Tuesday, May 6, 2008
OM SHANTI OM Celebrates Silver Jubilee
In the times when a decent four week run of a film is good enough to take it to a success, OM SHANTI OM has completed 25 weeks at theaters.
On the Friday gone by, i.e. 2nd May, this Farah Khan directed film celebrated a 25 week run. Released across the globe on 9th November 2007, OM SHANTI OM went on to break records all over and turned out to be the biggest first week opener at the box office of all times with a 40 crores+ in collections. Till date the film has collected in excess of 85 crores just from India, hence turning out to be the biggest money spinner of all times.
Commenting on the film's continued success over the months, Farah Khan says, "In the times when it is rare to see a film going through a 50 day or a 100 day run, it gives me so much pleasure to see the film getting such a heartfelt response. It is running on a matinee show at Naaz in Mumbai and I am getting feelers that the theater is confident of the film completing Golden Jubilee there.
"My motto has been to make an entertaining film and going by audience response, I can say that I succeeded in doing that", concludes Farah.
Joginder Tuteja
Labels: Arjun Rampal, Deepika Padukone, Eros International, Farah Khan, Kirron Kher, Om Shanti Om, Red Chillies Entertainment, Shahrukh Khan, Shirish Kunder, Shreyas Talpade
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Monday, April 28, 2008
´Om Shanti Om´ Completes Silver Jubilee
Produced by Gauri Khan and directed by Farah Khan, the film has screenplay by the latter with Mushtaq Sheikh, dialogues by Mayur Puri, lyrics by Javed Akhtar, Vishal Dadlani and Kumar, music by Vishal-Shekhar, cinematography by V. Manikandan. editing by Shirish Kunder, action by Sham Kaushal, art by Sabu Cyril and sound by Nakul Kamte.
'Om Shanti Om' which has so far netted close to 87 crores from India, stars Shah Rukh Khan in a double role with Deepika Padukone, Arjun Rampal, Kirron Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Jawed Sheikh, Bindu, Satish Shah and Mushtaq Sheikh.
Labels: Arjun Rampal, Deepika Padukone, Eros International, Farah Khan, Kirron Kher, Om Shanti Om, Red Chillies Entertainment, Shahrukh Khan, Shreyas Talpade
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Tuesday, March 18, 2008
OSO wins Best Music at Asian Film Awards
Best actor went to Hong Kong veteran Tony Leung Chiu-wai for his performance in the Ang Lee spy thriller Lust, Caution.
In Secret Sunshine, Jeon plays Shin-ae, a widow who moves to her husband's hometown to start afresh after his death in a traffic accident. Instead, she has to face the kidnapping and murder of her son.
The lifetime achievement award went to Japanese director Yoji Yamada. Organisers paid tribute to late Taiwanese-American director Edward Yang by showing clips from his movies.
The Asian Film Awards is organised by the Hong Kong International Film Festival.
Screen India
Labels: Deepika Padukone, Farah Khan, Om Shanti Om, Shahrukh Khan, Vishal-Shekar
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Tuesday, March 11, 2008
‘Om Shanti Om’ sweeps Central European Bollywood Awards
On March 8, the winners were announced in Munich at the second International Bollywood-Blogger meeting.
The awards are hosted by a leading Swiss website, molodezhnaja.ch, and central Europe’s discussion panel bollywoodforum.ch.
While “Om Shanti Om” won the best film award, it got Khan the best director trophy as well. The film also won prizes for the best special effects, best art direction and best costumes.
Music director duo Vishal-Shekhar won the award for best music for the commercially acclaimed project, “Dastaan-e-Om Shanti Om…”.
Sonu Nigam was voted the best singer and newcomer Deepika Padukone walked away with the award for breakthrough role (female) category.
Shah Rukh Khan bagged the best actor award for his performance in “Chak De! India”. The blockbuster also won the awards for best cinematography and best editing.
Mani Ratnam’s “Guru” won the best script trophy. The movie also got Shreya Ghoshal the best singer (female) award for the song “Barso re…”. For the same movie, Vidya Balan and Mithun Chakraborty bagged the “Best Actor in Supporting Roles” awards in the female and male categories respectively.
Shahid Kapur and Kareena Kapoor who paired up in “Jab We Met” were declared the Best Couple. Vikram Chatwal was conferred the award for breakthrough role (male) for “Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.”.
In the most disappointing film category director “Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag” left all other nominees behind.
