These quotes, by two men who have been greatly successful and admired, and one of them even revered, has one thing in common – the underlining importance of conviction and belief in oneself. Each ship can have but one captain, each man can have but one destiny and each movie must have just one main plot. The first two holds true everywhere but the last one hardly holds true most of the time. Each individual has morals – strong morals – that if followed dutifully would give us a world that is akin to heaven. But everyone’s morals are diluted and diluted morals are not much different from those that do not exist. The same holds true with every movie that comes out. The idea that started it would have been good, otherwise it would have never been started, the first vision would have been clear; else the journey would have never begun. But progressively, the idea is diluted, the vision blurred and traded, chopped and changed for other smaller ideas. What we get in the end is a film that is completely honest to no single idea, a confused mash of different ideas all of which, or at least many of which, are individually good. It is much like a man retiring at 60 and wondering what he has done with his life - a bit of this, a bit of that but nothing to fulfillment.

This is what brings us to Om Shanti Om – the blockbuster of Deepavali. OSO is not a classic, is not a piece of cinema that will be minutely dissected, studied and marveled upon by connoisseurs of the art. But OSO is a film that will be, is being, thoroughly enjoyed. Those who have seen OSO might know that the story deals with a theme that requires you to put all the facts, theories, science and other stuff that you have painfully accumulated over the years at school and college in the backburner. It is the sort of a theme that is dealt these days only in low-budget devotional films. It’s crazy, it’s over the top, it’s everything that we thought a film should not be and yet we find ourselves engrossed in this nearly three hour make-believe joy ride that sometimes looks ‘cartoonisque’. It has got everything that, going by the rules, good cinema should not have – overacting (by almost all characters, especially the lead), clichéd dialogue and their unwarrantedly dramatic delivery, a big song sequence featuring many guests that generally is considered an unwelcome obstruction, loads of mockery at contemporary and yesteryear stars, reincarnation, a spirit of the dead scene and lots more. The only element that seems to make sense to start with is a beautiful heroine.

But the point is that, the movie had just one vision, just one idea (even though it sounded crazy) and that was followed with the intensity of a Zen monk. Everything needed to make that idea grow to its best possible stature was done. That such an unusual and unconventional idea had to be made and performed by someone who believed completely in it justifies SRK’s role as producer of OSO. Not for a moment does doubt seem to have crept into the minds of anyone involved, the earnestness shows. It is that complete belief in what they were making that helped them convince us, enthrall us, while watching OSO. So next time someone makes a film, note the OSO example. Not the technical aspects, the acting or anything of that sort. Watch it to capture the heart and soul that the makers put into the movie, the vision that moved them forward. Never be swayed from the path that you have chosen; but do choose carefully.

Another thing one can’t help but notice about OSO is the spirit of friendship that seems to glow through. Friendship between the director and the lead actor, the friendship of the entire industry (which can be seen in that one big song with all the stars arriving together). OSO had the goodwill of the entire industry behind it and there is no surprise that it is doing so well.