A tribute to and sendup of the joyous and exultant 70s era of Bollywood. Om shanti Om is a romantic saga of a boy next door.  Om Prakash Makhija (Shah Rukh Khan) works as a junior artiste in Bollywood in the 70s.  He is madly in love with the superstar of that time, Shantipriya (Deepika Padukone).  His dreams and aspirations to become a superstar and be with his lady love are thwarted as he witnesses the brutal murder of his beloved Shantipriya by a mercenary producer Mukesh Mehra (Arjun Rampal). Om Prakash dies, trying to save his Shanti. 

But destiny has something else in store when Om Prakash returns as Om Kapoor, the superstar of 2007!  His journey of rediscovering himself, his past life, and avenging the death of his beloved is the story of Om Shanti Om.