Just in case the picture wasn't enough of an indication, we'll be covering a Bollywood film today. My favourite one in fact! Let's see how this very different style of film does within the format of a taste triangle.
Just in case the picture wasn't enough of an indication, we'll be covering a Bollywood film today. My favourite one in fact! Let's see how this very different style of film does within the format of a taste triangle.
My History / Bollywhatnow?
Bollywood is the general term for the Hindi-speaking part of the Indian film industry. It's a huge market, the films tend to be a solid hour and a half longer than most western films and it can feel very imposing to get into them.
Which is why, for the longest time, I just didn't. Of course all you need for that to change is somebody who did manage to get into it being enthusiastic enough to want to share it with their friends. Which is how I watched my first Bollywood film, Main Hoon Na, and it was imposing and long but also so very different to western films that I got curious enough to try a few more.
A few misfires later (a lot of them are romantic comedies, which I'm also very picky with in western cinema, and now there's a culture gap to work with as well) I ended up watching Om Shanti Om, primarily because it was also written and directed by Farah Khan (like Main Hoon Na). And I'm so glad I did, because it is a ton of fun while also providing an insight into Bollywood as a whole.
Plot summary / Boy meets Girl and then they die.
Om is a background extra in 1970s Bollywood films when he happens to run into Shanti, the leading lady of the latest film, and saves her from a fire. They become friends and Om instantly falls in love with Shanti. Unfortunately she is secretly already married to the film's producer.
When Shanti discovers she is pregnant (with the director's baby, Om's love is very much unrequited despite their friendship) she confronts the director with this and the proposal to take their marriage public. The director disapproves, they fight, he sets the studio on fire and locks her in to burn to death.
Luckily Om overheard the whole thing and springs to the rescue, after all he's had experience saving Shanti from fires! ...unfortunately that earlier fire didn't include locked doors, and he fails. She dies as the studio explodes, he is thrown from the crash and stumbles into the street only to be hit by a car and die. Fade to black.
This is roughly 80 minutes in! There's a whole lot of film left, but we've basically had a regular three act story that will now have another two acts set several decades later. For you see, Om has reincarnated into the baby born to the famous and wildly rich actor-actress couple that ran him over that was rushing to the hospital for their baby's delivery.
Om starts out unaware of his past life and follows in his parents' footsteps to become a world famous actor, a fire returns his memories though and he comes up with a plan to take down the still wildly successful movie director and avenge Shanti.
Corner 1: Adventure 6.5/10 / "Someone jump in the fire."
This isn't a traditional adventure film, it's about people meeting and working together and falling in love. However, it's not without adventure.
- ๐ There is tension in the (several) scenes with fire.
- ๐ The elaborate revenge scheming (going so far as shooting the same film as the one that got cancelled by Shanti's death) is presented well.
- ๐ - but there isn't much that really elevates this corner.
- ๐ There is tension in the (several) scenes with fire.
- ๐ The elaborate revenge scheming (going so far as shooting the same film as the one that got cancelled by Shanti's death) is presented well.
- ๐ - but there isn't much that really elevates this corner.
Corner 2: Smart 7/10 / "But sir, how- Idiot! Dream Sequence!"
The actual plot of the film is very intentionally kept trope-heavy and simple, and in doing so is a homage to Bollywood history.
- ๐ก Media about media!
- ๐ก And not just as a setting either, there is a spoof-heavy awards ceremony, and both before and after the time skip almost all time on sets is used to (lovingly) poke fun at the absurdity of the film industry.
- ๐ค - a lot of these jokes will pass by the average western viewer (myself thoroughly included), but that doesn't mean it can't be seen as a learning opportunity.
- ๐ก As already mentioned above, having the structure and story concepts of the film be part of the message you're trying to give is clever and well done.
- ๐ค - although of course that does mean that the actual film's contents can't be that out of the box or smart. (A trade-off that worked for me, but a trade-off regardless)
The actual plot of the film is very intentionally kept trope-heavy and simple, and in doing so is a homage to Bollywood history.
- ๐ก Media about media!
- ๐ก And not just as a setting either, there is a spoof-heavy awards ceremony, and both before and after the time skip almost all time on sets is used to (lovingly) poke fun at the absurdity of the film industry.
- ๐ค - a lot of these jokes will pass by the average western viewer (myself thoroughly included), but that doesn't mean it can't be seen as a learning opportunity.
- ๐ก As already mentioned above, having the structure and story concepts of the film be part of the message you're trying to give is clever and well done.
- ๐ค - although of course that does mean that the actual film's contents can't be that out of the box or smart. (A trade-off that worked for me, but a trade-off regardless)
Corner 3: Heart 8/10 / "No one will love you more"
- ๐ Any piece of media with this much navel-gazing is a work of passion. The love of cinema shines off the screen.
- ๐ The credits being a reel of all cast and crew only reinforces that impression (even if it's something Farah Khan also did in Main Hoon Na).
- ๐ How did I not mention the music so far? It's a Bollywood film for crying out loud!
- ๐ I like a full-on happy ending and would've liked a reveal where Om and Shanti somehow end up together.
And that's the first Bollywood film reviewed!
That turned out pretty well, but I was kind of expecting Heart to end up higher.
The inclusion of songs is what pushed Macross ฮ up so much for me and I was kind of expecting it to matter more here as well since it's such a signature element of Bollywood films.
Let's have a score:
66.47
Nice! It's good to see a middle ground between the 70-80 scores of the things I love and the mid-30s of things that were less to my tastes but still good.
Next up... yeah, let's just zig-zag over to the least Bollywood thing that springs to mind, something dreadful.
- ๐ Any piece of media with this much navel-gazing is a work of passion. The love of cinema shines off the screen.
- ๐ The credits being a reel of all cast and crew only reinforces that impression (even if it's something Farah Khan also did in Main Hoon Na).
- ๐ How did I not mention the music so far? It's a Bollywood film for crying out loud!
- ๐ I like a full-on happy ending and would've liked a reveal where Om and Shanti somehow end up together.
And that's the first Bollywood film reviewed!
That turned out pretty well, but I was kind of expecting Heart to end up higher.
The inclusion of songs is what pushed Macross ฮ up so much for me and I was kind of expecting it to matter more here as well since it's such a signature element of Bollywood films.
Let's have a score:
66.47
Nice! It's good to see a middle ground between the 70-80 scores of the things I love and the mid-30s of things that were less to my tastes but still good.
Next up... yeah, let's just zig-zag over to the least Bollywood thing that springs to mind, something dreadful.
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