yonmei

08:26 pm: Om Shanti Om: definitely not for pseudos
On Saturday night I went to Om Shanti Om, which I could have gone to see in 2007 except that, well, it was 156 minutes long and it wasn't on in the cinema that's only 10 minutes walk away from me (and this has become a worryingly reliable measure of whether I'll get around to going to see a film while it's still in the cinema). But, last Saturday it was on in the Filmhouse, starting at 5pm, which meant it could take nearly 3 hours and yet I'd be out by 8pm and it would still be broad daylight. Which is what I love about this time of year.

Om Shanti Om is one of those movies where Shahrukh Khan is involved in a romantic relationship with four people. There is the film star with whom he is passionately in love and whom he has long one-sided conversations with standing on a bridge in front of a poster of her latest movie. There is his brother, who is adorable and constantly assuring him that he will be a star someday. There is his mother, who is very sweet about the film star and who sometimes lovingly hits him. (Which is easily the best thing in the world, by the way.) And there is his other father, who is quite lovely and kisses him in an affectionate kind of way and wants him to be happy. (There may be five, if I count the arch-nemesis, who I think may be in love with him in a different kind of way, but only in the second half of the movie, whereas the first four love him in both halves.)

The title of the post comes from the review in OneIndia. It has a completely insane plot, but if you sit back and let the insanity roll over you (like accepting warpdrive and wormholes) it's perfectly simple to understand. There is a red thread bracelet which is blessed by a sage and which actually works, at least sort of. There is leaping into fire and Shahrukh Khan being dorky and speechless and lovable. There is lots of manly kissing and hugging. There is wonderful unison dancing. There is also a bizarre song called Dard-E-Disco, the pain of disco.

Because I went to the film, I missed joining a demo outside the General Assembly to keep Scott Rennie as minister of the church to which the congregation have called him (the debate started at 7pm, the demo was due to start at 6:30) but the homophobes were outnumbered and the Assembly voted to support the presbytery and against the bigots, so it wasn't like I was needed. (Update: If you have no notion what I am talking about: Ekklesia, The Herald and a fetching little piece in The Times should clarify it for you.)

And tomorrow I am off to Ross-shire. I may have Internet while I'm there, because I have a T-Mobile dongle, but it's just as likely not to work.

Also: it's the Glorious 25th of May. "How do they rise up, rise up, rise up..."





Tags: films, scottish politics