Omkara (2006)

Omkara: Directed by Vishal Bhardwaj. With Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma. A politically-minded enforcer’s misguided trust in his lieutenant leads him to suspect his wife of infidelity in this adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’.

“When someone makes an adaptation of one of the greatest Shakespearan tragedies, you have to stand up and take notice. And especially Vishal Bhardwaj, someone who had made Maqbool the toast of the festival circuit and on par with some of Kurosawau0026#39;s best work. Akira Kurosawa, one of the best directors the world has ever seen, has made quite a few Shakespearean stories brilliantly( See Throne of blood, Ran).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eVishal Bhardwaj has again changed the setting to the underworld, this time in rural India…more precisely UP. Naseeruddin Shah plays a crooked MP u0026#39;Bhaisaabu0026#39; who employs a local goon u0026#39;Omkarau0026#39; (Ajay Devgan essaying the lead role) to do his evil deeds. Happy with Omkarau0026#39;s work he gives him a ticket to contest in the Assembly. So now a successor to Omkara has to be chosen. There are two main choices, the foreign returned, guitar wielding suave Keshu firangi ( Vivek Oberoi) and the yellow toothed, son of the soil Langda Tyagi ( Saif Ali Khan). Ajay Devgan decides to choose Keshu firangi. Now this is where the real story begins. Langda tyagi obviously gets incensed and decides to get Keshu removed. He craftily builds up an imaginary affair between Dolly, Omkarau0026#39;s soon to be wife ( Kareena Kapoor) and Keshu in Omkarau0026#39;s mind. By the time Omkara realizes this it is too late. Tyagiu0026#39;s wife Indu( Konkona Sen Sharma) unknowingly plays a pawn in her Husbandu0026#39;s Plans.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe question is, how is Omkara??? Well itu0026#39;s just Brilliant. After seeing Maqbool, i knew that i had seen one of the best Hindi movies ever made. This goes one better. There are some directors like Vishal Bhardwaj which are keeping the bollywoodu0026#39;s ( OK, the Indian film industryu0026#39;s) flag flying high. He performs a Multitude of roles – Director, Scriptwriter, Dialogue writer, composer…phew, and he does them all to perfection. Of course it helps when you have people like gulzar assisting you. The stand out part- the direction. The film is very tautly made, its very engrossing. You wont realize that its already two and a half hrs when the movie ends. The script and the dialogues are also top notch. Of course if you have the bardu0026#39;s one of the greatest tragedies as your basis, you cant go wrong. The dialogues are very rustic. Normally this movieu0026#39;s audience would have been restricted to the multiplex going crowd. But by using Hindi as is spoken in UP, with all the profanities that creep up in normal day use, it will ensure that the theaters in the Hindi speaking northern belt will run to packed houses.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe songs are quite good too. The title track is extremely good and so is u0026#39;Bidi Jaliye leu0026#39;. It will become the rage among the masses.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003ePerformance wise, Ajay Devgan excels again as Omkara delivering a brooding performance he is so adept at delivering. Kareena Kapoor disappoints as usual. Vivek Oberoi is efficient. Konkona Sen sharma is brilliant. She delivers the performance one has come to expect from her. Bipasha as the dancer Billo, had a role of an eye candy and she looks really hot. But the real show stealer is Saif ali Khan, who enacts with panache the Role of Iago( one of the greatest villains in English literature). He is mean, cruel, ingenuous and his performance is truly brilliant. He carries off a negative character quite well in Ek Hasina Thi, but here he excels himself.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAll in all a must see movie, and especially for people who like dark, intense, dramatic movies.”