As readers(kaha hai!!) of this blog would know, I admire what Farah Khan pulled off in Main Hoon Naa. It maximized SRK's superstar status making him do all his favourites: goofy romance, loony college scenes, nostril oscillations with tears and throbbing veins to express amher . She almost reinvented the masala genre for the 2000s packaged with great music, oomph, comedy and casting. She also managed to pay homage to her filmy inspirations ( the matrix style spit scene, the sholay inspired dhanno, some nasir hussain style direction). For a debut movie, it rates as one of the best in the commercial context.
She takes a bigger bite at fame with Om Shanti Om. As the title suggests , it is inspired by Subhash Ghai's Karz which was a tale of reincarntion that worked due to great music and the man who could take a guitar, walk into a stage and set the screen on fire. I am talking of Rishi Kapoor the ultimate lover boy who ever graced Bollywood screens but stopped guitaring when his paunch affected the strumming. Hrithik with all his six packs cant have the same charm.
In a brilliant scripting breakthrough, she casts SRK as a struggling junior artiste who really acts badly. He falls in love with a reigning superstar actress and then launches a movie with her. Then probably he dies or is killed and he returns back or reincarnates as a superstar. Again , this kind of script gives Farah Khan the canvass to do everything she likes : spoof old movies, choreograph different kinds of dances, and so on.
The music sounds good , Vishal-Shekhar come on tops again with a score which suits their style to a T. So you have a lilting romantic ballad " Aankhon mein teri" enhanced by Kay Kay's soothing voice. This is a very unVS track but they have shown their variety here.
Then you have a real fusion track Dard-e-Disco that combines Arabic beats, some really cool rhyming lyrics ( Dard-e-Disco with San Francisco) and good disco feel orchestratization. This is clear VS territory and they come up on tops and SRK's six packs will only boost this song further. Sukhwinder again shows why he can be trusted for songs like this.
Then you have the saga song Dastan-e-OSO. This takes you back to the age where the climax song used to be a crucial element of the movie with flashbacks et al. This song creates the perfect mood for it although its heavily inspired by the 'Ek Hasina Thi' in writing as well as composition. The song is a good tribute.
Deewangi Deewangi is an instant hit and is a great combination of the drums, qawali and innovative sounds. Again Shaan and Sunidhi provide the right energy to this song and the superb chorus just make this song a dream chartbuster for a movie like this.
Dhoom Tana is Laxmi-Pyare with the drums that typified the 80s. A different set of singers Abhijeet and Shreya just add the right romantic feel to this song that could have been easily picturized on the hero heroine on huge outdoor sets with thousands of extras.
Jag Soona Lage provides the mandatory sad song like Lambi Judai in Hero and such other films. Again Richa Sharma and Rahat Ali Khan and Javed Akhtar's lyrics do good justice to it . Again very 80s.
Main Agar Kahoon suffers from a lack of period classification. It is neither contemporary nor particularly reflective of any era nor particularly melodious.
Overall a great album with the right mix of music for the movie's storyline and proving the versatility of VS and also the strong kalam of Javed Saab.
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