Kurukshetra

One of the biggest battlefields of all-time, it is not only a field of war, but also a field of knowledge, for the holy Bhagavad Gita, the purpose of life, the only teachings in which the Guru is the God Almighty himself, was preached at this very place. And here at Anna University, we bring this battlefield back to life. We recreate this epic scenario; where you can fight the biggest battle of minds, at the same time learn the purpose of your life as an engineer. “Why am I an engineer? What are my duties? How can I make this world a better place to live?” Find out the answer to all these questions and more. Come with your troops, for the battleground is open, the horn is blowing and it’s time to prove your might…

Enter the site of the battle.

Om Shanti Om

“I believe you when you beat up ten guys. I believe you when you jump of a building and not die or when you walk on water. So why won’t I believe this?” This one dialogue sums up the entire movie. This is probably the only line in the movie that comes closest to credibility. But what the heck!!! We don’t go to a movie for reality. We go for fun, for laughter or as Om Prakash tells Shantipriya, whenever we are sad, we go to a movie to forget our worries. The mantra of “Om Shanti Om” is ‘you can sell anything to the audience as long as it’s entertaining.’ The most appreciable aspect of the movie is that both Shah Rukh and Farah don’t mind laughing at themselves. Be it the award nominations scene in which Shah Rukh openly accepts his stereotypical roles or the credits in which Farah arrives last, only to find that the fans have left. But does that justify their spoofs of other actors? Farah has not spared anyone; from Manoj Kumar to Bhansali to Suraj Barjhatia. And Abhishek must be appreciated for accepting such a self-humiliating role, which was without doubt the funniest scene in the movie.

What was Shah Rukh trying to prove with the six-pack? That he could not only make the audience laugh or cry but also puke instantaneously? The screen was full of it and there was nowhere else to look. It was artificial to the extent that it looked like the work of Sabu Cyril, the art director. And he has done an excellent job in the movie. Kirron Kher’s stunning performance as the over-acting ‘filmy maa’ sadly loses its importance in the second half. And I don’t want to talk about Dee(slurp)pika, because that would exceed my blog limit (Ya, I know it’s unlimited). Thankfully the second Deepika was just a look-alike and not another re-incarnation. Because you see… we will believe one re-incarnation but not two! Shreyas does a remarkable job. And incidentally, he gets the most appropriate dialogue in the movie “Agar thujhe hero bannna hain tho there nam ke peeche Kapoor ya Khanna hona chahiye.” And although the scene where he sticks a mole on his face and says no one will recognize him mocks the 70’s movies, sadly the movies these days are no better, where a grey dye is enough to make the villain look thirty years older. Arjun Rampal has also come up with a commendable performance. Where the movie loses out is in the fact that the young hero tries to take revenge on a 60 year old villain who has nothing more to prove in life, for a crime he committed thirty years ago. I mean… what’s the point yaar? And that wouldn’t have been the biggest mistake he would have done in his life for sure, for him to even remember it leave alone repent for it. In the last few scenes where the movie is being shot I was not sure whether they were trying out a comedy track or serious bits, because they were absolutely non-sensical. Like the story resembling the villain’s life would go unnoticed by him till he sees Shanti’s face on screen or the hero singing the entire story was still not enough. And had Om taken the entire unit into confidence? Because otherwise all those would not have been possible. All of Farah’s mockery of other films loses meaning in the way she has taken her own movie to the end. The climax could have been better. Was it enough for the villain to die? Shouldn’t he be brought to trial? Isn’t that what Om wanted? I was definitely misled by SRK’s punch line and was under the impression ki “Picture abhi bhi baki hain.”