Hari Om (2004) Reviews

• Great Indian romantic Comedy

  apuri1122004-09-27

  I have watched my fair bit of Bollywood films when growing up - you know the typical plot boy meets girl, girl rejects boys, dakus (bad guys) take away girl, boy rescues girl by killing hundreds of dhakus and they happily get married (of course I've omitted an hour of musical style numbers).. Well going into watch Hari Om, I was expecting another typical Bollywood style movie; however, to my delight it turned out to be atypical and indeed quite comical. Bharatbala's Hari Om is what could be labeled as one of those 'off beat' Indian films such as the ever popular South Asian hits as Monsoon Wedding, East is East or Bend it Like Beckham. Being of South Asian decent and having watched various classic Bollywood films, there was much humour and sub-dialogs which could be picked up that reminded me of the fun and charming side of Indian culture (e.g., the various Indo-pop numbers which were actually remade by Nitin Soni or the witty Indian slangs that were used). Hari Om can be enjoyed by all South Asians, and is also entertaining for those not accustom to the Indian humor as the characters and plot caters to all audiences. In a cocunutshell, the movie is of auto-rickshaw driver (aka 'four-wheeler' for those of you who have traveled to India know) played by Vija Raaz (from Monsoon Wedding) who gets himself involved with a crook and ends up owing him quite a bit of money. To avoid selling his four-wheeler, 'Madhuri', he escapes serendipitously with 'Madhuri' and a very charismatic and lovely woman from France, Isa (Camille Natta), who herself is escaping the boredom of her boyfriend Benoit (Jean Marie Lamour who was in Swimming Pool). The movie is of their journey traveling across the beautiful landscape of Rajasthan – the land of love stories; through the humour you see the two main actors trying to find out who they are really are. What made the night most memorable was having the director, executive producer, main editor and even the mother of Ms. Natta present at the screening. After speaking with Bharatbala (who actually has a Zoology background) many interesting tidbits of the film were uncovered including: having the film finished only 10 days prior to the Toronto International Film Festival and taking only 45 days to shoot, and having only five actors in the play (the rest were all first time real actors). Arriving home I realized two things from the movie - that there is always a human connection between any one of us despite our differences and secondly, as the director had put it 'Everybody has a love story'. Its a Must SEE for everyone!

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• Journey of Freedom

  bhatian2004-12-10

  Have you ever wondered what its like to feel FREE? I am sure that each one of us know the meaning of freedom and never seriously think of using it to our advantage. HARI OM shows the audience what freedom actually means. In this film freedom is described in the form of style represented by Isa's discovery of India. Isa discovers her inner true love when she is in a Rickshaw journey with Mr. HARI OM. She looks at life differently and portrays freedom that every woman restricts in herself when she is in a relationship. This film is definitely "worth a watch", and I saw this the first time in Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), and I left the cinema hall with complete satisfaction. "Watch it"!

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• Excellent, warm hearted, funny movie, depicting real India

  bucurescu2005-04-14

  I loved this film, which I have just seen at the Philadelphia film festival. In March 2005 I went to India with 2 friends, and this movie was very real. I related to everything, and savored every moment. The characters are believable, the story poignant and the ending realistic, but not sentimental. I also enjoyed the discussion with the director after the showing. This movie shows very well the blending, but not complete mixing of 2 worlds (East and West). The supporting cast was wonderful, depicting the life a tourist encounters in India quite realistically. The humor is subtle, and at times dry, and this makes it all the more realistic, as it is woven into the daily escapades of the characters. It is so easy to identify with each of the situations portrayed.

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• You'll get to see colorful Rajasthan, but don't expect more...

  ilpintl2005-02-23

  This Rajasthan-set film, "Hari Om", has the immensely likable Vijay Raaz (the wedding planner from "Monsoon Wedding") as its hero, but the vehicle (no pun intended, even though he portrays a rickshaw driver in the film) is a poor one that doesn't showcase his considerable comedic talent and goofy charm. An arrogant young Frenchman (big cliché: aren't all Frenchmen reputed to be arrogant?!) and his dim-witted pretty girlfriend are traveling through Rajasthan on the Palace-on-Wheels train when they quarrel, and the girl takes off on her own. She engages the rickshaw driver, who himself is on the run from local goons, and they set off on a journey through the picturesque countryside. All three characters are irritatingly idiotic and poorly written, but the Rajasthani landscape is stunning. I completely tuned out the uninteresting leads and focused instead on the pleasures of the Rajasthani terrain and architecture. Having only recently been there and seen a little bit of it, I was mesmerized by the myriad colors, the harsh beauty, and the vibrant, fascinating minor players, most of whom are untrained actors...just everyday Rajasthani folk. It was good to see the character actor A. K. Hangal, who looks like he must be at least 300 years old, in a couple of scenes. Bless him for continuing to act. That said, I must tell you that this film ended up a crowd-pleaser at the Vancouver International Film Festival: additional screenings were scheduled by popular demand. So what do I know?

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• I loved Hari Om!

  NadiaP2005-04-06

  Was very fortunate to see the movie Hari Om at The Bermuda International Film Festival. It was the opening night and was such a delightful movie. It was shot beautifully around India and I want to go there now. The main actor..Vijay was absolutely incredible. He was the highlight of the movie. Apparently he was also in the movie..Monsoon Wedding. He was the total star of the show. Benoit's character cracked me up...was very funny. And the girl (forget the name) was great too. They were all great! There were many tremendous scenes like the one with the monkeys. And basically I just loved the movie. Everyone walking out was raving about it and it was certainly a high point of the film festival. Was my favorite from the festival. It really beautifully captured the liveliness of India and can't believe how beautiful India is. The feeling upon walking out of the cinema..was a real high. It is a delightful, happy film. I loved it!!

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