yet?Readers of Boston Brahmin know that I usually feel I've wasted my time after watching most Hindi movies. But I keep watching them because occasionally I like one. I'm glad we went to watch OSO in the theater this time.
I liked OSO for the following reasons:
1. It's great fun! Lots of laughs, catchy songs. Deepika Padukone is gorgeous, and there are also cameo appearances from lots of other beautiful and well known "babes", as the movie calls them.
2. There's lots of information about the Bombay film industry, because the characters are all in the movies. You see "spot boys" and "grips" on the sets. You see the hierarchy of workers and how they are still treated badly by the top bosses like stars and producers ("chup ay, ja coffee leke aa."). I had never seen this material before. Learned something.
3. Many old actors and movies are mentioned and shown, for the sake of nostalgia and poking fun at them. (Like the badminton song where the heroine hits a shot during a beat). To me, just seeing the old men like Jeetendra and Dharmendra for a minute one more time was worth the price of admission.
4. There's a hilarious scene where our hero is a candidate for a Filmfare award. In cameos from new and old actors and actresses, there are funny comments and satire. Recently I've been seeing this kind of thing in Hindi movies, but in OSO it's very well done.
The following things I didn't like about OSO: The plot is kind of ho-hum, SRK's and Deepika's acting ability is fairly limited, Kirron Kher and Bindu are getting irritating in the same role again and again, and the movie is too long. But the good points above more than make up for this. The kids liked it, too, although there is one scene of graphic violence amidst a huge fire that may be too intense for young viewers.
3 comments:
I enjoyed the movie a lot although I am increasingly convinced of two things:
SRK needs to move on from roles that cast him as a "hero." He looks way too old opposite Deepika.
Farah Khan needs to move beyond her '70s schtick in her next one. It was great in this and Main Hoon Na but her true abilities will surface when she can work with new material.
The most telling dialog in this movie is when a director says he uses many camera angles like prestigious directors, the producer tells him: Ek Manmohan Desai angle bhi lagana, wo hi kaam ayega. Meaning only the Manmohan Desai "masala" angle works. Farah seems to really believe in this and she plays that angle well.
I saw this movie again with my nephew who understands no Hindi and who doesn't watch Bollywood that much. He loved the movie and I would bet, would gladly see it again. That's saying a lot.
Wonder if you noticed that the story outline (rebirth after tragic death of heroine), especially the movie ending, was a direct pick from the famous black-and-white movie "Madhumati" (Vyjayantimala's). I enjoyed the movie (esp. the title song) but the movie ending had no suspense for me, as I realised it was going to be a Madhumati ending.
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