Thai Indian News
Labels: Farah Khan, Om Shanti Om, Shahrukh Khan
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Friday, February 29, 2008
Shah Rukh is intelligent, practical: Australian bodyguard in OSO
Simon who? Shah Rukh Khan's Australian bodyguard. That's he.
Movie buffs will recall Simon as the foreign bodyguard who appeared constantly by the side of Shah Rukh's Om Kapoor character in the blockbuster. Clad in a black suit, with ever-present dark glasses, the tall Australian-born actor (measuring 6.3 feet) cuts an imposing figure on celluloid.
At the scheduled interview location, a Mahim coffee shop, on the edge of Mumbai's 'filmi' society, the patrons' excited whispers of 'Om Shanti Om' rebounds as Simon enters.
So how does a 30 something Australian end up in the biggest Bollywood film of all time? 'I got the part through an audition,' Simon narrates, 'In fact, I got a couple of films for SRK's production house Red Chillies in that one audition; the other being 'My Name is Anthony Gonsalves' '.
Simon, who swapped Melbourne for Mumbai four years ago, says, 'I knew it was a big film. The hype was huge before we had even finished it. But who could have foreseen the circus that was to come following the release.'
Looking back on the experience, Simon reflects, 'I shot for 25 days over about four months. I had no idea what the film was about while I was shooting. In fact, it seemed a bit silly, but of course at that stage I didn't know that it was deliberately tongue-in-cheek.'
But of the superstar himself, Simon says: 'Shah Rukh seemed like a nice guy, a good mix of being both intelligent and practical. In one of the shots, he fixed my sunglasses when they kept falling off my face.'
Along with many other fans of Khan, Simon shares the view that the star is approachable. 'I felt him to be busy but not stressed.' Hailing from a foreign background, Simon accepts: 'I didn't have the same awe of Shah Rukh as the other members of the film and would often sit next to him to watch the monitors.'
'Farah, on the other hand, used to stress me with her microphone.' The actor remembers a time when he was suddenly needed at the last minute to shoot on the 'Deewangi Deewangi' sequence.
For those of you who came in late, the song was picturised on 31 of the industry's hottest stars. However, Simon was out of town and could not be contacted. Fortunately, Farah was forgiving when she found out that Simon's date problems were the result of an outdoor shoot in Bangalore with none other than Aamir Khan.
It is not everyday that an actor gets to shoot every single one of his scenes with screen idol Shah Rukh and that too with no dialogue. 'Twenty five days' shooting and not a word spoken. That's got to be some kind of a film record,' joked Simon.
'Actually, the script said I was to say one word. I remember when it was time to shoot that section, Shah Rukh laughed and said live it up, knowing it was the only word I would get to say.'
And Simon's last word on SRK? 'The guy is pretty mellow'.
By Steven Baker (Staff Writer, © IANS)
Labels: Farah Khan, Om Shanti Om, Shahrukh Khan
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Wednesday, February 27, 2008
'I wish OSO was shorter' - Farah Khan
She says in a humorous tone, 'The moment I started recording 'Director's commentary' for the film's DVD, I started wondering if it was a good idea to make a movie as lengthy as this. Imagine, I was lying on my bed in my bedroom while recording for the commentary where I was required to give a frame by frame account of the film.'
'Within a few minutes I was extremely breathless. I was around 7 months pregnant when I had to work on the DVD of OM SHANTI OM. I wanted my audience to know what went into the making of the film and the kind of goofs that happened. I also wanted to use this medium as an opportunity to let the world know about the kind of support I got from not just my crew but even the industry while I was making OM SHANTI OM', she adds.
'It was a nice experience to be recording my commentary but quite a tedious exercise. I was left exhausted after every few minutes and this was the time when I felt if only the film could have been a bit shorter', jokes Farah Khan currently looking after her triplets.
Special editions DVDs of OM SHANTI OM were released to a bumper response last week. If the film had taken a stupendous opening at theaters, the DVD sales are not far behind either as they are said to be recoding great sales all over.
