A Decade of Om Shanti Om: 9 Tributes the Film Paid
Om Shanti Om released on 9 November 2007 and in many ways paid a near-perfect tribute to mainstream Hindi cinema. According to film critic Anupama Chopra, Om Shanti Om was a love letter to Hindi films that respectfully acknowledged the tropes of popular filmmaking in India.
As the film completes a decade, here’s looking back at the homage director Farah Khan paid to Hindi cinema, in the most outstanding way possible.
1. The plot
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Om Shanti Om’s plot had indirect references to several Hindi films that had reincarnation as their main plot. Madhumati (1958), Mehbooba (1976), and Karz (1980) had strong references to the Shah Rukh Khan-Deepika Padukone starrer. Karz was even mentioned in the film’s climax.
2. Ode to Mother India
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According to popular hearsay, Nargis and Sunil Dutt got romantically engaged when the latter saved the actress from a fire on the sets of Mother India (1957). The two married later. Om Shanti Om refers to that episode—after the character Deepika plays—is caught in a fire
3. The Manmohan Desai touch
Image: rediff.com
With blockbusters like Parvarish, Amar Akbar Anthony, Suhaag, Coolie, and others to his credit, Manmohan Desai was considered the king of commercial Hindi cinema. Desai, in a TV documentary, had once famously said that he never believed in logic. Om Shanti Om included tropes where the hero, stuck to a wheelchair, can still manage to disco.
