Om Shanti Om or Saawariya?

Hello All! Thank you Ashish for the introductions and for letting us contribute to this blog.

Since this weekend marks the opening of two big Bollywood movies, I thought of starting off with a preview of the Om Shanti Om vs Saawariya clash rather than a movie review. It is fairly common to have big movies opening up on the Diwali weekend each year and this year is no different.

For the uninitiated in Bollywood, this weekend showcases the clash of a two major Hindi movie releases. In the red corner, you have arguably India's biggest present day superstar, Shahrukh Khan coming out with Om Shanti Om - a masala potboiler in the true sense. The movie spans such serious issues as rebirth, romance, action, revenge, song-and-dance within the space of 180 minutes and promises to regale the audiences. Director Farah Khan’s previous attempt (Main Hoon Na) was an unashamed homage to the hardcore commercial Indian movies of the ‘70s – corny, cheesy, over-the-top at times, but it was a guilty pleasure that I truly enjoyed. And I expect the same this time around as well.

In the blue corner, there is one of Bollywood's most acclaimed directors in recent times, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, directing two newcomers (Ranbir and Sonam Kapoor) that come from illustrious Bollywood families in Saawariya. The plot the movie has been highly guarded, but it appears to be a light musical romance. Bhansali is known for making opulent movies with larger than life characters and dollops of drama. It will be interesting to see if he would treat this “simple love story” with newcomers any differently.

Both the movies though highly different in content and presentation represent purely commercial Bollywood cinema. And most fans of Indian movies, like yours truly, plan on seeing both.

Prediction:

I will stick my neck out and make a prediction that though I think both movies will do well, Om Shanti Om may just take the bigger opening and eventually end up in the blockbuster category (largely due to the SRK factor).

On a personal level, though I am excited to see two newcomers with great lineage in filmdom, I would like to see Om Shanti Om first, purely since I believe it may just be a bit more entertaining.

We'll wait a couple more days to find out...

Comments

[niki]

Thanks for such an awesome sneak preview! I was initially planning on only watching Saawariya but thanks to your post you have convinced me to watch OSO as well. Waiting for your reviews on the movies..

[sonal]

anonAmit..

you beat me to writing a post !

i'm personally more excited about OSO. There's just something about SRK's smile during the Dard-e-Disco track thats irresistible ..

[ashishb]

Based on soundtrack - Om Shanti Om should do real good. Saawariya is allright ; but on average om shanti om has packed in more of that commercial bollywood sound not to mention a mix from Dj Aqeel! I guess we'll find out this weekend...interested in hear on anonAmit's feedback!!

[Janet]

Great film. It is fairly common to have big movies opening up on the Diwali weekend each year and this year is no different.