The film comes in a twin DVD pack with the film's duration being 162 minutes. The second DVD has special features lasting another 150 minutes. Apart from Director's Commentary, special features also include:
- Making of OSO
- Making of the songs
- SRK & Farah interviews
- Deleted scenes and bloopers
- Promos and Trailers
- Visual Effects
- OSO events (Music launch, Fashion show, London premier, Book launch)
- OSO Trivia Game
Joginder Tuteja, Bollywood Trade News Network
Labels: Farah Khan, Om Shanti Om
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Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Highest Bollywood Box Office grosser arrives on DVD
DVD Review: Om Shanti Om
MOVIE DETAILS
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Arjun Rampal, Shreyas Talpade, Kirron Kher
Director: Farah Khan
Producer: Gauri Khan
Music : Vishal Shekhar
Lyrics: Javed Akhtar
THE FILM
The film would be remembered for many reasons apart from it's high entertainment value:
a) The promotional overdrive that Shah Rukh Khan and Farah Khan went on for weeks in advance of the release of the film. Truly, one can't remember when was the last time such vigor was seen for a movie which anyways was a guaranteed success in the making!
b) The so-called clash with Saawariya, which turned out to be such a no-show. The stage was set for a battle royale but Shah Rukh Khan's mere declaration of "I will destroy 'Saawariya'" spoke of great confidence that he had in the film and Farah's capabilities. Result was an anti-climax that saw Om Shanti Om marching ahead from show one with no competition/challenge whatsoever from Saawariya.
c) An amalgamation of one item sequence after another in the three-hour affair. Truly, Om Shanti OmM was a circus that had a dozen odd item sequences tying the script together and resulting in an amusing/entertaining watch.
d) Filmfare awards sequence. Truly the most innovative where no star/actor complained of the spoof at their expense.
e) 31 stars making an appearance for one single song and dance sequence - 'Deewangee Deewangee'. All of this added so much 'masala' to the entire sequence that one wonders how would Farah Khan get something better in her next project?
f) The Manoj Kumar episode where the veteran actor was offended by the joke around his mannerisms. The incident threatened to dilute the thunder created by the film at the stands but some timely intervention by Khan and a few industry seniors saved the situation from turning out rightly ugly.
g) Last but not the least, Shah Rukh Khan's six pack abs that have given business to many a body builders, instructors, dieticians and gym owners!
PACKAGING
The DVD currently on stands belongs to limited edition as it comes in a special cardboard case, which resembles a book. Inside the box is a two DVD case along with an autographed poster of Shah Rukh Khan in his now famous six-pack abs - straight from 'Dard E Disco'. In addition, there is a 16-page booklet, which takes a viewer through a colorful-n-eye catchy professional journey of cast and crew of the film.
DURATION
The film comes in a twin DVD pack with the film's duration being 162 minutes. The second DVD has special features lasting another 150 minutes.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Director's Commentary
- Making of OSO
- Making of the songs
- SRK & Farah interviews
- Deleted scenes and bloopers
- Promos and Trailers
- Visual Effects
- OSO events (Music launch, Fashion show, London premier, Book launch)
- OSO Trivia Game
Om Shanti Om is one of the most fulfilling, or rather THE most fulfilling DVD, when it comes to special features. Reasons are aplenty with the most exciting being 'Director's Commentary'. For films coming out of India, there are hardly many where directors do take a special effort in coming up with a commentary talking about each and every scene. Heyy Babyy and Johnny Gaddaar are the only recent examples one can recollect. In addition, coming up with a commentary is challenging too since special consideration is required to retain viewer's attention.
In this context, Farah deserves full marks as she not thoroughly entertains a listener while not mincing words when it comes to making fun/light of most of the situations and actors in the film. She talks about number of things that either had gone wrong or could have gone wrong during filming of a particular scene. And she does all of it from her bedroom as she speaks while taking rest as she was 7 months pregnant when her commentary was recorded. Here are some of the highlights of the commentary:
a) She doesn't refrain from announcing once again that her is a filmy-filmy film and the intent was to go all out in making a commercial film rather than trying to be arty or pseudo.
b) How Shah Rukh Khan was challenged to utter his dialogues from DDLJ and Don while being in the same get up and hair as that of Rishi Kapoor from Karz (the opening scene of the film).
c) How Manoj Kumar's episode had threatened to turn ugly.
d) There is an obvious dig at Vidhu Vinod Chopra (Sanjay Leela Bhansali) when Farah announces that all protests against Shah Rukh Khan coming out of water with just his jeans on was hardly justified as those few seconds were far more entertaining than the other film makers' entire film.
e) How Arjun Rampal's wig gave her sleep less nights.
f) Introduction/references of close to 50 odd crew members who were in front of the camera acting at some point or other in Om Shanti Om
g) There is a word of appreciation for newcomer Uvika Chaudhary too as Farah believes that she has some way to go if she chooses her projects carefully. She goes to the extent of calling her a mix of Dia Mirza and Amisha Patel
h) How the main hall in the studio indoors, which was later burnt in the film, was inspired by Phantom Of The Opera
i) She clears the air around inspiration of famous Akshay Kumar 'Return of Khiladi' sequence which was reportedly plagiarized
j) Shirish Kunder's idea around showing Shah Rukh Khan walking back into his own memory in the second half of the film
....and many more!
