh, Kirron Kher and Shreyas do well in smaller roles in this half, Arjun is believable and a good villain. SRK overacts when he is a brat-starkid, bit upsetting because it felt he was just being silly at times (I know this was the whole point but he could have pulled off the starbrat image without being eccentric) but once the revelation occurs he back into his true form, anger, love, and desire for revenge is evident. Looking at the songs alone, they all succeed wonderfully.

The first half is pure genius whereas the second half looses its excitement and interest but needless to say, the climax of the film picks up this tempo swiftly and ends the film very well. Thank god for the ending otherwise the second half could have really destroyed this film. But nevertheless the film is very good, far from a classic, but if you want masala entertainment its brilliant, just keep in mind that the 2nd half will not be as enjoyable.

Summary:

Acting:
SRK - fantastic, slight blip in 2nd half but overall wonderful
Deepika - marvellous debut first half, nothing in 2nd
Arjun - solid
Shreyas and Kirron Kher - v gd 1st half, but little to do in 2nd

Story:
1st half - brilliant and well executed
2nd half - loses interest and lack of developing relationships (if you remember in MHN the 2nd half wasnt as great as the first either)

Songs:
ALL BRILLIANT

Overall Rating: 8/10 (would have been 9 if it wasnt for the dip in excitement, i understand it can't be 100% all the time but the sudden excitemenet at end of 1st half countered by slightly dull 2nd half was disappointing)

[PS. I saw saawariya and I really don't know what the reviewers are on about, was very good film, not SLB's finest but definitely good, Saawariya Rating: 7.5/10]

Aamir

 

i loved both halves equally, but they certainly did have a different tone from one another. great review Aamir!

 

now I understand the film better..thanks Aamir..normally fan reviews is mostly about the star and not the film..yours sound like professional ..
and thanks for rating saawariya a good film..I started to feel bad for all the effords put in a SLB film people just saying he has lost the box office battle ..
I am sure both are very good films in their own way and Hindi cinema needs many more..

 

Felt 2nd half was weaker? Here's the reason

Dear friends,

If you had read my review posted on monday u wud have seen that I felt the 2nd half was weaker than the second and I was having difficulty pinpointing exactly why this was the case, well ive got the answer!!

Here's the deal. The first half was COMPLETELY about Om's love for Shanti, it was the core of the story and so one wud imagine the 2nd half to continue this further

However, the 2nd half lacked this essence/core. Yes it showed Om's reincarnation and his desire for revenge but did you begin to question why suddenly Om desired revenge to such an extent? Probably not if you were having loads of fun BUT you can't deny the motive was missing. This motive was clearly his love for Shanti which was pretty much the whole 1st half and so it should have been is reason for such strong revenge because if she was just another lady he wouldn't go to all lenghts to punish Mike. Therefore this was the reason why the 2nd half felt weaker, the 1st half was all about his love for shanti and the tables turned completely and as an audience I would have preferred reminders as to why exactly Om was doing this - his love for shanti

Nevertheless still a fantastic film and I stick to my rating of 8/10 because was a very enjoyable film, but I was upset with the 2nd half due to this reason, just imagine if Farah had shown longer flashbacks of his love for Shanti in between formulating the plan to punish Mike...wud have been too good!

Aamir

 

Re: Felt 2nd half was weaker? Here's the reason

i see what youre saying aamir, but the second half was about his reincarnation (in the sense that he is back) more than the love story in the sense that it was about him figuring out his "past life" and because the film is called OM shant OM, its more about him. You knew in the first half that he loved Shanti and the memories that flash back to him during the second half remind him of it.... but i feel that farah didnt take too much time into showing the flashbacks, because the whole story isnt about his past life but about the fact that he is back and ready to take revenge. like in karan arjun, they didnt have to replay it again and again, we knew why they were back

thats just my opinion

 

Re: Felt 2nd half was weaker? Here's the reason

but i feel that farah didnt take too much time into showing the flashbacks, because the whole story isnt about his past life but about the fact that he is back and ready to take revenge. like in karan arjun, they didnt have to replay it again and again, we knew why they were back


i think the same too...farah didnt go deep flashing his past

 

