Om Shanti Om

Last night I discovered one of the most colourful films of all time and one of the best, most infectious and joyful film songs I've heard in a long time. Yes, I watched 'Om Shanti Om' on C4 as part of its 'Indian Winter' season. Back in the early '90s C4 used to show Bollywood films and television series' so it was nice to see a Bollywood again, and what an epic film, lasting round three hours. The fabulous song is 'Deewangi Deewangi' by Shaan, Shreya Ghoshal, Rahul Saxe, Sunidhi Chauhan, Udit Rayan & Vishal-Shekhar and goodness knows who else (see below) - it's in Hindi but with a chorus in English of 'All hot girls put your hands up and say Om Shanti Om, All cool boys come on make some noise, say Om Shanti Om'. It's fabulous and was a hit everywhere that appreciates Bollywood.

'Om Shanti Om' is a film of two parts - the first is set in the '70s with the awful fashions and massive over-acting but it makes it the most colourful and daft thing I've seen in a long time. The second half is more serious, set in the present day and deals with the consequences of the action in the first half. Both aspects of the film have the mandatory big song and dnace numbers and they're great. The film's in Hindi (so I read the translation) but every now and then they'd drop an English word or phrase into the script which was most odd. 'Om Shanti Om' is a film within a film and, since it celebrates Bollywood, was packed with Bollywood stars doing cameos. The stars of the film are Shahrukh Khan as our hero and Deepika Padukone as our most beautiful heroine, both playing roles 30 years ago and today, with Shahrukh as the reincarnation of a film extra who loved the film star played by Deepika.

Anyway, you need to see and hear 'Deewangi Deewangi' the big number at the after-show party on the night our hero wins the best actor award (this is the HD version and doesn't have the translation). It's filled with cameos from thirty Bollywood stars including the most lovely Shilpa Shetty near the start in an electric pink and gold sari. I defy you not to dance around the room singing out 'Om Shanti Om' at the top of your voice - you have been warned. The only downside is that Deepika isn't in this sequence (although you do get some fleeting flashbacks of her at the very end after the baddie walks in) but I bet she was dancing along behind the scenes...

OK.. 1, 2, 3... OM SHANTI OM !!!!