'Om Shanti Om's anniversary: How Vishal-Sheykhar's music elevated modern-day classic
What's the story
Farah Khan's Om Shanti Om is embellished with the markings of a true-blue Bollywood blockbuster.
An actor's script, it dissects parasocial relationships, digs its claws into class hierarchies, and most importantly, pays a heartfelt ode to the sprawling richness of Hindi cinema.
No Bollywood film is well-rounded without its music and Vishal-Sheykhar concocted magic while on OSO.
On its 16th anniversary, let's revisit it.
#1
'Aankhon Mein Teri'
Aankhon Mein Teri proves many points: KK's voice was tailor-made for Deepika Padukone's introductory, dreamy song; we can see Om (Shah Rukh Khan) losing his heart over Shantipriya (Padukone) repeatedly; and Vishal Dadlani should pick up the pen more frequently!
The easily hummable AMT captures the exact sentiments of what a fan would feel when taking a closer look at their favorite star.
#2
'Dard-E-Disco'
Who else can rhyme "San Francisco" with "Dard-E-Disco"?
Only Javed Akhtar, who's a living testimony of how to reinvent oneself with time.
DED might not have had much to contribute to Om Kapoor's track and was an outlet to show SRK's six-pack abs, but toward the end, the Sukhwinder Singh-sung song explores OK's intense fear of fire, an important arc of his reincarnation story.
#3
'Main Agar Kahoon'
Like Aankhon Mein Teri, Main Agar Kahoon also eulogizes Shantipriya's beauty, and complementing her grace is its music video: replete with imagery of a snow-clad dreamland, a quintessential dinner table, and a car ride, albeit while staying in a film studio.
Sung by Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal, the melody is a celebration of Om-Shantipriya's friendship and Om's increasing love for her.
#4
'Jag Soona Soona Lage'
How can your heart not rupture and break into a million pieces while listening to Jag Soona Soona Lage?
Sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan-Richa Sharma and penned by Kumaar, the song carries the essence of the heartbreak and the hurt Om feels when he realizes Shanti is not who she seemed to him and has a different life, far away from him.
#5
'Dhoom Taana'
Dhoom Taana is the second original song to appear onscreen in OSO, and Vishal-Sheykhar composed it in a way that's laced with a highly retro feel—transporting us to the '60s and '70s.
Penned by Akhtar, it was picturized on SRK and Padukone, with vocals by Ghoshal and Abhijeet Bhattacharya.
An imaginary sequence for Om, it sets Om-Shantipriya's story in motion.
#6
'Dastaan-E-Om Shanti Om'
Dastaan-E-Om Shanti Om is an extremely remarkable song, perhaps the beating heart of the entire movie. It captures all the emotions the protagonists undergo in the film: love, passion, revenge, and anger, and Shaan's voice lends it the perfection it demands.
This story-within-a-song format is not easy to achieve and only some apart from Akhtar could have done justice to it.
#7
'Deewangi Deewangi'
To think of Bollywood cameos and not mention Deewangi Deewangi is a cardinal sin. It's a result of Khan's and SRK's rapport with the industry that the who's who of Bollywood congregated together for this song.
Dharmendra, Kajol, Juhi Chawla, Tabu, Shabana Azmi, Rani Mukerji, Malaika Arora, Salman Khan, Bobby Deol, Shilpa Shetty, Preity Zinta, among numerous others, furnished DD phenomenally.
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