The 'Making of OSO' intelligently refrains from back-patting and instead takes a viewer through the actual behind the scenes footage and what went into getting the right sets, costumes, make up, lighting dance moves etc. in place. The prime cast of the movie along with cinematographer Manikanandan, art director Sabu Cyril, costume designers Karan Johar, Manish Malhotra & Sanjiv Mulchandani take a viewer through their journey of making Om Shanti Om a complete 70's and today's package.
'Making of the songs' is an extensive view as well as Vishal & Shekhar along with Farah Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone and others explain majority of songs from the film. One interesting factor, which is highlighted, is around the placement of film's most romantic number 'Aankhon Mein Teri'. It is revealed that originally, the song wasn't in the film at all but later Shah Rukh Khan and Farah Khan were so impressed by this new tune which Vishal & Shekhar created that they decided to incorporate the song as a part of the film's background score.
'Deleted scenes' are always the most awaited section of a DVD and here too there are many in abundance. Though a couple of them seem quite justified to be chopped off the final cut (the ones featuring Shah Rukh and Shreyas and later Shah Rukh and Kirron), there are at least two sequences that deserved to be a part of the footage. The funniest of the lot is the one where Shah Rukh in his superstar avatar is shown throwing starry tantrums by first coming late on the sets and then refusing to begin shooting on time.
Also the pre-Filmfare awards sequence had many other actors and technicians talking about super star 'Om'. Wish each of these were refrained, especially the one where Vidhu Vinod Chopra turned really catty. What did he say? See it on DVD!
There is a chapter on VFX too where good detailing is given around how Deepika's portions were interspersed with Sunil Dutt, Rajesh Khanna and Jeetendra for the 'Dhoom Taana' sequence. Interesting.
Though there are number of major events covered in the DVD - Music launch, Fashion show, London premier, Book launch - the one, which impresses most, is the London premier. If one has heard and read about mass hysteria for Shah Rukh Khan, this is the opportunity to see how it actually happens when he interacts with his fans. It is unbelievable to see the way crowds literally going berserk in their attempt to be with the star. What touches most is the way Khan not just waves and blows kisses with them but also breaks barrier to kiss and hug them.
For those who wish to check their 'Om Shanti Om' gyan, there is also an online trivia game comprising of 21 questions. And mind it, they are not one of those basic - 'What was the name of Arjun Rampal's character in OSO' kind of questions? Instead they get on really challenging. Sample this - "What was the name of Shah Rukh's on-screen character which was 'Mohabbat Man' for the rest of the world?"
However, we are yet to come to the best. And that segment is the one where Cyrus Broacha interviews Shah Rukh Khan, Farah Khan, Arjun Rampal and Deepika Padukone. Instead of a routine Q&A session, this one is a holds-no-bar fun conversation where Cyrus turns out to be the butt of everyone's joke. Watch Shah Rukh and the rest dressing him up in 70's costumes and coming up with one liners and numerous below the belt jokes, all at his expense!
TECHNICAL DETAILS
- 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen format
- Subtitles In English
- Dolby Digital 5.1 and Stereo
- Mastered from High Definition (HD)
PRICE
Rs. 499
CONCLUSION
Everyone knows what Om Shanti Om is all about. It is an unabashed take on entertainment, which is on your face, at places over-the-top and doesn't shy away from taking a dig on itself, Bollywood films and industry in general - all in good humor of course. It is this spoofy treatment to the film, which truly made 'Om Shanti Om' the 'Highest Bollywood Box Office Grosser Ever'. Of course, this pretty much mandates that the film finds an entry pronto in one's DVD collection.
Rating: ****
Bollywood Hungama
Labels: Arjun Rampal, Deepika Padukone, Eros International, Farah Khan, Javed Akthar, Kirron Kher, Om Shanti Om, Red Chillies Entertainment, Shahrukh Khan, Shirish Kunder, Shreyas Talpade, Vishal-Shekar
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