Let us look at the odds against Farha Khan the director.
1. Making a movie involving a movie and the movie industry
2. Making a movie involving re-incarnation which was last seen 10 yrs back in Karan Arjun
3. Following up a hit like Main Hoon Naa
Not only does she overcome these odds, she pulls off a pure masala entertainer walking a thin line between paying homage to the moviemaking style of the 60s-70s and spoofing it in good measure.
The story is waferthin. SRK plays Om a junior artiste who falls in love with Shanti the reigning superstar. Just as she begins to reciprocate his love, she dies in a studio fire masterminded by a producer and SRK also dies while trying to save her. SRK is reborn as a superstar son in his punarjanam(reincarnation for dummies) and how he regains his past birth memory and avenges Shanti's death form the climax.
But the execution especially in the first two hours of the movie is cool. Its completely over the board at times but extremely likeable. Its also in a way a celebration of SRK's superstar megalomania and he is left to deliver an untethered performance where he really enjoys himself with all his not so tongue in cheek jabs.
The movie is best viewed as a great aggregation of sequences. Although the first half set in the 60-70s is by no means exact in terms of reproduction, since sometimes the sets, dancing styles, spoofed actors and acting styles do not actually match those times. But who cares, since we wanted a leave our brains at home entertainer.
Some sequences are hilarious, the Manoj Kumar premiere scene, SRK's junior artiste Bhaago scenes, the dhoom tana song, SRK's take on Quick Gun Murugan, the Filmfare awards function, the apahij pyar shooting and of course the 31 star-studded song. The Filmfare awards function shows the sporty side of Bollywood especially Abhishek Bacchan and Akshay Kumar. How I wish they actually make a 'Khiladi Returns' with Akshay Kumar's new found superstar status as shown in the nominations.
SRK goes one step ahead in megalomania in the Filmfare awards scene winning two nominations as the reincarnated Om Kapoor for ' Main bhi hoon na' and 'Phir bhi dil hai NRI', two films shown completely alike in treatment with Swiss Alps. But he goofs up where he normally goofs up, the drunken scenes and the nostril flaring emotional scenes.
Deepika Padukone gets a dream debut, although Farha Khan manages to camouflage her acting skills in 70s types wigs and costumes in the first half and skimpy clothes in the second half.
The true hero of the film is Farha Khan. This is a movie that could have only been made by a movie buff with both the heart and head in the right place. Seriously, Agar tum kisi cheez ko dil se chaho to poori kaynaat use dilaane ki koshish karta hai. Wonderful Paulo Coelho rehash for Bollywood.
And SRK the smart producer that he is, must have netted a cool Rs.60 Cr profit by making this movie in 20 and selling to Eros at 80.
Please watch and enjoy seeti maarke....
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