Om Shanti Om - Plot

Plot

Om Prakash Makhija is a junior artiste in the 1970s Bollywood film industry. He and his friend Pappu are trying to succeed as leading actors. Om's mother, Bela Makhija, herself a junior artiste, inspires and encourages her son to succeed. He is in love with film actress Shanti Priya. One evening, Om views the premiere of Shanti's film Dreamy Girl, posing as Manoj Kumar. Later that night, Om becomes drunk and describes his vision of himself as a famous, wealthy film star to Pappu and some local children.

While shooting of a film wherein Om is acting as a scene-extra, he notices Shanti trapped in the middle of a fire scene where the fire has escaped control. He saves her and they become friends. One day, he accidentally overhears the conversation between Shanti and Mukesh Mehra, a film producer. Om is brutally shocked to learn that Mukesh and Shanti had married in secret and that Shanti is about to have a baby. Mukesh Mehra promises to do something for Shanti.

One night, Om notices Mukesh escorting Shanti to the set of their soon-to-be-made film Om Shanti Om. Inside, Mukesh tells Shanti that he will cancel the film, reveal their marriage to the public, and have a grand wedding on the spectacular set. Shanti is pleased, while Om returns back, happy for her. However, now it is revealed that Mukesh has no intentions of fulfilling his promise. He traps Shanti on the set and sets it on fire.

Om sees the studio burning and attempts to rescue Shanti, but Mukesh's guards attack him, and he is badly injured. Om pursues despite this, and enters the burning building. He sees Shanti and runs towards her, but and explosion blasts him outside the building. Om is hit by a car owned by Rajesh Kapoor, a well-known actor who is taking his wife to the hospital as she is in labour. Rajesh takes Om too, but Om succumbs to his injuries in the hospital itself and dies. Moments later, a son is born to Lovely and Rajesh, who is named Om, and implied to be Om Prakash's reincarnation.

The film then cuts to Om Kapoor's adulthood. Nicknamed O.K., he is a popular movie star and lives an extravagant, luxurious life that Om Prakash dreamt of. He experiences pyrophobia and it is shown through some scenes that he subconsciously inherits Om Prakash's memories, as well as his appearance. When making a speech of acceptance for an award, O.K. unexpectedly recalls the drunken speech that Om Prakash had made to Pappu, and delivers the same to the assembly who have awarded him.

Pappu listens O.K.'s speech on television and is convinced that his friend has returned. At a celebration of his award, O.K. is introduced by his father to Mukesh Mehra, who has been producing films in Hollywood for the last twenty five years. Upon seeing him, O.K. recalls everything. He later reunites with Bela and Pappu and conspires to avenge Shanti's death by making Mukesh confess his sin. O.K. convinces Mukesh to restart shooting of Om Shanti Om.

Pappu and O.K. start a hunt for a girl who can pass of as Shanti. The plan is to convince Mukesh that Shanti is haunting the set and scare him, so that he will confess. O.K. finds Sandhya aka Sandy, a complete doppelganger of Shanti. Sandy is accordingly trained and the plan is finally put into action. Throughout the film shooting, O.K. and his friends arrange incidents to remind Mukesh of his crime, mostly by giving him startling glimpses of Sandy.

However, Mukesh decides to go back to Hollywood. Realizing that Mukesh might try to make a run for it, O.K. tells him that the music launch is going to take place that night. Mukesh reluctantly stays, while O.K. has to make it look real to Mukesh. However, O.K.'s plan hits a snag when Mukesh examines the film reels and notices that something is wrong. During the music launch of the film, O.K. taunts Mukesh by revealing, through a song, the extent to which he knows the story of Shanti's death. Mukesh sees Sandy again, but this time he pursues her.

Sandy bleeds after being scratched, thus confirming Mukesh's suspicions that she was not Shanti's ghost. Just as Mukesh is about to walk out, the chandelier nearly collapses on him. After some time, it is revealed that the chandelier didn't fall down fully. O.K. and Mukesh confront each other with their knowledge of each other's actions. An emboldened Mukesh tells O.K. that the charade is over. Mukesh also tells him that to prove that Shanti was murdered, her dead body has to be recovered.

Here, Pappu who is listening the conversation from the studio, tries to run to the set, but gets stuck in the studio itself. Meanwhile, O.K. sees Sandy making an entrance on the stage and confronting Mukesh. O.K. tries to stop her, but she seemed to ignore him, revealing that Mukesh came back after the fire extinguished naturally that night. She also tells him that she was still alive when he found her, and buried her in the studio right under where the chandelier is facing now. Mukesh realizes that only Shanti could have known this and attacks her in panic.

O.K. enters in a scuffle with him, resulting in a fire on the studio. O.K. somehow fights his pyrophobia and shoots Mukesh in his leg. Just as he is about to kill Mukesh, Sandy stops him. She tells him that Mukesh will pay, but not through his hands. She looks at the chandelier, dangling precariously. The chandelier falls on Mukesh, killing him instantly. After looking at Sandy with confusion, the studio door opens forcefully. O.K. looks back to see Pappu, and Sandy.

O.K. finally recognizes that the figure who challenged Mukesh is actually the real Shanti Priya's ghost. This also explains some supernatural incidents that O.K. and his friends had not set up. O.K. raises his hand to wave at the love of his past life; among the flames, Shanti smiles at him, with a tear at her eye. Sandy then goes to Om, apologizing she didn't come to scare Mukesh. While Om hugs Sandy he looks at Shanti who goes up the stairs and disappears into the light and is gone forever. The ends credits come up as a film premiere.