I am truly surprised at my ability to like someone who stands for everything I hate otherwise. Yes, SRK is a megalomaniac, self obssessed, a true capitalist and any & all such words one can think of. But, I still like him and I don’t know why. So, I knew all to well that I would end up watching OSO. Despite the hype, despite the megalomaniacal promotion of the saga of reincarnation; despite my claims and promises to self to not watch the movie, despite being appalled by the heights of ridiculous marketing, I made my way to the theatre.
Hey, I am the ‘I liked Main Hoon Na’ variety. Some one who likes ridiculous ‘bollywood movies’ (oh, now our fraternity is hating this term – why?) – for to me they offer the best form of escaping reality (well…even if I am hardly ever in it!) And ‘Main hoon na’ and the likes offer just that. OSO only promises escapism of highest order, does’nt it?
So, I watched OSO and no surprise there, I liked it. It was entertaining (but I must say the over exposure and excessive review reading took some of the entertainment away 😦 ). But even then I thought the movie was enjoyable. The music rocked; SRK rocked; Arjun rampal and Shreyas Talpade rocked (No, I wasn’t on the rocks..). Some of the scenes were truly truly hilarious. And of course, there was every legtimate excuse for the ‘King’ to be at his OTT, overacting best!
Well, this movie can’t really be made without SRK. It simply can’t. It’s basically one of SRK’s funny, self indulgent, cocky outings with the bold Farah, that incidentally became a movie. Having said that, I was a bit disappointed 😦 , it could’ve been funnier (the KWK – SRK rapid fire anyone?) After the first half I wondered how they were going to get away with all the dig at yester year actors. They anwered, in the second half. By obviously laughing at themselves harder. That’s one ability (even though laced with a touch of cockiness!) that I just absolutely adore about SRK (also Farah I guess!).My pick when Shreyas Talpade says ‘Ma (KK) bahut overacting kar rahi hai’ – SRK replies ‘Woh to humari Family Problem hai!’ – Ok sorry I shdn’t have spoilt it for you (but then I don’t think the only person who reads this blog would care much about it!).The best thing about OSO was the music. It sounds much better in theater and they have all been pretty well picturised I’d say. I didn’t think that the song ‘Dhoom Tana’ (the one Deepika dances with the old actors) was that nice until I saw it on screen. Even the ‘Dastaan’ (the title track) was good. I’d say it is one of the best albums to come out in a long time – probably since RDB. Obviously the 2 melody numbers were top notch! Dard E disco and Dewaangi were ok ..fun to watch I guess. But can we please stop having these hordes of stars making special appearances in songs/dances with this movie?
As for the rest, the suave Arjun played the chilling villian with such grace…well, for his looks he doesn’t really need to act…(a liberty he always uses), but he is pretty good in this movie ….Shreyas is good but that’s no surprise I guess. Deepika is ok….
[‘hey tum bore tho nahi ho rahi na’, Thanks!]
So now to the bridges? No re not Saawariya 🙂 ! I happened to watch this movie the day before OSO – ‘The Bridges of Madison County’. A Clint Eastwood movie (btw who is known as the Clint Eastwood of bollywood?). Now this movie is everything OSO is not. Real (well..atleast I’d say so!) & beautiful. But more than anything, there is one reason why one must watch the movie. That compelling reason is called ‘Meryl Streep’. That woman’s portrayal of the Italian housewife in the (to quote her character’s words) ‘middle of nowhere’ was so real, that you could well be witnessing a real Italian housewife’s life in the middle of nowhere.
One can hardly call it acting, but I guess that’s exactly what acting is. Stunning is probably an understatment for her performance. The range of emotions- from being a bored, lonely, discontented housewife, to her surprise at Clint’s free spirit (see her when she asks him how he’s heard of her village in Italy and her reaction to his reply), her irritation, disbelief, frustration even at his level of independence, to being drawn to him emotionally, physically, her ability to finally break off from self imposed rules to do what she wants and then holding herself back again for her kids to finally being at peace with herself …nothing short of amazing
She wasn’t Meryll Steep but Francesca, the Italian Housewife in the ‘middle of nowhere’ (which Clint Eastwood reminds her is not middle of nowhere but her home!)
2 Contrasting movies, but I liked them both. Variety is the spice of life, I guess! 🙂
November 14, 2007 at 5:27 am
Meryll Steep is great. clint eastwood, i am not sure i like the guy.
“middle of nowhere is her home?” i dont know if i have ever heard anything as beautiful in the recent past.
since you are an ardent devotee of srk, the only person who reads your blog is disappointed with this knee-jerk reaction. where is the passion, madness? 😛
November 14, 2007 at 1:12 pm
I am a SRK fan too, down to the core. And i liked OSO too.. (Rama, i reserve madness and passion for later!) They poked fun at everyone, including themselves..
Spoiler:
Notice how Farah Khan comes in the movie during a song of Subhash Ghai Movie?
November 15, 2007 at 6:35 am
even I like SRK… th prime reason being that he is one bollywood actor you can follow even without knowing much of Hindi… but i also like him bcos of the way he carries himself as a celebrity…
he knows that he is the biggest celeb in India (any questions?) and he acts that! but he never goes overboard.. he doesnt have pretensions about his status. he is humble (atleast the way he talks in the media) being the celebrity he is!
November 15, 2007 at 9:04 am
ranj: eh? how about holding on for sometime. i will be done seeing the movie tomorrow. you can then discuss it as much as you want. we can laugh whole day if you want. dheeraj rako
November 15, 2007 at 10:51 am
hey
i said spoiler, didnt i?? Let me know when you see it!