Omkara !!!

Don't read further if using/hearing/reading or writing offensive
words(gaallies) in hindi makes you uncomfortable..

Director: Vishal Bhardwaj
Cast: AjayDevgan, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi,
Naseeruddin Shah, Konkona Sen Sharma and Bipasha Basu

Watched Omkara today for the 3rd time.Yes, after watching it twice on the
70 mm screen i sat down to had another go at this contemporary
Bollywood Classic...Shoot...

"Bewakoof aur chutiyee mein dhaage bhar ka farak hota haiga
bhaiya.Dhaage ke inge bewakoof aur unge chutiya, aur jo
dhaaga hench lo to kaun hai bewakoof aur kaun hai chutiya,
crore ruppey ka prashan hai bhaiya."

How often does a Hindi film start with a dialogue like this ??
Perhaps once in every 55,486 films that are made..

I still remember the rainbow of expressions that followed this dialogue
when I watched this film for the first time in theater..From a group of boys
laughing like crazy to parents looking here and there pretending as if the
film's first dialogue is yet to be spoken...The swear words keep pouring
intermittently through out the film from everyone's mouth barring
Kareena..It was surprising to see actors like Konkona Utter the "C" word
casually even while serving food..

Omkara, Vishal Bhardwaj's fourth directorial venture (Makdee,Maqbool
and The Blue Umbrella being first three) is a hindi adaptation of
Shakespeare's Othello. Set against the milieu of political warfare in wild
backwoods of Uttar Pradesh, Omkara revolves around the life of Omi(Ajay),
bahubaali(right hand) of a local politician Bhaisaab(Naseeruddin).

The movie entails a complex web of human emotions beautifully portrayed
by deft actors to perfection..Saif who has been in the acting business
for long had a rebirth with a powerhouse performance as Langda Tyagi
Ajay Devgan once again played the role of a local goon with panache and
Konkona Sen reaffirmed her acting prowess by playing the role of Indu.
While Vivek,Kareena managed to do justice to their roles,Deepak Dobriyal
stood out in his role as Rajju and needless to say Naseeruddin
did his bit flawlessly.

The scene where Dolly's father traduces about her

"Bahubali aurat ke Dariya charitra ko mat bhoolna, jo apne
baap ko thag sakti hai woh kissi aur ki sagi kya hi hogi"

sets the tone of the movie and marks a change in its course.
Next turn of events is depicted by
Langda smashing the mirror and smearing his forehead
with his blood
Soon after this the basic darker human emotions of envy, suspicion
and revenge that were foisted earlier begin to manifest themselves
and what follows is a dirty game of insinuations, perfidy and deceit
only to end up as a gory tragedy.

Exquisitely written poetic lyrics by Gulzar and Brilliantly composed music
by Vishal(himself) adds another beautiful feather in the cap of Omkara..
From haunting "Naina" and belligerent "Omkara" to the soulful instrumental
track "The Tragedy of Omkara", they got them all bang on the target and
who can forget the frenzy that "Beedi" still creates effortlessly on dance floors?
The cinematography, screenplay and script too deserve full marks.

Also I had a realization of the power that background score carries and subtle
hints that it drops about anything important thats going to happen in the next
scene.Actually its a Meticulously prepared concoction of apt background
score(which evokes pertinent feelings) and camera movement/speed..

I loved Omkara for it's authenticity and starkness, though I haven't
read Othello so I am not in a position to compare the two but I
strongly feel that Vishal would have done justice to Bard's work.

Dialogues I Loved:
1) Sarat ghoron pe lagaate hain, kathor! Seron pe nahi
2) Arrey dekh rahe hain bhaiya kahin chuna khariya toh nah utha laye,
aisi gori laundiya susri humare desh mein kahan se ho li ?
3) Mann meri nahi maan raha hai aur main mann ki..
4) Jab granthon ne kalank ko humare maathe ki bindi bana diya hai toh
aapki kya galti hai omi bhaiya, hum apne ghar bar naate, sab tyaag kar
aap logon ke sansaar mein nange haath chale aate hain, agni se bhi nikal
jawen na toh bhi sagey nahi thagey hi kehelawien hain.
5) Jab ghoree ke khoor mein naal thuke, to menduki bhi paun (u)thaa
leti hai bhaiyya
6) Baadi lakdi mat ttha (uttha)

Scenes I Loved:
1) The opening scene
2) Omi's negotiation with kaptaan on a truck
3) MMS expose of Indor Singh, the scene before title track of the film.
4) Announcement of Keeshu as the new bahubaali and the riot of colours,
and gunshots that follow.
5) Indu teasing Omi on his arrival(with Dolly) at their home.
6) Cops visiting Omi's house being frisked and made to deposit arms.
7) Langda and Rajju drinking atop a river bridge.
8) Langda ridiculing Keeshu
9) Bonfire with Langda talking about the kamarband.



Trivia:
1)

Character in the movie/ Character in the play
Omkara 'Omi' Shukla/ Othello
Ishwar 'Langda' Tyagi/ Iago
Keshav 'Kesu' Firangi/ Cassio
Dolly Mishra/ Desdemona
Indu/ Emilia
Billo Chamanbahar/ Bianca
Rajan ’Rajju’ Tiwari/ Rodrigo
Bhaisaab/ Duke of Venice

2)All characters in the film share the same alphabet or sound in their first
name as in the original Shakespeare classic

3) There was a shot where Saif Ali Khan is in the shadows, looking at a mirror.
Vishal Bharadwaj suggested that it would be very artistic and beautiful if Saif
did it naked. The actor answered,
"I am prepared to do that as long as you direct me naked."
That was the end of the topic

Links:
1) Official site for Omkara
2) A Comparison of the Antagonists of Omkara and Othello
3) Omkara on Wiki
4) Omkara's music
5) The bard and this dud