Om Shanti Om (2007)

I'd tried watching this before. Twice.
But both times, I ended up watching just the 2nd half due to various reasons.
So my mind was set... the movie sucked, but there were some funny parts.

I ended up watching the whole movie my last sitting, and came to a different conclusion.
The first half is hilarious; the second half is bad but with some funny parts; the end is utter crap.

The story starts off following a wannabe actor, Om Prakash Makhija (Shahrukh Khan), in the 1970s. He is a junior artist, but unable to get a role. He is supported in his desires by his mother (Kirron Kher) and his friend (Shreyas Talpade). Outside of this, he dreams of a famous actress (Deepika Padukone). As luck would have it, he ends up being part of a film that she's in. A fire breaks out, part of the script, but the main actor chickens out of jumping in to save her. Obviously, our Om jumps in and saves her, starting a friendship in the process. Later, Om overhears Deepika talking to a producer (Arjun Rampal) about their still-hidden marriage and how she's pregnant, and he's broken. A bit later, he is unable to do anything as Arjun lights fire to his grand set for a movie he was going to make (with Deepika inside, obviously) and the place goes up in flames and explodes (gas tank). Shahrukh Khan is sent flying by the explosion (he had just broken in) and then gets hit by a car. He dies (he was going to die before the car hit him). The driver of the car is an actor, who was taking his wife to the hospital because she was about to give birth.

Skip ahead some-odd years, and the new Shahrukh Khan (Om Kapoor, aka OK), son of the guy that had hit the old SRK. This SRK is, well, a jackass. Some troubles put him back at the old set that Arjun Rampal had burnt down, and he starts having flashbacks that he can't place. After winning an award, he goes up to give a speech... and breaks into a speech he had given in front of friends when he was Om Prakash Makhija. And everything comes back to him. Re-teamed up with Shreyas & Kirron, he's now out to get revenge on Arjun Rampal (who he meets soon after his award speech).

There were some very funny parts.
-The first Om explaining to his mom why his name doesn't suit an actor... Om (god) Prakash (light) Makhija (shoo, fly)
-I loved the whole part where Kirron Kher was telling OPM that she would've been even better than Madhubala in Mughal-E-Azam, but maybe it was just me.
-Quick Gun Murugun, which has become a movie now. Sadly, I don't understand the language. But it was hilarious.
-Mohabbat Man (& "Uri Baba") which I think would be a great movie. I mean, a superhero called Mohabbat (love) Man who breaks out into song after saving someone? Awesome!
-Abhishek Bachchan & Akshay Kumar at the award show. The 'Return of Khiladi' was a great scene, and I loved the idea for Dhoom 5 too (still waiting on Dhoom 3 though).

Outside of that... Shreyas was great. Again. He's got this acting thing down, be it serious/comic sidekick (this movie), lead in a serious film (Iqbal) or comic sidekick (Golmaal Returns, Paying Guest). Deepika... she looks good. But she can't act. And I still don't like SRK, but if he's playing a seemingly crazy/funny guy (Om Prakash Makhija), he's good. And Arjun Rampal was great as the villain. The soundtrack was great.


Final Thoughts: Ghost? What?