Director: Farah Khan

Stars: Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Arjun Ramphal.

Shah Rukh Khan is back, and this time we get two of him, and generous gratuitous shots of his new six pack.

It opens in 70s Bollywood where Om (Shah Rukh Khan), a lowly ‘junior artiste’, is trying to establish himself as the next superstar. He dreams of success and of marrying Shanti (Deepika Pandukone), the reigning numero uno leading lady.

Om’s hopes are shattered when he learns she is married to hot shot producer Mukesh (Arjun Ramphal). Shanti’s pregnancy thwarts Mukesh’s plan to produce Om Shanti Om, India’s biggest movie - a married pregnant heroine equates to box-office suicide. Mukesh decides to murder Shanti; Om dies in his attempt to save her.

Post interval, and thirty years later, current hunky superhero OK (Khan, again) realises that he is the reincarnation of Om. He decides to avenge Shanti’s killing.

“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it,” is the line (from Paulo Coelho’s bestseller The Alchemist) various characters utter in this shamelessly shallow but wonderfully entertaining film. Female director Farah Khan (Main Hoon Na) wanted to create the biggest blockbuster ever and she has probably achieved it.

The film is a humorous homage to all things Bollywood and is stuffed with numerous laugh out loud in-jokes which may get lost on viewers not familiar with the massala formula. But there is still enough savvy to engage newcomers with knowing references to Singing in the Rain, Phantom of the Opera and Gone with the Wind.

The ‘King Khan’ dominates the proceedings; he is his usual hammy self but this works beautifully here as it is self-referential. Former model Deepika Pandukone, making her Hindi film debut, has strong star quality potential. Pity then that her nerdy likeable character ‘Sandy’ is sidelined in the second half.

The film is a series of highlights: a drunken banter scene, a digitally enhanced dream sequence, a Village People style disco track, a spoof on film award functions. Best of all is a lengthly title song and dance number featuring over thirty past and present stars of Bollywood’s elite, including Shilpa Shetty: they all appear to boogie with the King.

Once you decide to suspend all belief in logic from the preposterous proceedings, there is much to enjoy in this witty and inventive camp entertainer. Long live ‘the King of the World!’

12A, 168 mins, Subtitles

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