Ever since I watched Venkat Prabhu’s Suriya-starrer Massu Engira Masilamani earlier this year, I’ve believed the film’s weakness begins with the introduction of a second Suriya character and his convoluted back story. I’ve maintained that it would have been a better film had it stuck to its main plot — a man’s efforts to help out a bunch of ghosts only he can see.
But, I was wrong. At first look, Om Shanti Om seemed to be exactly that film… a Massu Engira Masilamani without the ponytailed Suriya and that revenge plot. Om Shanti Om, a version of Massu with just its good parts, is still not a good movie.
In Om Shanti Om , Srikanth plays Vasu, who has the unique ability to see ghosts… not every ghost, but five specific ghosts who fail to cross over to the other side. It becomes his job to help them complete their ‘unfinished business’, and one by one, we go on resolving their issues until they’re set free.
A Wikipedia search of this film reveals that Om Shanti Om ’s shoot began as early as February 2013. Had the film released around that time, or at least, before Massu …, it would still have been an interesting film. The idea of a man who sees ghosts is one with several possibilities. Apart from its scope for horror, it’s a plot that’s ripe with comedy, drama and even action. So it’s a shame to see the director do so little with the subject.
The film’s biggest problems are the silly back stories, written for these five ghosts, and the episodic manner in which they play out on screen. One of these ghosts is a boy whose last wish is to just eat two kilos of ice cream! There’s another ghost who wants his daughter to join a medical college. Instead of using Vasu to control the malice of corruption in admissions, this ghost seems perfectly satisfied ensuring his daughter gets a medical seat… even if it’s through blackmail.
It’s as though the director had no faith in his script. Every time you feel the film getting better, we’re interrupted with the most generic of songs. You can almost hear the producer saying ‘I want Harris Jayaraj-like songs which we must shoot abroad. It will attract the urban audience.’
But it doesn’t end there. Even the acting is pretty ordinary. There’s a stretch where the boy’s ghost enters Vasu’s body, forcing him to act like a child (think New ). In the hands of a more able actor, it could easily have been the film’s funniest scene.
Vasu’s love interest, played by Neelam Upadhyaya, doesn’t help much either. It’s remarkable how a professional actress manages to get the lip sync wrong in every single scene. You could place her in any scene, in any film, in any language, and you know it wouldn’t make a difference.
The film’s only relief comes in the form of a comedy track involving Rajendran and Srikanth. Rajendran believes his father has taken a rebirth in Srikanth’s body and this leads to the film’s only entertaining scene — one where Rajendran sets up his widowed mother with Vasu.
In the end, Om Shanti Om isn’t a film that disappoints just because it fails to entertain. It disappoints because the makers seem to have wasted an interesting concept with shoddy, uninspired execution.
Om Shanti Om
Director: Surya Prabaakar
Genre: Horror-comedy
Cast: Srikanth, Neelam Upadhyaya, Rajendran
Storyline: Five ghosts seek the help of a man to cross over to the other side.
