Cinephilia in Om Shanti Om- Ian Batson
An interesting scene in “Om Shanti Om” is when they are awarding the best actor award. While interviewing the crowd, there is a guest appearance by Amitabh Bachchin who denies that he knows the younger actor Sharukh Kahn. Amitabh represents an older generation of Bollywood, and since he has left the main stream acting position, Sharukh Kahn has essentially taken his place. This is represented in the next scene when they are showing clips of the different contestant actors. A younger actor playing as a look alike of Amitabh is put into a scene that concludes that Amitabh is no longer a hero or a villain because he is no longer in the film industry. The clips of Om shows various scenes where he swoons the girl and falls in love all in the same predictable romantic plot line. This is representative of Sharukh because he has often played the role of the boyish hero who eventually falls in love and swoons the girl of his dreams. When they are about to announce the winner, Amitabh stands up showing his confidence as seen in many of his films. However, Sharukh is announced as the winner. While the audience applauds, Amitabh curses him under his breath. This last part can be taken to demonstrate how Sharukh has come to replace Amitabh in his superstardom niche in the film industry.
This also shows how the ideals of the ideal male actor have changed over time. Amitabh Bachchan represents a kind of edgy irritability. He is tall, thin, and shows very little emotion in his acting. He is always confident and aware of his surroundings. There is a kind of anger in his acting, as well, that helps to demonstrate his foreboding additude to other characters in most films. Sharukh Kahn is almost the polar opposite to Amitabh. He has a childish essence to him. He is short in stature and shows a lot of emotion in his acting. Like a child, he gets shy when first talking to a girl, and tears up when he is either rejected or finds some reason that they can not be together. Sherukh is not physically threatening and, unlike Amitabh, does not win all of his fights.
In all film industries the ideal for the appearance of female and male characters have changed, but, in the space of 20 years, this represents a monumental difference. While these two actors are, and forever will be, famous for their styles of acting, the incredible difference in their styles is an interesting observation to consider.
Filed by Ian Batson at April 28th, 2013 under Uncategorized