Om Dar-B-Dar

I don't think there is any "getting it" to this film. I tried watching it more carefully on my second watch, with subtitles, rewinding and pausing it to ponder but I came out the other side with only a slight more understanding of what this film is portraying. There is no rating to this. It's a piece of art. Surrealist, absurdist art. Though "Oh my Freud, Oh my fraud" would disagree with the calling it "art".

I did enjoy it more on my rewatch. The film has stellar moments of dry humor that easily escapes the viewer, who is trying to still maintain sanity till runtime of the film.

I am glad I found this piece of absurdism from Bollywood. It really does go so far against the grain that it even challenges other, more popular, postmodernist works. This becomes even more appreciable seeing it was released in 1988, where the rom-com fever was high in Bollywood. Even on an extremely tight budget, Kamal Swaroop managed to make a highly invigorating and extrapolating flick that manage to influence likes of Anurag Kashyap and Imtiaz Ali to make some of the best films of modern Bollywood.

I hope this manages to capture a more and more viewers so that Bollywood once again dares to take leaps into more experimental formats.

Try to watch it as individual scenes because each scene is a short film itself, Sir Kamal Swaroop has surly delivered a unique piece of art , he is the one who introduced the absurd cinema to india, a film like this has made in 1988 what a great boldness. Anurag kashyap sir had motioned that he is influenced by Kamal sir's film OM DAR-B-DAR for instance a scene in Gangs of Vasseypur.

I'll be honest, half of the movie just flowed past me in a hurry. Watching this was like sitting on a beach and watching the waves. A movie that presents you with a whirlpool of ideas and a storm of striking images, this one is a true cult item that goes beyond experimentation. In the 100 minutes, this movie packs an enormous amount of satire and possibly the highest number of genres in a single wrapper. Taking a shot at everything from surrealism to extreme realism, Kamal Swaroop presents a truly exhaustive picture of the Indian middle class in a country full of diversity, but with a style that you will not fully grasp because it is just not possible. Certain things will stand out and haunt you forever but certain others, though maybe more important, will not sink in. It is, though, once in a life viewing experience

I don't think I can say that I understood this film at all.

I got the Babloo part from Babylon, haha. At first, I was trying to connect the dots and understand the plot, but later I realized-I just have to watch and let them take me on this insane trip.

Pure surrealism. And to really grasp the dialogues and the satire behind them, you have to switch off that part of your brain that tries to categorize or understand the genre.

This is way beyond my imagination or thoughts. What Swaroop has done-so casually yet so deeply-he's just ripped society open and laid everything bare: be it emotions, sexuality, science, taboos... I don't even know what's not in the film. He's shown it all. What even can I say now?

This kind of thing cannot be recreated. I have no idea how many Indian films have been influenced by Om Dar-B-Dar.

If I talk about the shots-the cinematography literally breaks all the rules, and that's what makes it feel like such a trip. And the music and sound-man, I don't even know whether I was enjoying it or if it was poking my brain. But still, I never felt like turning the volume down. It's full-on art.

This film is like a dream-no matter how many times I watch it, I don't think I'll ever truly understand it.

Om dar ba dar is a movie well ahead of its time and I guess that's why it was not well received then. Watching this movie is like going through somebody's mind. We follow Om from being a young boy to a teenager with the backdrop of Ajmer.

At first the movie is story oriented but later becomes chaotic which according to me could be representing the protagonists' mind. It almost feels like being in a dream when you watch the random images and the story that follows. The director has also portrayed the advent of new times from the old generation with the discussion of world affairs at a party and as the story progress the change of behavior by the characters.

The characters played by Lalit Tiwari and Gopi Desai represent their changing relationship with changing times and of course Om played by Aditya Lakhia plays the confused, uncertain teenager which makes us drawn to his fears and discoveries.

The director beautifully captures Ajmer and life in a small town. This movie has so much in it that every time you watch it you discover something new. A truly great cinematic experience. It's one of its kind.

I would recommend this movie to all cinema lovers and I am sure they will not be disappointed.