Ok guys...the verdict is out...I frankly was disappointed with both...OSO wasnt as good as i expected...and Saawariya wasnt as bad as I had expected!
this article in Hindu kind of sums up waht I want to say!
Big fuss, but no big deal at the cinemas this week
OM SHANTI OM
(At Shiela and other theatres in Delhi and elsewhere)
Farah Khan continues with her irreverent ways. She cloaks nostalgia with a dash of humour and manages to take little digs at the cinema many of us grew up with: the 1970s' films that conveyed much joy, shared little angst. Her "Om Shanti Om" here now is a retro with a modern look, a film that throbs with vitality, pulsating at the edges.
Inspired by Subhash Ghai's "Karz", from whose song it even derives its title, Farah this time goes a bridge too far. There is a fine line between being irreverent and disrespectful. The way the movie shapes up, it leaves one wondering if she is taking the viewers for a ride. In trying to be light and jovial – the film has a feather touch treatment all through – she at times veers too close to being trivial, even mocking at the sensibilities of the viewers.
Yet for a large part the film works. It works tremendously well in patches. That is when the director relies on the sheer charisma, the untamed energy of Shah Rukh Khan to carry it through. He is the life, blood and soul of the film. He towers above all the frames. And he gets good support from newcomer Deepika Padukone. The girl has grace and poise to go with those tantalising looks that tell you that in years to come people would still be flocking to see her films. As they say, she has the looks to get the looks.
But hey, the lead pair alone does not make a film. It is the director who must lead the way. And that is where "Om Shanti Om" falls short. It is based on the reincarnation theme: we have Shah Rukh as a junior artist in love with a top heroine, played by Deepika, but fate snatches them away from this life, only for both to come back, and this time the guy is a top star! Too much for the modern educated audiences to buy? Well, maybe. But where Farah errs is in spending too much time on nostalgia.
The first half with all the reference points to yesterday provides occasional laughter. But that's about all. The story does not move. The second half suffers similarly: Farah's husband-in-real-life Shirish Kunder is off form as the editor. And barring a nice song sequence with anybody who is somebody in Bollywood showing up, there is little to keep the viewers hooked on.
No, not even the music. And by the time, the mystery of who killed the girl in the first birth is solved, too many reels are wasted.
The film could have been trimmed easily without affecting its nostalgia quotient or the retro look.
Yet for all its faults, if you are a die-hard Shah Rukh fan – and they are there in thousands – "Om Shanti Om" can be visited once. Just to see Shah Rukh do his bare chest act, his role reversal from being a top star to a junior artist. And his ability to momentarily forget that he is Shah Rukh. Of course, Deepika does not hurt the eyes, and pleases where it matters.
Want a film with a breezy momentum? With a thread of credibility or logic? Stay away. This one is only for those living off yesterday, longing for the times that were.
SAAWARIYA
(At Delite and other theatres in Delhi and elsewhere)
Sad songs don't make for a sweet life. Or a successful film. Sanjay Leela Bhansali's much talked about "Saawariya" is so steeped in sorrow, so full of darkness that you wish there was dawn too. There is so much of the moon and its gentle glow that you wish there was bountiful sunshine as well. "Sawaariya" is nothing but a self-indulgent poet's vain exercise, beautiful to look at for a while, but bereft of the soul. It's like a shallow showcase. All to see, not much to carry to the memory bank.
It relates the time-tested tale of an innocent boy who has nothing but his charm and song to keep him going, and a girl, untouched by a man, innocent to love. Throw in newcomers Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor as the lead pair and you know Bhansali has got a fist of unadulterated clay to carve out an arresting sculpture. And full credit to him, he presents his lover couple in a manner that is both uplifting and exhilarating. Some of the moments in the exchanges between them linger a while after the camera has moved on.
They live in a fantasy land, populated by women of the sleaze street – mercifully they don't always speak the language of the gutter – and others who exist only in Bhansali's mind's landscape. But the youngsters find their bearings soon enough in the film inspired by "White Night". Sonam as a Muslim girl Sakeena, who lives with her grandma – good old Begum Para – is blessed with a face that invites attention. Her eyes are soaked in sadness, her face defies sorrow, presenting an arresting mixture. Ranbir, who lives with the timeless Zohra Segal, is all boyish charm, likeable, malleable. And he comes through a translucent towel number with confidence. Incidentally, the song, thrown in for obvious reasons, is handled with a rare dexterity by the director, who otherwise is on his own ego trip.
Throughout the film we get lots of blues, black and slanting rays of the moon. There is hardly any daytime in the film. And the actors all live around a little lake with its interplay of light and shadow, against the crests and troughs of its ripples.
Similarly, the Id moon is seen by an army of men, all clad in white and standing at an arm's length from each other. Only the hero is allowed black. And the heroine looks at him through an intricate jaali work, allowing the camera to capture her face, half hidden, half revealed. In a cruel concession to the box office, Bhansali's conservative girl covers her face and head with a dupatta but wears backless blouses or cholis, giving the viewers a full view where a mere glimpse would have sufficed.
Yes, Bhansali's film is a beautiful if egoistic exercise. That's all. The story does not have depth or multiple shades. The momentum in narration is missing. And the songs, cheery and hummable, are lost in a sea of sadness. There is an overdose of technique over flair. And all the good work of Rani Mukerji -- she plays a woman of easy virtue who brings all the virtues of a seasoned artiste to her work -- and the lead pair is of little avail.
Sorry Mr. Bhansali, this film will only please the poet in you, but the paying public deserves better. One man's joy can be a million's sorrow.😆
Geet - Hui Sabse Parayee