Re: Felt 2nd half was weaker? Here's the reason

yeah i get what ur saying guys but it just felt that the 2nd half was suddenly off scope, everyone knew why he was back - to take revenge andnmake it fair but why did he so BADLY want revenge? - his love for shanti, which was the whole first half anf something they forgot to emphasize in the 2nd

 

Re: Felt 2nd half was weaker? Here's the reason

well i agree with you there sonal id say aamir in the first half was 70s then it was 2007 and another thnig the viewers no about his love and it wasnt the point

 

Re: Felt 2nd half was weaker? Here's the reason

i see what youre saying but i guess that since they didnt make reference to his love for shanti you might feel it a bit weak, but remember we knew he loved her and thats what brought him back...thats the whole reason behind the reincarnation, and therefore showing it again in the second half would have been redundant. the flasback he has when he goes to the dressing room, makes us remember why he has come back... but i see what youre saying...

 

Re: Felt 2nd half was weaker? Here's the reason

The way you described and felt the lack of more depth into the movie I 've begin to feel you are none other than the famous Amir Khan.

 

Re: Felt 2nd half was weaker? Here's the reason

I think the movie was perfect all the way to the END!

 

Re: Felt 2nd half was weaker? Here's the reason

Well, finally I did watch the film and am again waiting to watch it with my friends... So, I'll be here with my Review by Monday!

Well, as for the reason you have cited, I think I have a better answer! I guess the last scene where Sandy comes running to Om and he turns around to see Shanti is the one that seals this doubt! ShahRukh's expressions, that drop of tear in Deepika's eyes and that painful smile on her face say it all - what they had and what was no more! So, according to me, this flaw was not really there. However, Farah did incorporate a lot of contemporary fun elements in the second half of the movie and so it was perhaps a bit difficult for some people to shift gears from a soft-sweet-romantic 70's era to a harsh-cool-practical 2007! But overall, the movie's a show-stealer without a single dull moment and it's just pure solid fun!

 

Re: Felt 2nd half was weaker? Here's the reason

Well said sweetie...

 

Re: Felt 2nd half was weaker? Here's the reason

As farah said..you need to leave your brains home and go watch Om Shanti Om

 

Re: Felt 2nd half was weaker? Here's the reason

nice way of putting it.

but aamir, i get what youre saying

 

Re: Felt 2nd half was weaker? Here's the reason

Even though Farah did say that, I don't agree... my brain is just as delighted as the rest of my little person...
Aamir, the revenge is not all!!! It's more a kind of delayed justice, I think. The Om of 2007 is NOT the Om of thirty years ago, he only has the memory and the knowledge of this love, he is NOT trying to revive this love - he KNOWS what he had felt being the other Om. The second half is about a change of a personality BECAUSE of these memories... reliving them changes Om's character, it makes him more mature without taking his youthfull humour out of him. That's what the second part is about... among others...

 

Re: Felt 2nd half was weaker? Here's the reason

I thought his return was not only for Shanty (though it was a part of it) my thinking was that he needed to fulfil his destiny of becoming a star and not a junior artist.

 

Aamier I completely disagree with you.
the first half was not only about his love to shanti. it was also about his aspiration to make it to hero or super hero status and his struggles along the way.
there was no love story between shanti and Om which was what I loved about this movie and made it different. there was just one innocent romantic scene which was Ajab se song and there was no love developing there.

the 2nd half however, was not about revenge. it was about reincarnation, and more like getting justice like claudia said. thank god farah didn't repeat or go deeper in his past otherwise it would have been boring to reiterate same scenes, she did well in doing quick flashbacks when he first saw Sandy and Mukhesh.

the 2 parts of the movie were beautifully integrated and comprehensive, I didn't see any loopholes, and if there were any they were insignificant.

 

yep wafa U are right..I totally agree with YoU.

 

thank you for all your comments but sometimes people need to look at a film without being bias to shahrukh khan

he might be the ebst actor in the world but that doesnt mean ALL his films need to be perfect. even srk doesnt expect all his films to be flawless and he has sed on many occasions that some of hims films do have faults.

i think some of you, no names mentioned, need to leave ur bias heart at home before you go see any films otherwise you will never appreciate cinema for what its worth.

but the majority of you left concise explanations for your reasoning, some of which i feel make it clearer for me, so thanks!