Oh Darling Yeh Hai India

When this movie released in 1995, its no surprise it found no takers with a plot as bizarre as this the songs were mediocre at best except maybe one or two , I found myself humming Baap re Baap in the market the next day. I surprisingly enjoyed the movie and it was good fun and a refreshing watch. Although I enjoyed it I think you should only watch it for something different plus also for the brilliant performances given by Jaaved Jaaferi, Shah Rukh Khan, and Anupam Kher, if you're a fan of parodies you might find yourself pleasantly surprised , however if you like conventional movies stay away!

Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) and Deepa Sahi play mango (aam) couple who save India from getting sold off in a live auction organised by a fake President of India.

With a plot as bizzare as this, Oh Darling Yeh Hai India had no chance at the box office when it released way back in 1995. I had seen the film at Bandra's Gemini cinema and was probably amongst the very few who found it fun!!

Conceived by Deepa Sahi, Oh Darling..'s satirical tone and sarcastic humour is unique in its own way. The entire film occurs in single night and we actually get to see the sunlight only in the ending scene. Director Ketan Mehta tried to structure the narrative like a musical so you had a song practically every five minutes specially in the first half. Ranjit Barot's tunes were peppy and the title song and the 'Baap re baap' number became quite popular.

Of the cast, SRK was brilliant as the nameless struggler while Javed Jaffrey was rocking as the son of Don. Deepa Sahi was equally impressive playing a prostitute who wants to let her hair down the whole night. Her chemistry with SRK was just as sizzling as it was in Maya Memsaab (though admittedly, she looked older than him on screen).

The highlight of the film ofcourse, was the late Amrish Puri playing Don Quixote.

"Gazab Khopdi Don Kihote" was his catchphrase. Oh Darling...was just as Ajab and Gazab as that character!!

I think it was a great fun film because it was India's first farce. It was refreshing as it was different from the usual predictable movies with cardboard characters and in fact won many awards in Bengal. Indians who have a sense of humor loved it..so will you!Also Javed Jaffery and Shahrukh were great.Ketan Mehta is an interesting director and likes to experiment with his films, so it is always a pleasure to see what he will come up with next.Deepa Sahi too is a good change from the usual Hindi filmy style of acting. She dares to be different each time. Though people accused the film I hear of being anti nationalist, if you look closely it isn't at all. In fact it tries to say how some vested interests are hawking off the country!

Although one of the songs was good, the movie was a disaster. The storyline line was..actually no storyline. There is not semantic of this movie. If anyone would want to watch this movie, go an pick something else but this. The villains existed in this movie but the problem with this movie movie was that the regulars like Shah Rukh Khan and Anupam Kher were all brought to shame and looked like as if they were the skeleton of the real actors. I have seen it once and never again. There is no language in this movie.

This movie is an ambitious daring film for its time. Although the whole story and dialog is reminiscent with a theatrical (broadway like) play where costumes, symbolic acts, and singing dialogs reveal the story. It must have been extremely hard to orchestrate into a film, and unfortunately with little success. The nice thing about this film is that symbolism is well crafted and touch upon relevant issues in every country but mostly India. I started noticing the symbolism in simple things attributed in the movie which shows the director's appeal for an intellectual audience. Another nice thing is that the film makes use of Shah Rukh Khan's exuberant energy in a satisfying manner. The acting was well for the genre of the film, but very theatrical like and at times you feel the un comfortable switch between screen and theater actors which makes it hard to move through scenes. The songs are bad but its inevitable when many critical story and thematic words are being used. Deepa Sahi is not the perfect choice to pair with Shah Rukh. She constantly looks like his mother rather than his love interest. She can't carry the character at all and over-does it many times. Their pairing in the two movies they did together must have been of the worst i have ever seen for Shah Rukh.. and i have seen them all. But i guess she is the director's favorite (or upper hand) and i can't think of another actress for the film, but i know any younger, more Indian girl would have been better. Many actors in this movie are recognizable as supporting role actors, so this film must have been a break in their struggling period. This is a somewhat black comedy but it is not a comedy. Its an over dramatized to fantastical measures to fit the critical issues it is addressing. Overall, it is worth a watch if you like Shah Rukh Khan, symbolic films, or a brief encounter with India's struggle for life is an artistic way.