OM SHANTI OM (2007)
Dir: Farrah Kahn
162 min.

Not for everyone, but an incredible movie for the true Bollywood buff
Review written January 4, 2013

Replete with inside jokes, self-loathing Bollywood mocking of all-too-common motifs and walk-on appearances by nearly 2 dozen Indian cinema stars, well, that should be enough. Not to mention Deepika Padukone, quite possibly the most exquisitely lovely woman on the planet (even my wife calls her “impossibly beautiful”). All this, and a great, involved plot, (mostly) razor-sharp directing from Farrah Khan (no relation to Shah Rukh Khan) and editing, this nearly 3-hour feast takes you through 2 lives lived for one idea. Incredible, sweeping, and ultimately, creepy, as in sending shivers down the spine in a plot twist that will have you going back for more.

Yes, just a touch campy; yes, the big Bollywood production numbers are both slightly numerous and long, but are interwoven with the story, if only marginally.

A friend of mine who wanted to know more about Indian cinema borrowed “3 Idiots” first, and will now check out this long, dramatic jewel. Then, who knows … “Sholay” and “Jodhaa Akbar”. Eventually, “Mother India”?