Look who is Complaining!

It was pretty amusing to listen to Manoj Kumar's rhetoric against 'Om Shanti Om.' I failed to understand how the wars we had and his visit to Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (the 'asli' khan to him) had any relation to his (Manoj Kumar's) depiction in the movie.

People should age gracefully, actors should be no exception. The movie itself was a take on the cinema of the 70s and the director made it clear right from the start. There were duplicates of almost all the major actors of that period. To me it was a fun filled tribute to that glorious era. Can't imagine what would happend if somebody else take all those duplicates to court.

I think Mr Kumar should not have taken it so seriously. It wasn't a historical account of cinema.

Interestingly International Reporter had something else to say:

Manoj Kumar plays stunt of publicity at cost of Om Shanti Om?
MIL, Nov 16, 2007. Shashi Kala

New Delhi: November 16, 2007 - Irrespective of what Manoj Kumar, Bollywood Bharat and star of the yester years and his supporters’ bitter feelings about Sharu’s Om Shanti Om, where he claims to have been hurt, it is important to bring to his attention on his own film ‘Kalyug Ki Ramayan’, wherein he had insulted Hanuman Ji.

There were several cases against him and one of them was Swamy Raj Baldev, who filed a case against him in New Delhi, on behalf of Academy of Krishna Philosophy for banning the screening of his film ‘Kalyug Ki Ramayan’.

People may call Manoj Kumar as Bharat of Bollywood, but Swamy Raj, who fought against the mud that he had slung and tossed on the Hindu Divine Beings, says that it is not a serious matter of the altitude that Manoj has taken upon himself.

When Swamy Raj Baldev had instituted case against him for banning of his film “Kalyug Ki Ramayan’, he instructed his distributors to purchase Swamy Raj Baldev, and they did contact him, but Swamy Raj rejected the offer and got the objectionable scene screened in the court itself.

However, Manoj Kumar managed to purchase some advocate to delay the proceeding, so that he could continue screening his picture in cinemas in Delhi and New Delhi. But Swamy Raj, who is also a spiritual figure, and a greater Astronomer and Astrologer, could predict his downfall.

Manoj Kumar insulted Hanuman Ji in his picture ‘Kalyug Ki Ramayan’, where had his sense of dignity then gone?

Swamy Raj Baldev is not an ordinary man, he is man who has been invited by various Heads of States on official invitations. He is also known as Dr. Raj Baldev, he is internationally known as Cosmo Theorist and Chairman of various national and international organizations, including National Integration Assembly (NIA). Even he has been the Member of the Press Council of India, he knows law, he has been a man of letters, with journalistic background.

We requested Swamy Raj Baldev to see the picture ‘Om Shanti Om’, and comment. He concluded that the case of Manoj Kumar is just a case of jealousy, since the picture was not serious but an entertainer. As regards the pointer to Manoj Kumar, it was just a character and not actual Major Kumar, the film has just a casual mention doesn’t mean that Major Kumar was insulted.

Om Shanti Om has surpassed all other entertaining movies because of various factors including Shah Rukh Khan’s own super acting, and participation of 23 Bollywood stars appearing in this great movie of the day.

The grand success of this movie had naturally to make millions jealous of this unparalleled popularity and in this movie, Manoj Kumar, the star of the yester years, whom people call Bharat of Bollywood, has come out that he has been hurt and humiliated in the film and would like to sue SRK and Farah Khan, it is a big joke, he could get good publicity, which has been missing for years.

If Sharu in a drunken state says he is Manoj Kumar, will he become the real Manoj Kumar, perhaps not, since it is just a character having a name of Manoj Kumar in OSO.

Swamy Raj said, “It is a stunt of publicity of Manoj Kumar, who disgraced deities in Kalyug Ki Ramayan’. People should not take serious what he says. If he sues SRK or Farah Khan, I shall stand witness and expose what Manoj Kumar is and how hypocrite he is? If Manoj Kumar insults Hindu deities in his picture ‘Kalyug Ki Ramayan’ there is no objection from his side, but when SRK used only one name similar to his in his picture OSO he has brought hue and cry to gain cheap popularity.

In fact he is a senior artist and should not have acted in this undesirable manner and take the scene of the picture in good faith”.

Saawariya versus 'Om Shanti Om'

Watched the two big Hindi movies of the year this weekend, back to back. We couldn't get the tickets for OSO so had to watch Saawariya. In fact, my wife was pretty keen on Saawariya.

I was pretty disappointed with Sanjay Leela Bhansali. If lavish, eye soothing sets is what cinema is all about then it's a great movie. Unfortunately, that's not true. The movie is a fairytale without a soul. Among the cast the only weak link is Sonam Kapoor. If Bhansali couldn't make her act nobody could. Ranbir Kapoor is charming and has put in a lot of effort to make his character look real. Bhansali tried a desi adaptation of 'Moulin Rouge' but couldn't translate it on screen.

The very next day I saw OSM, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It's 3 hours of pure entertainment. Deepika Padukone is the girl to watch out for. She looked completely at ease with her characters in the movie. And to top it, she looked quite pretty! But, the real surprise of the movie is Arjun Rampal. Farah Khan couldn't have given a better tribute to the villian of the 70s. Rampal looks an icy cool villian. As for Shahrukh, he can sleep walk through such roles.

A word of caution for Farah Khan, she needs to bring in a little more substance to her movies.